What's next?
Victoria finished her final chemo treatment last Wednesday, 16 May. I'm so thankful that she is finished going through this and that we can close this chapter in her treatment plan and move on to the next. The chemo has certainly taken a toll on Victoria. I think with each treatment it got a little worse. It took her a little longer each time to shake the brutal side effects of the chemo, and by the time this final session came around she was ready for it to be over.
Aside from feeling completely wore down and horrible for a week after chemo, Victoria has obviously had the physical changes like hair loss, water retention (causing swelling and weight gain) due to the steroids, and most recently she has lost the majority of her fingernails. The medical oncologist has said that the finger nail loss was due to the Taxotere and aggressive chemotherapy regimen. I don't know if much more can be taken, physically, from a woman. Prior to the loss of her fingernails Victoria could at least look forward to getting a manicure with her visits to the Cancer Treatment Center. Still, Victoria continues to press forward with her positive attitude and unwavering strength.
During my last post I mentioned that Victoria has decided on a double Mastectomy. The date has been scheduled and is set for 13 June. She'll have the surgery in the afternoon and will remain in the hospital for a few days after. I don't doubt for one second that my beautiful and strong wife will push through this like everything else, but I know it will be difficult as well. Physically the recovery will be painful and tiresome. Psychologically I know Victoria is preparing herself for the surgery and will wrap her head around it, but I can't imagine, nor will I ever know the impact that a surgery like this has on a woman.
This surgery will bring Victoria one step closer to beating and surviving this cancer, but the road ahead will be far from over. As part of the physical recovery Victoria will undergo reconstruction at the time of surgery. The reconstruction process will take roughly 9 months. Without getting into a ton of detail; a plastic surgeon, whom we've chosen, will be in the Operating Room at the same time that the Surgical Oncologist is performing the mastectomy. He will install tissue expanders, which over time will be filled with saline solution. This will stretch the skin to create a pocket that over time will create the space to insert an implant and reconstruct the breast.
Medically, we are unsure as to whether or not Victoria will require radiation. Originally, we thought it was a definite, but based on her clinical response, and the result of the pathology finding during surgery, she may not have to do radiation. Our medical oncologist also has to go back to the original diagnostics and reconfirm the tumor size. If the tumor exceeded a certain size she will automatically have to undergo radiation regardless of clinical response and pathology findings. Victoria will also continue to receive Herceptin, through infusion, every three weeks until January 2013. She will also be required to take Tamoxifen orally, once per day for the next 5 years. These are preventative measures to do everything medically possible to reduce the chances of the cancer returning in her breast tissue (even though she'll only have a small percentage remaining) or showing up somewhere else in her body.
I'll post something quickly after the surgery to let everyone know how it went. Until then thanks to everyone for all of your support. The emails, phone calls, facebook messages, text messages, cards, gifts, or any other gesture that you have done for Victoria all mean a lot to her and mean a lot to me. It's great to know that so many people are thinking of her and I know it really helps to keep her strong!
Aside from feeling completely wore down and horrible for a week after chemo, Victoria has obviously had the physical changes like hair loss, water retention (causing swelling and weight gain) due to the steroids, and most recently she has lost the majority of her fingernails. The medical oncologist has said that the finger nail loss was due to the Taxotere and aggressive chemotherapy regimen. I don't know if much more can be taken, physically, from a woman. Prior to the loss of her fingernails Victoria could at least look forward to getting a manicure with her visits to the Cancer Treatment Center. Still, Victoria continues to press forward with her positive attitude and unwavering strength.
During my last post I mentioned that Victoria has decided on a double Mastectomy. The date has been scheduled and is set for 13 June. She'll have the surgery in the afternoon and will remain in the hospital for a few days after. I don't doubt for one second that my beautiful and strong wife will push through this like everything else, but I know it will be difficult as well. Physically the recovery will be painful and tiresome. Psychologically I know Victoria is preparing herself for the surgery and will wrap her head around it, but I can't imagine, nor will I ever know the impact that a surgery like this has on a woman.
This surgery will bring Victoria one step closer to beating and surviving this cancer, but the road ahead will be far from over. As part of the physical recovery Victoria will undergo reconstruction at the time of surgery. The reconstruction process will take roughly 9 months. Without getting into a ton of detail; a plastic surgeon, whom we've chosen, will be in the Operating Room at the same time that the Surgical Oncologist is performing the mastectomy. He will install tissue expanders, which over time will be filled with saline solution. This will stretch the skin to create a pocket that over time will create the space to insert an implant and reconstruct the breast.
Medically, we are unsure as to whether or not Victoria will require radiation. Originally, we thought it was a definite, but based on her clinical response, and the result of the pathology finding during surgery, she may not have to do radiation. Our medical oncologist also has to go back to the original diagnostics and reconfirm the tumor size. If the tumor exceeded a certain size she will automatically have to undergo radiation regardless of clinical response and pathology findings. Victoria will also continue to receive Herceptin, through infusion, every three weeks until January 2013. She will also be required to take Tamoxifen orally, once per day for the next 5 years. These are preventative measures to do everything medically possible to reduce the chances of the cancer returning in her breast tissue (even though she'll only have a small percentage remaining) or showing up somewhere else in her body.
I'll post something quickly after the surgery to let everyone know how it went. Until then thanks to everyone for all of your support. The emails, phone calls, facebook messages, text messages, cards, gifts, or any other gesture that you have done for Victoria all mean a lot to her and mean a lot to me. It's great to know that so many people are thinking of her and I know it really helps to keep her strong!
Victoria and Jeff, I'll be praying for a successful surgery and that no cancer is found. You are so strong Victoria keep up the fight, you have a Army of people praying for you and a strong family next to you and I'll be happy to hear next week that everything went well. Mark
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