It feels like maybe it’s been 5 years since I’ve been diagnosed, but really it’s only been 3 weeks. Today, I was finally able to meet with my oncologist, who I really appreciated. She was smart, answered all my questions before I could ask, and could write out my plan upside down and left-handed!

So after reviewing my history and doing an exam, we got down to the plan. The plan. The plan my brain’s been craving, and the reason I keep waking up at 5am (probably). Who wakes up at 5am without an alarm, anyway?

Although she does agree that my tumor is very likely stage I, we will do a CT scan to confirm that it has not spread anywhere else.

We’ll also get my genetic testing done. The genetic testing is done to determine if there are mutations in the BRCA1/BRCA2 gene/s. Normally, these genes help to suppress tumor growth, but if there is a mutation, then the risk of developing breast cancer is about 70% over someone’s lifetime. For someone without the gene, the risk is about 12%.¹ It also increases the risk of developing cancer in the other breast later on.

I’ll also begin the process of freezing my eggs. I know I pretend I don’t, but I actually do want to make some cute hapa babies some day! Better to be safe than sorry.

After all of that, I’ll have a port inserted and will hopefully start chemo in about 4 weeks. My regimen will initially be 12 weeks of a nice little cocktail of taxol and carboplatin. Then, we plan to re-assess, and dependent on tumor size and genetic outcomes, I may need another 8 weeks of a different type of chemo, but could potentially go to surgery after that. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.

Sources:
1. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/genetics/brca-fact-sheet