Dr. Roger Has a Plan
For the past few nights I have had a really weird, yet surreal dream. There is a stage with three curtains. The stage is straight out of "Name that Price" or whatever that old show was called.
The excited voice says "And behind door No 1 is surgery. We will remove your breast and you will take months to recover. Or we have Door No 2. Chemo that will make you bald and sick again. And finally, Door No 3, you will get a new aromatese inhibitor." The voice sounds excited, like I am winning a trip to Tuscany, or a week in Paris. In my dream, my mind is a running commentary, trying to analyze the options as they are presented. A Vanna White wanna-be is in a gold lamé dress, her arms gracefully pointing to each curtain as the choices are announced.
Well, today's meeting included no gold lamé I am happy to say. Just two white coats, Leslie and myself. Dr. Roger was clearly relieved that there were no bone mets. [If there had been he was planning some really heavy guns! An interesting aside.]
He sees mets along the chest wall [where my original tumor was attached] going vertically, and one by the hydrbra on the outside of the lung [not a lung met.] He confirmed what I heard. Minimal. He then began to draw pictures. He explained that the estrogen expression is actually two distinct expressions [alpha and beta, scientists are sooooo boring.] The aromasin blocks one of them while the other expression, which is rarer, is left alone. Surprisingly, Dr. Roger is continuing the aromasin, but adding Faslodex to block the second expression.
This is a monthly injection. Damn big needle into my butt. 63 seconds was my count, but I could have been counting fast. I was given Nurse Judy once again. She wasn't that happy to see me, which was nice.
Follow up is now monthly. I will get the blood marker bloods drawn monthly along with the injection. I will meet with Dr. Roger every other month, unless the markers indicate that the new protocol isn't working. He wants a three month window to access success.
Dr. Roger agrees that for now, no one will need to know I am 'sick.' And once this gallbladder thing is dealt with, I should be back to my normal self [complete with aromasin side effects.]
So, we have a path and my butt hurts!
The excited voice says "And behind door No 1 is surgery. We will remove your breast and you will take months to recover. Or we have Door No 2. Chemo that will make you bald and sick again. And finally, Door No 3, you will get a new aromatese inhibitor." The voice sounds excited, like I am winning a trip to Tuscany, or a week in Paris. In my dream, my mind is a running commentary, trying to analyze the options as they are presented. A Vanna White wanna-be is in a gold lamé dress, her arms gracefully pointing to each curtain as the choices are announced.
Well, today's meeting included no gold lamé I am happy to say. Just two white coats, Leslie and myself. Dr. Roger was clearly relieved that there were no bone mets. [If there had been he was planning some really heavy guns! An interesting aside.]
He sees mets along the chest wall [where my original tumor was attached] going vertically, and one by the hydrbra on the outside of the lung [not a lung met.] He confirmed what I heard. Minimal. He then began to draw pictures. He explained that the estrogen expression is actually two distinct expressions [alpha and beta, scientists are sooooo boring.] The aromasin blocks one of them while the other expression, which is rarer, is left alone. Surprisingly, Dr. Roger is continuing the aromasin, but adding Faslodex to block the second expression.
This is a monthly injection. Damn big needle into my butt. 63 seconds was my count, but I could have been counting fast. I was given Nurse Judy once again. She wasn't that happy to see me, which was nice.
Follow up is now monthly. I will get the blood marker bloods drawn monthly along with the injection. I will meet with Dr. Roger every other month, unless the markers indicate that the new protocol isn't working. He wants a three month window to access success.
Dr. Roger agrees that for now, no one will need to know I am 'sick.' And once this gallbladder thing is dealt with, I should be back to my normal self [complete with aromasin side effects.]
So, we have a path and my butt hurts!
posted by *susan* at
9:26 PM
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