Today I met two more doctors on my cancer team: my radiation oncologist and my medical oncologist. Both are amazing men and talented doctors who instilled confidence in me with their approach to my treatment.
I am not a candidate just for Mammosite radiation because I am so young. Yes, 43 is young in the breast cancer world. So I will have a combination treatment plan consisting of Mammosite and whole-breast radiation.
The radiation plan starts on Friday. My surgeon will swap out the balloon currently in my breast for the actual Mammosite balloon. Then I will go to my radiation oncologist's office for a CAT scan to check balloon placement. Monday I start with targeted radiation. I will have two Mammosite treatments on Monday (March 31st) and one on Tuesday (April 1st). After the treatment on Tuesday, the doctors will remove the balloon and I get the rest of the week off.
I start 5 weeks of whole-breast radiation on Monday, April 7th. I will have 25 total treatments, one each week day, for 5 weeks.
After radiation therapy ends, I will start with medical oncology. The medical oncologist will discuss treatment options with me towards the end of my radiation therapy. The current plan is to start me on Tamoxifen, which I will take for 5 years.
The hardest part of today was walking into the Texas Oncology office knowing I was the patient. Knowing that I have 5+ years of treatment ahead of me really drove home how serious this disease is. But leaving the office and seeing a fellow cancer survivor who had lost her hair from chemo made me so thankful that I only have CANCER LITE.
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