City of Hope is a massive place. My friend and I left at noon and got there around 1:30. Then we checked in, met my dad's wife there, and waited. The lady there said "you were diagnosed 1/11/11? You got your appointment here fast!" and all I could think was "I have known for a month!" I am so thankful I am already on my 2nd dose of chemo, and didn't have a month to dwell on my diagnosis before beginning any treatment. That would have been awful. Anyway, the PA was really nice and they seemed to be great about asking a lot of questions and being very thorough. The doctor finally came in and told us what he thinks. He says he would have recommended chemo first, then surgery (exact same as Breastlink). He even said they would have used the exact same "chemo cocktail" (so they call it) for me. He said carboplatin, and taxol (which is the same thing/ a sister drug to taxotere, basically) is what they would have used too. Taxol is given in smaller doses but given more frequently (weekly rather than every 3 weeks). So I would have to drive to CoH every week, which may not be ideal. I am liking that I go to Orange only once every 21 days. He also mentioned that after surgery, I may want to consider in addition to Herceptin getting some Tamoxifen. This is because of the small amount of estrogen receptors that were indicated on my pathology report. This was the only thing he mentioned that could be considered any new info, so it was definitely a reassuring appointment. I am now even more confident in the treatment plan I'm on, and happy to say I am going to stick with it! We didn't get out of there until 4:30. It was a long day.
I am exhausted, and am so thankful for the many friends that were there for me today (taking kids to school, picking them up, bringing us dinner, driving me around all day...) Thank you! Thank you! I am well taken care of. I am already starting to feel a little "out of it" and nauseated so I am definitely looking forward to just resting the next few days.