Hi Ho Hi Ho, it's off to the Oncologist I go!

First, I apologize for the delay in posting. Mom and I flew into Little Rock on Friday. Appointments were not scheduled until Tuesday and Wednesday, so it was nice to have time to enjoy my parents, sisters, nieces and nephew and not think about what the next Dr. was going to say!!

I've also been taking some time to really recover from the breast reduction surgery, getting lots of rest and healing well!

So, my official diagnosis: Lobular Carcinoma in Situ. What does that mean? Excellent question! In a nutshell, it is more of a marker for the development of invasive breast cancer. All things considered, one of the better diagnosis I could have gotten. On the down side, it is widespread in my right breast, which makes my risk greater than some. I do have it in both breasts, but it appears to be focal in the left.

Yesterday: Dr. appointment was with a surgical oncologist at UAMS (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences) in Little Rock. This lady was great! She was very detailed and had a wonderful manner about her....mom and I were both impressed! Like the Dr. in Des Moines (who was a dud, by the way), she laid out the 3 treatment scenarios:
1. Careful monitoring. This means in a high risk clinic with 2 mammograms and possibly MRIs a year. The downside of this for me is that when a person has a breast reduction, it makes the mammograms and MRIs less reliable.
2. Taking Tamoxifen or similar estrogen blocker. This would slow down the growth of the cancer cells, thereby (in theory) reducing my chances of developing invasive cancer. There are associated side effects and potential for uterine and ovarian cancer with this medication. The recommendation would be to combine 1 & 2.
3. Prophylactic Mastectomy. Removal of the breast tissue, obviously greatly reduces the chance of developing breast cancer. The fact that I'm so young, (yes really!) makes this a more appealing option as I could potentially have invasive cancer "hanging over my head" for many years. As I get older, the risk increases.

So where am I now? Well, the good news is that I have time. This is not an "emergency" situation. Today I saw a medical oncologist at UAMS (also fabulous) who was real big on genetic testing. This would be testing for the most commong genes that are associated with breast cancer. The current wait time for the testing here is over 6 months!! But, awesome doctor du jour is trying to get me in NEXT WEEK! Fingers crossed. Once my breasts have had more healing time ( 3 months) I'll have an MRI so we can get a better look at things. In the meantime, I will be doing lots of research!!

Thank you all for the good thoughts and prayers.
Happy Thanksgiving to all -- hug those that you love :)

Love and hope,
Margaret