Welcome Friends and Family

Well, here is the first entry in our blog. Most of you are already aware but here is little history for those who may not know...

Cynthia found a lump in her right breast back in June of this year. It was very high...about 3" below her collar bone. She saw the doctor in early July and was then scheduled for a mammogram and ultrasound. They could not see the tumor on the mammogram because it was too high. They did the ultrasound and that is when they saw it. She was then scheduled for biopsy at the end of July. The biopsy unfortunately was positive. It was a Stage 1 tumor (under 2 cm in size and had not spread as far as they knew).

Here she is the weekend before the surgery enjoying a cool beverage at Water Buffalo.

She had lumpectomy surgery to remove the tumor (the remaining breast was left in tact) on August 18th. The surgeon got clean margins on the tumor site and the lymph nodes were all negative (whew). However, the tumor was a grade 3 tumor (very fast growing and aggressive). It was also hormone resistant. These factors have determined the remainder of the treatment...both radiation and chemotherapy.

Radiation is always recommended for lumpectomies. Normal protocol for women under 50 is whole breast radiation for five weeks. This is typically performed after chemotherapy. However, Cynthia elected to participate in a clinical trial for partial breast radiation. This involved two treatments twice a day for five days. She was selected for this protocol so she had the radiation first. She started Monday, October 6th and had two treatments a day for five days and finished on the 10th. Although there was some difficulty getting her positioned just right each time, she made it through without major difficulty.

The doctors had her wait four full weeks before she got to start chemotherapy. Prior to starting, she needed to have a port surgically inserted in her chest. They use the port to administer the drugs. She had this procedure on the 30th of October. Which brings us to this week. Her treatment schedule is Monday and Thursday, every three weeks for four rounds. This will take her into mid-January. After that, she will start a new drug that she will get every week for 12 weeks. This will take her into mid-April. If all goes well, that will be the last of the treatments.

Her first two treatment this week are complete. She had the first treatment on Monday and seemed to tolerate it well. Her only real symptom now is fatigue. She went to work on Tuesday and Wednesday. Her Thursday treatment went well but she is feeling tired.

So that is where we stand. It is expected that she will lose her hair about the time of the second treatment although she is really pissed to learn that she will not lose the hair on her legs. She has a cute blond wig and is ready for that adventure when it comes.