August 6, 2025
Good Morning from Tappahannock.... PRAY FOR HAPPY MRI RESULTS!!!
Continental breakfast at the hotel, good coffee, crappy night of sleep. No fault of the hotel, just not our bed, not our normal pillows, not our room temps... we could adjust the wall stat but being a P-Tac unit, it's either on or off... it takes a while to get to whatever temp it needs to before it comes on, and by then, Kira was too warm...then it runs so long we're freezing...Just not home.
We worked a little in the hotel room before it was time to head over to Stony Point for the day's oncologist appt. I drove, in the rain, while Nathan worked in the truck. Thank you hotspot and power inverter.
We get over to Stony Point, get checked in and were called back in no time. Typical. They don't let you wait long. I love that.
Vitals, check. Change into gown, check. Wait for the Dr. We didn't wait long before she came in.
She proceeded to say that she'd reviewed the notes from the Roanoke office on my treatments, my prior MRI and the recent mammogram. She confirmed that she didn't see anything on the mammogram other than the biopsy marker. Praise the Lord!
She went on to say that once again my case will be presented to the Tumor Board on Tuesday of next week, so she was going to request my MRI results be rushed. Hopefully we will have those results by the end of the week. Fingers crossed.
The oncologist went on to discuss my treatment, reactions to the new chemo drugs and treatment going forward. She asked if I had taken the Claritin prior to the Neulasta and when I told her no, no one told me to, she had a look of shock on her face. She went on to explain the reasons why patients react better when they take that prior to and the days that follow this treatment cocktail, just as the Surgeon and my cousin explained during the week after my treatment. The antihistamine in the Claritin helps to prevent some of the reactions caused by the drug cocktail. Add in the Tylenol for pain management.... Things that were not explained to me at my local oncologist office or treatment center. Grr...
She also went on to say that I have options with my current regimen.
I can choose to skip the Neulasta (in her opinion), because I am still getting the Immunotherapy (Keytruda), which should help my immune system, but also since I'm only having this new cocktail every 3 weeks. That should allow my system to rebuild it's immune system without the Neulasta before it's time for the next treatment. She said if I was having the chemo treatment at closer intervals, the Neulasta would be recommended.
The other option I have is to request a dosage reduction. This may also lessen the blow to my system, and if I take the Claritin and Tylenol, the thinking is that I would be able to handle the treatment better.
The 3rd option would be a combination of the 2 above - reduce the dosage and omit the Neulasta.
Until she gets the results of the MRI, she does not recommend me giving up treatment at this point. Reason being, my prior MRI shows my Rotter's Nodes were not happy. Praying that this MRI shows that that they are happy now. It's been almost 3 weeks since treatment, so that should not be factoring into my nodes at this point. Praying HARD for happy nodes. If my Rotter's Nodes are not happy, treatment will continue before surgery. Then there's the potential for radiation therapy to continue to try to make them happy again.
The doctor is supposed to call me when she gets the results of the MRI.
Let me add here, if you have any type of cancer, please seek a second opinion from an NCI (National Cancer Institute) if you are able. This gets you established as a patient with them, plus if you start feeling less than confident or just don't get the answer you seek with your local provider, you have this option for care. I really, TRULY feel like the folks at VCU give a crap about me, I'm not just another patient to them. They take the time to review my case prior to meeting with me, have a list of questions or things to go over with me, are fully prepared for my visit. Every single time I'm there. They've taken my case to their Tumor Board before and are doing so again post-treatment. They're compassionate and really were concerned with the affects I had from the new treatment and the looks on their faces were disbelief that I wasn't given enough information on self medicating and what to potentially expect from the new cocktail. Right down to the scheduling team, every single person encountered in person or on the phone is nice, polite and as helpful as can be. Plus, an NCI deals with nothing but cancer, all day, every day. It's what they know.
It isn't that my local staff sucks, but not being given information that could have prevented me from the excruciating pain that I was suffering thru for over a week just doesn't make me feel like I can fully trust them at this point. I mean, would it have been so terrible to tell me worst and best case scenarios with the new cocktail and options to potentially prevent or lessen the blow of reactions? Would it be too much to tell me why they felt the need for the additional chemo cocktail other than "standard of care"? (especially when I asked that question specifically) I guess I'm just starting to feel like they are overwhelmed and too busy to really take the time with patients. The nursing staff at BRCC has been phenomenal in giving the treatment, answering the questions they are able to answer, making sure patients have everything they need during treatments to include snacks and drinks, blankets, pillows, etc. They are very attentive despite being busy. Let's also add in that the local breast surgeon apparently works with various plastic surgeons. It depends on which is available at the time of surgery. Nathan and I have both asked at separate interval to meet the plastic surgeons that could potentially do the reconstruction. We'd like to get a "comfort feel", ask questions, see if they can do they type of surgery that has been recommended by VCU, etc. Especially before it's "go time". No luck. Nathan even explained to the local surgeon's office that if "he were doing construction on his home, he'd meet with multiple contractors ahead of time and go with the one he felt could do the best job. He told them that's just for people working on his house... We're talking about people working on his wife and he'd expect to have some type of consultation ahead of time on who's poking holes in his wife." Perfect analogy. Still no appts with local plastic surgeons. That was the final decision maker for surgery - VCU would handle my surgery. We'd met the team, we were both comfortable with them and there was no run-around.
While we wait for MRI results, lots of prayers are being said for positive outcomes. Our God is the ultimate healer and I've been saying since day one of this crap that God's got me.
Our drive back home from VCU was uneventful, other than driving in the rain. The dogs were very happy to see us. You'd think we'd been gone for ages, not just 24 hours... lol.. Gotta love em.
Having Hannah stay and take care of things while we were out of town has been a huge blessing. We knew there was nothing to worry about - knew the dogs would be fed and let out and not home alone, knew the chickens, ducks and goats would be fed... Thankful she too has a job that she can work remotely from where ever she is. Granted, she did say that the ducks were "a-holes" when she was trying to put then to bed Tuesday night... they weren't used to having a stranger put em to bed. She managed to succeed tho.
Next up, Plastic Surgeon appt Friday morning at VCU.
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