The Treatment Plan

This was discussed in our family meeting, but I thought I'd better put it here on the blog so you can refer back to it. It can change at any time.
I will receive 6 chemo treatments every 3 weeks of TCH . I have already received the first treatment, so there are only 5 more. My next appointment is April 24th. My last appointment is scheduled to be July 17th, but I'm going to push it back a week so I can go on vacation with my family to Jackson Hole. However if any of my other dates get changed, my ending date will also change.
Once this hard chemo is done I will continue receiving chemo for 11 more treatments every 3 weeks again. This chemo will consist of Herceptin and Pertuzmah (Homormone blocking agents). These treatments will not leave me sick. Projected end date for this chemo is March 5th, 2015.
Going back to the ending of the 6th treatment- I will get a month break before having a temporary surgery. All the surgeons we met with seemed to feel my cancer mass was too big to do just a lump ectomy and feel it is necessary to do a mastectomy. For this surgery the breast tissue will be removed and a saline implant will be put in. I again will be give some time to heal before starting radiation. As of today I am not sure if I will do a double mastectomy or just a single. It's a big decision and one I need time to ponder over. Radiation will be every weekday for 6 weeks. I'm thinking I'll be done with radiation around Thanksgiving.
After radiation I will have a period of time to let the skin heal, about 6 months. After the healing period I will have the final breast surgery where the saline implant is removed and the silicone one is placed. If all goes as 'planned' I will be done by next Summer.

All along this journey I will have my blood tested at chemo appointments and in between to make sure I'm staying as healthy as possible. I know I will have follow MRI's to make sure the cancer is responding to the chemo, and I'll have echo cardiograms to make sure my heart is handling the stress of chemo.
When I did my own breast exam the other day I could already tell a difference in the size of my lump. That is encouraging and give me hope. Hope gives me strength! Hope is a wonderful feeling!

I love you all!