3 YEARS!!!

Well, for me it seems like it was a LONG time ago (longer than 3 years) but today marks the 3 year anniversary of Jenn having her surgery to remove the cancer. All check ups since that day have been great and I/we are still looking forward to that day when we can declare her CANCER FREE!!!

New test can predict spread of breast cancer

Article here

Team finds breast cancer gene linked to disease spread (Article)

Article here

25 Breast Cancer Myths and Misunderstandings (Article)

Article here

New treatment - Zoledronic Acid

They want to try another new treatment as well...this one is called Zoledronic Acid. Jenn would get an IV type transfusion every 6 months. It is supposed to have a 36% reduction of breast cancer recurrence when compared to a group who did not take the drug. At $1000 per treatment and with the Oncologist saying that insurance would not likely cover the treatment, it could get costly. But at a 36% reduction rate...no cost is too high for Jenn's health.

An article about Zoledronic Acid can be found here and here.

New treatment - Arimidex

After visiting her Oncologist today, they are putting Jenn on a new monthly pill. She was taking Tamoxifen but now is moving to Arimidex. The biggest shocker I think was that the Tamoxifen was $1.90 for a month's supply...the Arimidex is around $95 per month.

Surgery went well

Overall the surgery was a success. We were at the hospital at 7:45AM, went through all the pre-op stuff and Jenn was in surgery about 10AM. The surgery was over around 11AM and the doctor called me in to say that everything looked good and the procedure went as planned. After she came out of recovery we went to her room for a little R&R before going home around 6PM. Jenn is a little sore (obviously) but considering that this procedure used to have about a 2 week recovery time, the new way that they perform historectomies is a lot better. Jenn will come out of this with 3 new scars but it could have been much worse...

Surgery tomorrow...

As the next likely place for cancer to show up after the breast is the ovaries, they are taking out her ovaries tomorrow in an outpatient surgery. I will post an update once the surgery is complete...