February 3, 2006

Today I received my remote second opinion from a breast cancer specialist at the Cleveland Clinic. Like my first doctor's first opinion (before the 180 degree change), the Cleveland Clinic doctor recommends 4 sessions of chemotherapy spaced three weeks apart and Herceptin every three weeks for a year. In addition, I will still need to undergo radiation therapy.

Her written opinion states that statistical models indicate that a woman with a small tumor that is not hormone responsive and is HER-2/NEU "over-expressive" like mine has about a 20% chance of cancer recurrence within 10 years. Ouch. She said that historically, chemotherapy has been recommended based on the size of the tumor, but more recent studies indicate that recurrence is more closely related to the characteristics of the tumor. Since mine would be classified as aggressive, she recommends more aggressive treatment.

Next Thursday, February 9th, Todd and I are meeting with the Head of Oncology at Henry Ford Hospital. I'll have an opportunity to get his thoughts (though I think the right course of action is pretty clear) and I'll be able to decide if he's the right medical oncologist for me. Then, I'll be able to move on with treatment. My thought right now is follow this treatment recommendation, especially since it matches the first doctor's first instinct.

Chemotherapy for breast cancer causes hair loss, so I guess I'll be going wig shopping. It will be a great opportunity to experiment with colors and styles! (Watch out, I might go for purple! Okay, maybe not…)