the results are in... (drum roll please)

Sorry it took me so long to get an update up.  I can't tell you all how much your love and support and concern has meant over these past few weeks.  Here's the latest:

Consistent with Mike's diagnosis (he is a dr you know  -- Yes, contrary to all rational thought, Mike and I reviewed my films this weekend (I left all 3 scans with a CD full of films):

• the brain scan came back CLEAR 
• the bone scan came back CLEAR
• the CT scan of my abdomen shows multiple lesions on the liver (no real surprise here)-- more than we initially thought, but not ridiculous amounts

So... where does that leave us?  We're kind of in a gray zone... Dr Cairoli presented two options...

1. hormonal therapy
• PROS: the tumor was confirmed to still be highly estrogen responsive (meaning it feeds off of estrogen).  Aromatase inhibitors are used to block the synthesis of estrogen.  Side effects are minor (only major side effect is throwing the body into menopause
• CONS:  these drugs only work in post-menopausal women, so I would need a Lupron shot to shut down my ovaries.  it would take 8-12 weeks to really see if it's working (and if it's not, that's 8-12 weeks of tumor killing time we just lost)
2. chemo --> then, when the tumors shrink, maintain with hormonal therapy
• PROS: pull out the big guns first.  as far as chemo goes, the recommended drug is fairly tolerable.  limited nausea/vomiting.  only a 30 minute transfusion.
• CONS:  it's chemo.  chemo sucks. 

The choice to us was fairly obvious and it was easily confirmed when Dr Cairoli said that if it was him, he would choose the chemo.  I didn't have to think twice.

So what's next?

I have to find a doctor to place a subclavian port into my chest.  After 8 rounds of chemo, 10 surgeries + a dozen other pokes and prods, the veins in my right arm are seriously P.O.'d.  As you may remember, I can only use my right arm because I had the lymph nodes removed from my left arm during my very first surgery (was that seriously five years ago?).  I have tiny veins to begin with and the port will enable me to get my treatments easily, without searching for a vein to stick.  I have an appointment with a dr recommended by my friend, Annette, but he can't see me until July 6... so I'm trying another dr this Thursday -- if he's good, I hope to have the procedure done either Friday or Monday.  Fingers crossed.

I start chemo next Wednesday, June 30.  It will be weekly treatments with Abraxane.  It's similar to one of the drugs I got the first time around -- it's a taxane, like Taxol, but with fewer side effects.  The current plan is to get weekly treatments and scan my abdomen again in 8-12 weeks.  If the tumors shrink, that's good news!  If they shrink a lot, we can back off the chemo and try to maintain the results with hormone therapy. 

I'm still working to get into Sloan Kettering for a second opinion, but for now... we can't sit here twiddling our thumbs for 4 weeks -- we've got to get started, so get your game face on!