The Game Plan

On Wednesday 4/27/11, my Oncologist Dr. David King laid out the plan for my
treatment.


But the coolest thing he did was give us a show-n-tell of the PET/CT Scan.
Remember this is the scan that showed no cancer anywhere else in my body.
On the big screen we walked through all of my body parts, as he highlighted
exactly what the scan was showing. That discomfort in my upper thighs when
I work out, he said looks like a little bursitis or arthritis, who knew!
My doctor did X-rays of my legs and couldn't see anything. As much as I
disliked going through the actual test, the results are unbelievable. The
cost of these tests really need to go down, so everyone can get a head to
toe view of themselves.


So here's the plan: I still need to have another pre-op exam before we
surgically have the Port put in. We are waiting to schedule that until Dr.
Hatfield gives the OK from the latest surgery. The Chemotherapy treatments
will begin May 19 with the drugs Adriamycin (Doxorubicin) and Cytoxan
(Cyclophosphamide). This will be a 4 session infusion over 8 weeks. Then
starting in July the drug Paclitaxel(Taxol/Onxal) will be another 4 session
infusion over 8 weeks. Radiation will follow the Chemotherapy.


(All the drug names are for you Robby.)


I'm also going to participate in a study for patients undergoing
Anthracycline-based Chemotherapy to assess the effectiveness of using
biomarkers to detect and identify cardiotoxicity (heart problems) and be
able to provide immediate treatment. So for just a little of my blood
occasionally, they will watch over my heart (by the way one of my strongest
assets per the doctor) to make sure the chemo doesn't damage it which is
their suspicion. There will be 830 people across the country participating
along with me. Hopefully they learn something to help all women using
this drug.