San Diego, CA

Another week has slid by and we went back to UCSD today to begin Ann's radiotherapy only to be told that she would have some pre treatment scans done today and they would begin tomorrow. We have the full schedule and it will end on October 23rd.
In the meantime, we are keeping busy. A ballgame at Petco Park tonight and the museums at Balboa Park tomorrow. The weather has been outstanding and flights to London are arranged for November 5th.
Ann has been busy with the American Cancer Society walk for breast cancer on Sunday, October 20th.
and we all plan to attend on that date.

San Diego, CA

Our Next Journey

It now seems so long ago ( only a month) that we were spending balmy evenings on 
the Sun Valley green picnicking at sunset whilst listening to the sun valley summer 
symphony; planning our upcoming trip to England and the next leg of our sailing 
journey.  Little did we know then ,that this would come to a grinding halt and 
all our plans would have to be put on hold.
Our lives have become transient these last 4 years,after leaving our home (25 
years ) in Rancho Mirage we have been  traveling to new horizons always moving 
west as we sail around the world.We left behind friends and family which 
included all our support systems that we would normally have harnessed at times 
like these. All our new friends along this journey are also scattered ,so we 
rely on our blogs, Facebook,emails and Skype for all our  communication  . I 
would never  have considered this pathway before ,but now it doesn't seem 
surprising for me to be writing about this latest journey in our lives.
During  these last 3 weeks I have been extremely anxious not knowing what comes 
next.It is so hard to loose control and have patience to wait for results.It is 
truly surreal ,one moment being logical having discussions about statistics and 
outcomes and the next being an emotional wreck ,not sleeping and having 
discussions with myself all night,truly an eye opener into our vulnerability and 
how much we take life for granted.
Being diagnosed with 'cancer ' sends a tremendous jolt to your brain! Before you 
have even begun the battle this word hits you like a ton of bricks ,so that it 
is hard to logically see the wood for the trees.
We have both been avidly  reading what seems like every study ,paper,trial ever 
written on breast cancer ,yea for iPads and Internet ( in every circumstance). 
We have gained a tremendous amount of knowledge on the subject ,including all 
the advances in treatment  :)
 I have had many and multiple doctor consults,at Eisenhower medical center and 
at UCSD medical center ,with mammograms,ultra sounds ,biopsies,various kinds of 
scans ,tests and surgery and now finally all the cards are on the table ,so we 
can make the most fully informed decision as to my best option for treatment 
.The oncotype dx test came back today with a score of 13  :)
this suggests that I do NOT need chemo therapy :) :)
I will be starting  22 days of radiation therapy on Monday and then starting a 
daily oral medication for the next 5 years.
We can now plan our next  phase in the journey. It feels so good to be back in 
control again.

San Diego

The long wait is over. The Oncotype DX came back today and was favourable. It looks like Ann will not need chemotherapy and we will go to see the oncologist and the radiation therapist over the next few days to determine a treatment plan. More information tomorrow.

San Diego,CA

Change of Plan
We had some further meetings with our radiation oncologist today and we have decided to wait for the results the Oncotype DX prior to making a decision regarding the type of radiation therapy to choose. We have been told that will get a result by next Monday and if this indicates that chemotherapy is required then she will have the short, partial breast radiation delivered by a special catheter next week. If the Oncotype DX test is favourable then she will opt for whole breast radiation over 16 days. We will have to anxiously wait and see. In the mean time, the weather remains perfect and there is much to keep us occupied.

View of San Diego from Cabrillo National Monument

San Diego, CA

Time has passed slowly since my last post and I must admit to a little boredom and despondency over the past week. Those of you who know me, will understand that waiting patiently is  not one of my strongest attributes so this has been a difficult time for they Admiral and I.
The days do pass and I even got some beer can racing in on Wednesday with my old pals in Coronado. Other excitement includes renting a machine and shampooing all the carpet in the apartment. What joy!
The Oncotype DX test did not get sent until after Labor Day and was only received in the lab yesterday so we will have to wait now until the 19 th.  of September to get a decision regarding chemotherapy.
There was some activity today and we went to see the radiation oncologist at UCSD who thought that  the  admiral was a good candidate for partial breast irradiation delivered  through a special catheter. The good news is that this can be given in one week only, as opposed to 6-7 weeks of external beam  whole breast radiation. Ann starts on Monday with a CT scan and  treatment beings on Tuesday.
So at least one mode of therapy will be done before we have to consider chemo.

San Diego, CA

It is a calm and beautiful San Diego Sunday morning and there is much to enjoy. We went to see the head of breast oncology at UCSD on Friday and she was quite delightful and spent ample time with us and again went through the decision making process in determining Ann's optimal treatment going forward.

She recommended an aromatase inhibitor as the most effective way to block estrogen as the tumour is hormone sensitive. This will continue for at least five years. She also mentioned an alternative to external beam radiotherapy, namely a technique called partial breast irradiation which I had not heard of before. I will have to research it further to be sure that it it is at least as effective as the standard treatment. This method has some significant advantages in that it takes only one week instead of six weeks and can be given immediately following lumpectomy instead of waiting until after chemo if indicated. 

She really did not think that the option of subcutaneous mastectomy either bilateral or on one side in order to prevent recurrence or diminish the risk of new disease was reasonable.

We also discussed the $64,000 question regarding adjuvent chemotherapy and as we surmised we will not get the answer to that for  another two weeks while the Oncotype DX gene test is being done.

This is a little frustrating as neither of is very good at waiting but there is little choice. At least,we can look into getting an opinion on partial breast irradiation and we will try to get to visit with the radiation oncologist at UCSD next week.

In the mean time we will take advantage of all that San Diego has to offer.