New Information

Three things:
* Released by my general surgeon, Dr. Bagaria (love him!)
* Met with my oncologist, Dr. Colon-Otero (love him too!)
* Received my first "expansion." 75 ml of saline in each side.

     Like all of my doctors, P.A.'s, and nurses at Mayo, Dr. Colon is very personable and professional. His quiet demeanor put me at ease immediately. He alternately asked me questions and consulted his computer screen to obtain the needed information. The cancer was HER2 positive which means I will need chemotherapy. I have agreed to participate in a double-blind study which, even if I don't benefit from it, others will. I will receive chemotherapy plus Trastuzumab (Herceptin) which is used to treat early-stage breast cancer that, in my case, has these risk factors: over 35 years old and stage 2 cancer. The other drug I may or may not get is Pertuzumab. (The P word and the T word sound like a spell from a Harry Potter book! "PERTUZUMAB!" Be gone cancer cells!)
     The treatments will be every three weeks for eighteen weeks! That's a year, folks! To get ready for all this, we head back to Mayo on Tuesday, June 19th for an electrocardiogram, echocardiogram, a fasting blood draw, the insertion of the port, and another expansion. Whew! I think the surgery was the easiest part!
     The saline injections don't hurt terribly, just a little stick and then a lot of pressure. The image below is what the expander looks like. The gray area contains a magnet which is how the port is found because it's subcutaneous. The procedure is similar to how a woman's abdominal skin stretches to accommodate a baby.  It takes time, but the difference is, I get to say "when!"

These illustrations show how the expander works.

I promise- these images are as graphic as it gets!
Bottom line: Please keep me on your prayer lists, in your meditations, and in your thoughts. It's not over, yet! Much love!