The Nuts and Bolts

Mike and I met with Dr. Kocs today to go over the diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, and general questions. Here are the basics:

• I have Metastatic Breast Cancer; Stage 4
• It is not curable but it is manageable
• 4.5 centimeter tumor contained in a lymph node in my neck 
• No surgery because of its location and structures involved
•  We need to shrink, then kill it as soon as possible, again due to structures involved
•  Full pathology report is not in yet, but he suspects the tumor makeup will be the same when I was first diagnosed - grade 2, E/P+, HER2- 
• This is good; it means after chemo, new hormone treatment is possible
•  Prognosis is a crap shoot; could be 2 months, could be 20 years
• We're shooting for the 20 years :)
•  Treatment:
•  Eight weeks of chemo (Taxol) to start
• Targeted therapy (radiation) after chemo is possible to make sure we kill all the nasty cancer cells in the neck; don't want to revisit this area - ever!
• There are a whole slew of treatment options available to us, including immunotherapy, once we shrink and kill the monster in my neck
• Diet or lifestyle changes?
• No science to back it up 
• Would recommend a dietician if I needed to lose weight that could be inhibiting treatment
• Supplements?
• CBD Oil - legal; okay to use but not as a substitute. However, use caution in that it could impact how the chemo works; most patients use if for anxiety
•  Frankincense - again, no science behind it.
•  The party starts ... NOW!! Translation - its getting real very quickly

Not great news, not catastrophic news. It's just news. Surprisingly, we are okay; we are at peace. I am hanging my hat on "My faith is stronger than my fear". Let go and let God. 

Bring it!!