The saga continues....

This is the first post to yet another "update" website. I like this format better -- mainly because it does not have any irritating advertisements or surveys to bother people! :-)

My cancer journey has been a "good news, bad news" kind of saga. The bad news of course is that my recurrence happened so quickly. Less than a year after my standard treatment ended. We knew that my cancer ("triple negative") had a high recurrence rate (due to the lack of meds available for it?), but we have been literally stunned that it came back so quickly.

The good news is that it appears we caught the recurrence before it had a chance to move elsewhere in my body. My bone and CT scans were all "clean." My lymph nodes were removed from my previous treatment, but the cancer can still move elsewhere in my body through the blood vessels. The safest course of action is do chemotherapy again. My oncologist is considering a new drug, approved late 2007, which has shown to be helpful with my cancer.

But, cancer treatment never moves very quickly. I talked to my oncologist on the phone last night, and he said the pathologists are still having a hard time with my cancer -- trying to determine how much is "precancer" versus full grown cancer. I asked my oncologist about getting a second opinion, about going to a center that deals only with breast cancer. He answered that instead of doing that, he'd rather send my tissue samples to M.D. Andersen and get their opinion.

Long pause.

"You can do that? Without me having to travel to TX?" (and uproot my family and spend our family savings and... )

"Sure. In fact, I'd feel best about doing that. Why don't we do that? I'll get it set up and ready to go tomorrow."

Another long pause.

Wow.

So now my tissue samples are being sent to one of the best cancer center treatments in the country, for their analysis and recommendation. A second, stunning moment for me!

In the meantime, I am setting up appointments to meet with oncologists here in Midland -- the bulk of my treatment will still be in Royal Oak, but some of it (follow up shots) will be done here at home. Hopefully, a good compromise for my health and our family schedule.

God is surely in the details of my situation. Just when I thought we had one defined course of action, He opens the door to another set of experts and treatment possibilities. It makes me feel more hopeful -- to have the folks at M.D. Andersen look at my tissue samples, and for the treatment discussions/decisions it might influence. If only to confirm that the course of treatment we are considering is the best -- that will help bring a more complete sense of peace to me in this situation.

We all have said it at one time or another -- myself, Paul and my oncologist -- that more needs to be learned about treating triple negative breast cancer. Treatment decisions at this point are very random (think "Wheel of Fortune"). I feel much better to think that God is the one spinning the wheel.

I'd like to buy a vowel, please...