Yesterday marked a full week since I received the news that I had breast cancer. I had a breast MRI scheduled that I had been incredibly nervous about, not because I’m particularly claustrophobic, but because this imaging would be the most reliable source we had to date to decide if my cancer had spread. We found out early this morning that it has not spread from the right breast, and as far as my doctors can tell, my lymph nodes are looking completely clear. I cannot even comprehend the relief I felt at being told this news. My surgeon actually called me at 8am in the morning even though we had a meeting at 9.30am, because she knew I had been worried sick about it. When she called I was just finishing up at my IVF check-up, where things were also looking very positive. As the Doctors counted on the ultrasound screen how many follicles (and therefore hopefully eggs) were maturing, I asked them if anyone had ever commented on how similar this whole process was to the beginning of Chicken Run, in particular the scene in which Mrs. Tweedy and her husband line up all the chickens and tally their daily egg output. Remarkably no one has ever made this comparison before, although one Doctor did kindly suggest that may be because not many Americans have seen Chicken Run and not because I am completely and utterly barking mad. Personally, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to watch Chicken Run the same way again.

From our 8am appointment at the fertility clinic, we moved swiftly on to my interdisciplinary meeting at the Breast Centre in Santa Monica. I had been even more apprehensive about this meeting, as I would be meeting my full cancer team for the first time, and getting confirmation of my treatment plan. I genuinely cannot put into words how marvellously lovely everybody we met was. They treated Bret and I as if they had known us for years.  We felt immediately at ease and probably confused everyone with the sheer amount of ludicrous jokes we were making. Along those lines I can confirm that my breast cancer is probably not caused by global warming…

What is even more fantastic is that we now have a clear idea of how the next year is going to look. As we suspected, it’ll be 6 rounds of TCHP chemotherapy followed by one year of Herceptin to be administered intravenously every three weeks. For that reason I need to get a port/central catheter fitted pretty darn quickly. I also need to get my heart and kidney function checked before starting chemo. Thankfully, my oncologist is adamant that I can get in one round of chemo before the New Year, but this will have to be after my egg retrieval half way through next week. Apparently I’ll be having my chemotherapy treatment in Beverly Hills, so won’t that be something for the books! There is also a plan to use medication to put my ovaries into a sort of dormancy whilst I have the chemo, as this will further increase mine and Bret’s chance of having a family. The slight complication is that I will need to be on a hormone suppressant for a good 5-10 years after treatment, and you can’t get pregnant if you’re not producing estrogen! But I suppose this is one of those one bridge at a time scenarios.

I met briefly with my surgeon again and I have to say that I like her exorbitantly more than one should like anyone who’s planning to take a knife to their boob. I also met the radiation oncologist for the first time and she was just as warm and knowledgeable as the rest of the team. The plan with surgery and radiation is completely dependent on how I respond to chemo and also if my blood test for the ‘breast cancer gene’ comes back positive. If you have a ‘lumpectomy’ you need radiation and if you have a mastectomy you likely do not. There are lots of things to take into consideration, for example my age and the likelihood of recurrence. The tricky thing is that at the end of the day it will likely come down to my own preference and what I feel most comfortable with. Some women prefer to do all they can to preserve their breast, whilst others would rather take a more drastic measure to provide themselves with a bit of safety of mind. The good thing is that we have some time to decide whilst we go through chemo.

Those are all my updates for now! Again, Bret and I would like to say a huge thank you for the overwhelming amount of support we’ve received so far. Some very kind folks have asked if I can include my gofundme page in my blog as they don’t have access to Facebook, so I am putting the link below along with a terrible photo of me in the sexiest gown I’ve worn all week!

With love,

Emma and Bret xxx

Emma’s Gofundme