Susan G Komen 3 Day for the Cure

A friend will be participating in the 3 Day for the Cure event.  She's done this every year for several years.

http://www.the3day.org/site/TR/2010/WashingtonDCEvent2010?px=2261964&pg=personal&fr_id=1474

Sloane

Today's appointment didn't effect me the same way. The doctor at Sloane was less warm than the doc in Greenwich (she even rolled her eyes at one point). But, there were a few things that I hadn't heard before (or that hadn't really penetrated) so it was worth it from that point of view.


We're going to keep the surgery appointment with the doctor in Greenwich. So I'm having a lumpectomy on October 8th. Depending on whether or not there's lymph node involvement and the pathology results (either or both), I will need chemo.


What did sock me in the gut this afternoon was making the appointment with the oncologist for the following Wednesday (the pathology results should be back by then).

I had a lovely insurance scare the other day. The Greenwich doctor's office called to tell me that the insurance wouldn't cover the visit. I called Aetna, and they told me that my coverage was terminated on September 1st and that I should contact my erstwhile employer to see why. (Back in August, we had paid COBRA enough to cover us until his insurance kicks in on October 1st.) I was totally panicking as I called my HR contact. Turns out my former employer switched carriers as of 9/1 and they missed me somehow when the new cards got issued and packets were sent out. She assured me she would take care of it and that my coverage would be retroactive to 9/1. She should have a policy number tomorrow, and I can call various providers and have them resubmit to the new company. I had also received an $1100 bill from the hospital, so it's a real relief to find out why.


I had to give Sloane the wrong insurance info this morning (since I don't have the new info yet), and I'll have to call them too with the new info when I get it.

Update

We really liked the surgeon we met on Friday (in Greenwich). She was very warm and nice and has an amazing reputation. We made an appointment with her for the surgery for the 8th of October. Tomorrow, we see the surgeon at Sloan Kettering.

Yesterday was a bad day. I'm usually floating on de Nile, but I really couldn't after the appointment. I felt shaky and weepy all day. Just going to the grocery store left me exhausted. It seems better this morning.

Second Opinions

Today we're going to Greenwich to talk to a surgeon recommended by a friend of Blair's who's an OR nurse at the same hospital for a second opinion. On Monday we're seeing a doctor at Sloan Kettering that was recommended by my brother's MIL (who had BC).

After we get our second opinions, I'll probably schedule the lumpectomy with the doctor here in Bridgeport. If the margins and lymph nodes are clear, I'll have 7 weeks of radiation followed by hormone therapy for several years, but there will probably be no need for chemo (there's a test that will be done on the tumor after the surgery). If the margins aren't clear they'll have to go back in and take a larger area; and if the first lymph nodes they take are effected, they will take more lymph nodes - and I will need more aggressive therapy (ie chemo).

School Agita

We thought we were so clever.  We spent a lot of time deciding where to send Daniel to High School after he finished up with the magnet school he'd been attending since pre-school, finally deciding on the IB program at Harding High in Bridgeport.  We used CT's Project Choice program which is usually used by kids in cities like Bridgeport to attend suburban schools like Trumbull's - we were the first family in the state (we think) to use it to go in the opposite direction - because we felt the program would be rigorous and challenging to Daniel.



I got a phone call on Wednesday from Daniel's Math and English teachers. They were both concerned for him because they only have 15 freshmen in the IB program and they mixed them in with regular students instead of being sequestered into their own classes (9th and 10th grade are "pre-IB", so I guess they don't start an actual IB curriculum until 11th grade). Both teachers thought this mixed class wasn't going to serve Daniel well, that he'd be bored since the teacher would have to slow down for the less academically oriented students.


We had a family meeting and decided to pull Daniel from the IB program and enroll him in Trumbull High. We took him over first thing this morning and met with his guidance counselor. Dan took a math assessment while we ran over to his old school to pick up his records. When we got back Dan was ranking possible elective classes in order of his interest. Rather than stick him in any old class for today, he's going to start on Monday and the counselor will take care of getting him into the right classes for him (probably all honors, and honors classes need the buy-in of the department heads, so that will keep the counselor busy today). The three of us are back home, getting ready to go out to lunch.

Poor Dumbledore!

Dumbledore's been sleeping poorly the last couple of nights. Sunday night, he just could not settle down.  He'd lie down, then get right back up and made a lot of little noises - drove us crazy.  I didn't have a lot of patience for him during the night, but after some sleep I realized that there was probably something wrong with him.  He's also been hanging out on the floor a lot instead of hopping up by us.  I decided to wait another day to take him to the vet (since I'd rather take him to his regular vet today than the emergency vet on Labor Day).  Last night was a little better but not by much.


He's got some pain in/near his spine in the area of his rib cage.  She prescribed an NSAID, and rest.  No rough play, gentle exercise (like walkies), help him up and down from furniture as mush as possible and hold him parallel to the floor (no lifting him under the armpits like a baby).  I have to give the medicine with food, so I stopped at the pet store and got some canned food (he usually eats only kibble and I wanted to get something he'd be sure to eat when I gave it to him).  He wouldn't drink the medicine from the dropper like my aunt's dog does, but I mixed it in the wet food and he scarfed it up.  I went shopping for a bit and he seems a little better already.


He's supposed to take it easy for about 6 weeks.  Poor baby!


(Update from the next morning - he slept all night and seems much better already!)

Biopsy #3

Biopsy #3 is negative.  Whew.



So it's "just" one spot of the most common kind of breast cancer.  Next up is a lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy.  The pathology results from those procedures will determine the course of treatment.


I'm terribly relieved.  If I had cancer in more than one spot (especially in both breasts), I was seriously considering a double mastectomy even with the clean genetic testing.


Biopsy #2 was an intra-mammary (?) lymph node (I guess they aren't usually there?), and #3 was fibro-cystic tissue.  I'm glad they've been so meticulous, but it was scary thinking I could have cancer in three places.

Today's Biopsy

I should have results on Tuesday.

Finally Some Good News

Genetic testing - normal.  2nd biopsy - just a normal lymph node.  


One more biopsy tomorrow.

OK, So I'm Not as Calm as I Thought

Blair came home today with the info on the health plans that will be available to him October 1st (we're on COBRA now).  He went to ask HR about including Alex when he signs up but it opened up a little can of worms.  He'd originally planned to go with the least expensive option, but with my diagnosis, that would end up costing us a bundle.  But the next option is so much more expensive, that Blair was talking about needing to go into his 401K to make ends meet.  For some reason that hit me right in the gut and I was terrified.


We've lost so much already (closing the store, declaring bankruptcy).  We'll only be able to stay in the house as long as the lawyer can hold off the banks.  I don't have a job; I don't have the intestinal fortitude to work full time in another state and undergo treatment away from my family; and my income earning potential is small here in CT.  And Blair's 401k isn't bottomless.  And it occurred to me the other day that I can't put off a will any longer - and I need to think about advanced directives (ulp).


A group of friends were talking about what kinds of invalids we are.  I tend to keep going to work when I'm sick until I can't take it any more (probably too long).  But when I finally allow myself to take off, I like to get set up on the couch with all the remotes and phones close to hand, cuddly blankets and comfort food, books and the dog.  I tend to feel sorry for myself, and I'm a bit of a whiner sometimes.  Most of all, I hate hate hate throwing up.  It's absolutely the worst.  I'm really afraid of chemo in that respect.


And my surgeon just called and they want to do an MRI guided biopsy on the left on Friday

Today's Appointment

One of the doctors is unavailable today (I'm thinking it's the radiologist), so rather than having the scan today and having to come back for any biopsies, my appointment was rescheduled to tomorrow morning.  I'm a little relieved.  I wasn't looking forward to the pain afterward.  Parts of me look like an eggplant.

Wanna Hear Something Weird?

I've been waking up happy.


I didn't sleep at all the night of the biopsy because I'd been doped up and slept all day, and I was up a couple of hours the next night, but since then I've been sleeping like a log and waking up in a good mood. At first I thought I was in shock and things hadn't sunk in, but that should have worn off by now.


I think it's waking up next to Blair every morning and knowing the boys are both just down the hall, that's making me so happy. Waking up knowing I fell right asleep and didn't notice waking up again is also happy-making.



We did Dan's back to school shopping yesterday, Daniel got size 9 1/2 shoes for heaven's sake! He also got a fedora and he's totally rocking it, especially when he's got his sunglasses on. He now has enough snarky t-shirts to last a whole week.


I'm enjoying the nook. Blair and I picked it up Friday and I returned the books I had bought earlier in the week and re-bought them electronically. I added a bunch of free books and a couple of others I've been wanting, and then added something to my wish list.


We were headed to Target yesterday when we passed Borders. I had been looking for a cancer cookbook (I've started eating healthier and picked up a veggie steamer for the microwave) and they didn't have any in stock at B&N. While I was tying to decide between the two, I used the 3G to check if either of them was available for the nook. They weren't but it was so cool to be able to check. There was another interesting book that I added to the wishlist.(I'm liking that feature! I can keep track of interesting books without actually having to buy them at the time - it was kind of a little revelation to me that I didn't have to spend a lot of money on books right this minute because they might no be available when I get around to them.)


Dan was all excited to find out that there was supposed to be a Hunger Games event starting in a few minutes, so we hung around.  Nothing happened so Dan asked.  Turns out that they didn't start because they didn't think anyone was interested, so they made an announcement and held it just for Dan! He and two employees had a discussion. He bought the next two books and got an autograph and bookmark for participating.



Alex is off work at 3:30 so I'll be able to have birthday dinner with all my guys on my actual birthday! And it's never ending pasta bowl time at Olive Garden.