Meeting Dr. Wilks (the Oncologist)

Today has been a long day. I started off the day meeting with Dr. Wilkes, who is my Oncologist. Let me just say that she is incredible. Her goal is to work to remove breast cancer from not only my life but to irradiate it from all of our lives. I really like her. Dr. Wilks and I discussed some of the same things that Dr. Bradshaw and I have discussed in the past 2 weeks. The high points of our meeting today was to start thinking about treatment and what that would look like for me.

One of the first things that Dr. Wilks said was that I would have to take Chemo. The Chemo will start approximately 4 weeks from the date/day of my surgery. I will have 6 Chemo sessions that will be 3 weeks apart. Total time that I will be taking Chemo will be 18 weeks. The first round of Chemo will be around September 16th. Approximately 2 1/2 weeks after my first Chemo session will be when I loose all of my hair. I am glad that when I went to market this summer I bought two wigs. Little did I know then that the wigs that I purchased in fun is something that I now need.

Once I am done with the Chemo, hopefully by the end of February, I will start my radiation treatment. I believe that I will have 6 weeks of radiation. I was hoping that I would not have to take Chemo after the discussions with Dr. Bradshaw, but that has changed. To make sure that nothing is being missed Dr. Wilks ordered another Mammogram for my left breast.

As always I did have questions and as Dr. Wilks reviewed the pathology report she was able to explain that the lump that I found is linked to my hormone levels. This is something that we will revisit at a later meeting with Dr. Wilks since there will be changes made in what hormones I take or not take in the future.

This meeting with Dr. Wilks has made a couple of adjustments in my timeline schedule. The appointments that I had scheduled for Monday will not happen. I met with Dr. Wilks today so I am off to school on Monday. I am still scheduled for surgery on Wednesday and then I am back to see Dr. Wilks on Friday. I changed the meeting with Dr. Gagnon from Monday to Friday since it appears that I will not be taking radiation right away. With the addition of Chemo my time line has been extended a few months.

After leaving Dr. Wilks office I went directly to have the ordered Mammogram done. While I was at the imaging center a decision was made to also have a sonogram done just to make sure that nothing is missed. Great news - No evidence of Cancer in this breast or lymph nodes!!! YEA!!!

Now off to the hospital to do Pre-Registration. Just a couple of things needed to be done to prepare for surgery next week; Sign papers, have some blood taken for testing, have an EKG, and finally a chest X-Ray. Whew!!

After I completed all of this it was off to lunch and then a small reward. Took a detour by the Cupcake Couture on Broadway to find a tasty treat. Now it was time to head back to New Braunfels.

The end of the day occurred with a meeting of the Ya-Ya's, who were throwing a "Fuck Cancer Party". This group of women have come together to support me at this time and I treasure each of them. It has been great to realize the support that I have from so many family and friends. I do want to thank all of my family and friends for the prayers, blessings, and well wishing. Your support is making this easier to endure. Thank you!

Now I am off to bed to go to a bead making class tomorrow. A moment of escape to have what feels like a last fling for myself. Have a great weekend everyone and I will share more next week.