Radiation, What to do?
It's been a busy summer for Victoria, Brodie and I. We finally moved back into our house and have had to travel out of state for a couple of weddings. Normalcy is beginning to finally settle in, well somewhat.
Victoria is doing extremely well! Her attitude couldn't be better and she seems to be feeling great. Her hair is coming back, thick, beautiful and brown, yes brown!
The medical and surgical oncologist both recommended that Victoria see a radiation oncologist to determine whether or not she need to receive radiation treatment. Prior to meeting with the radiation oncologist both Victoria and I agreed that the doctor would have to present a pretty strong case regarding Victoria's condition in order for her to go through radiation. We left the appointment not knowing what direction to take as the doctor had essentially described Victoria as being in a "grey" area and did not clearly provide any significant reason for Victoria going through radiation.
However, we did feel that it was important to get a second opinion. Victoria had brought up the topic of radiation with her plastic surgeon who recommended a few radiation oncologists that specialized in breast cancer. The first doctor that we saw was more a less a generalist, at least that was how we felt. We met with Dr. Robert Kuske of Arizona Breast Cancer specialist. He is a pioneer in the field of breast cancer and breast cancer radiation, and came across as a very caring doctor who would be happy to treat Victoria. He spent a good deal of time explaining the benefits of long term prevention and radiation treatment to us, and in the end ultimately left the decision up to us. It wasn't a hard decision to make as we just wanted to hear some facts, research, and statics all of which would give Victoria and me the warm fuzzy in her receiving treatment.
Victoria will go through six weeks of radiation. She has just completed her first week, so she only has 5 remaining. Monday-Friday she drives 35 minutes each way out to Scottsdale to receive treatment. So far the side affects have been minimal. She did feel a little fatigued throughout the week and she has had some coarseness in her throat.
Victoria and I were really hoping that she wouldn't have to go through radiation. It just seems like one more hurdle that we'd have to overcome before we could put this behind us. But after speaking with Dr. Kuske it's just not worth the gamble to skip radiation. The major deciding factor in receiving the radiation was, one, to kill all cancer cells that may remain that could not be seen under the microscope in her pathology results and cells that will not show up on any type of imaging scans, and two, because Victoria's cancer is so aggressive and can spread rapidly it's important to do everything possible to prevent recurrence.
I'll write again in a few weeks to let everybody know how the radiation treatment is going.
Victoria is doing extremely well! Her attitude couldn't be better and she seems to be feeling great. Her hair is coming back, thick, beautiful and brown, yes brown!
The medical and surgical oncologist both recommended that Victoria see a radiation oncologist to determine whether or not she need to receive radiation treatment. Prior to meeting with the radiation oncologist both Victoria and I agreed that the doctor would have to present a pretty strong case regarding Victoria's condition in order for her to go through radiation. We left the appointment not knowing what direction to take as the doctor had essentially described Victoria as being in a "grey" area and did not clearly provide any significant reason for Victoria going through radiation.
However, we did feel that it was important to get a second opinion. Victoria had brought up the topic of radiation with her plastic surgeon who recommended a few radiation oncologists that specialized in breast cancer. The first doctor that we saw was more a less a generalist, at least that was how we felt. We met with Dr. Robert Kuske of Arizona Breast Cancer specialist. He is a pioneer in the field of breast cancer and breast cancer radiation, and came across as a very caring doctor who would be happy to treat Victoria. He spent a good deal of time explaining the benefits of long term prevention and radiation treatment to us, and in the end ultimately left the decision up to us. It wasn't a hard decision to make as we just wanted to hear some facts, research, and statics all of which would give Victoria and me the warm fuzzy in her receiving treatment.
Victoria will go through six weeks of radiation. She has just completed her first week, so she only has 5 remaining. Monday-Friday she drives 35 minutes each way out to Scottsdale to receive treatment. So far the side affects have been minimal. She did feel a little fatigued throughout the week and she has had some coarseness in her throat.
Victoria and I were really hoping that she wouldn't have to go through radiation. It just seems like one more hurdle that we'd have to overcome before we could put this behind us. But after speaking with Dr. Kuske it's just not worth the gamble to skip radiation. The major deciding factor in receiving the radiation was, one, to kill all cancer cells that may remain that could not be seen under the microscope in her pathology results and cells that will not show up on any type of imaging scans, and two, because Victoria's cancer is so aggressive and can spread rapidly it's important to do everything possible to prevent recurrence.
I'll write again in a few weeks to let everybody know how the radiation treatment is going.
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