Her drains were not able to be removed because they continue to drain a good bit of fluid. There is no evidence of infection and her surgical sites look good. Overall her pain has been much better controlled for the past few days which is an answer to prayer.
Her pathology and molecular studies were also encouraging. The tumor was actually a lot smaller than predicted by exam or mammography. It was only 0.6 cm diameter of the total 1.9 cm mass. The other appears to be benign reactive tissue around the tumor. Her report did confirm that two nodes of the twelve sampled were positive for cancer.
The best news is that her cancer is estrogen receptor positive, progesterone receptor positive and Her-2/neu receptor negative. According to the surgeon, this receptor profile is the most favorable in regards to chemotherapy as it increases the kinds of chemotherapy that can be used as well as the effectiveness in chemotherapy eradicating any remaining cancer cells that may have spread through body.
Once her drains are out (expected in 1-2 weeks), she will have a port-a-cath placed at the end of the month. She was told that based on her case she should expect chemotherapy treatments every other week for 4 to 6 months with two drugs IV as well as oral Tamoxifen for up to 5 years. She has not met with the medical oncologist yet to review all of this but will do so in the next week or two. He will determine which medications and dosing regime will work best based on her cancer type and stage.
Please continue to pray for her full and complete healing. Thank you so much to all who have been an encouragement to her through this. You are greatly appreciated and loved!
James
Again, thanks for the update. We continue to pray for you guys. I'm glad she'll be getting treatments every other week instead of every week!
ReplyDelete-Lynnette