Dec. 1, 2006 - Oncologist update

We met with my oncologist yesterday and got the results of every test. Steve & Marlene Van Kooten (she has her masters in nursing!) went with me. First, I'll give you my prayer requests and then I'll fill in the details...

PRAYER REQUESTS:
1. We need God's timing and direction for the surgery I need this month: ovaries & uterus removal. Steve graduates on Dec. 17th. How to coordinate surgery date with that. Also, asking the Lord for no post surgery anxiety, nausea, etc. that I had after the mastectomy.
2. Which surgeon/anesthesiologist to do the surgery. (We think that God has confirmed which surgeon but He still has to coordinate it all!)
3. What is God's will for the reconstructive surgery? What does He want us to do?
4. Strength to continue Home Schooling Gabe.
5. Asking God that my body does not react "historically/traditionally" to my body being put into immediate menopause.

Okay, now for the details:

Because I had blood clots in the hospital and after my surgery, the doctors tested me to see if I have a blood clotting disorder. PTL that he allowed the clots to happen when they did or the doctors would have never tested me for the disorder! I do have the blood clotting disorder and have had it since birth. We just didn't know I had it. This discovery really effects the choices we make from here on out.

Next surgery: I have to have my ovaries removed and my uterus removed because my tumor was estrogen based. The doctor wants me to have this surgery within the month. The doctors want to remove every ounce of estrogen from my body. They will do this via the surgery and an oral chemotherapy pill that I will take for 5 years. There is the traditional chemo route that involves a drip, port, etc. That has a very high risk of clotting. Therefore, it is not an option. There are two oral pill routes for chemotherapy. One is Tamoxicin (sp?) which is most common but has a higher risk for causing blood clots. The other oral pill that I will take has a lower risk of causing blood clots. (But still poses a risk medically, nonetheless.)

The tests results from California came back as saying that my tumor was 2cm. Usually with a tumor this size, they recommend chemotherapy. But there's a new test that they ran (even though it is new, the New England Journal of Medicine (?) said it is an excellent test!) and it tells you whether your chances for cancer reoccurrence are low, medium or high. My results came back as low chance for reoccurrence at 6%. Most cancer doctors hope to get people to a 5% chance of reoccurrence so I'm already doing well!

My doctor said that to have traditional chemo would only gain me 1% in terms of my chance of reoccurrence rates and that that small of a percentage is not worth the risk that traditional chemo would present for me (with the blood clotting disorder).

Shew, that's a lot of information. Hope it makes sense.

Thank you so much for covering us in your prayers! Our lives are in HIS hands and we are so grateful.
Love,
Jamie - Steve-Gabe