Charlotte got most of her pathology report back today from her double mastectomy and lymph removal and dissection. It wasn't what she was expecting, but it could be much worse. The report shows that her 4 tumors are all independent of each other and they are at least 2 different kinds. In other words, her cancer is considered "multifocal", and it also means she doesn't have just ductal cancer, but also lobular.
To put this in perspective.... 80% of breast cancer is ductal and 13 % is lobular...meaning only about 7% of breast cancer patients have both. Also, of the 6 lymph nodes they targeted and tested during the surgery, 4 were still carrying live cancer and a 5th one is still abnormal most likely cancerous all the time and 6th one was normal (originally she was told she only had 4 nodes involved and it was only ductal cancer).
Sooooo, what does all this mean? It means they need to start quick and aggressively on next treatment which is monthly injections of Goserelin at the infusion place and a daily pill of Exemestane. Another score that we are still trying to understand is her cancer burden class is RCB-III. The lobular part and it being multifocal is a bummer, because it ups her odds cancer could show up elsewhere. So in the mean time, in addition to the 5 weeks of radiation, she will be scheduling her ovaries to be removed so the monthly injections can end and also scheduling a full body cat scan to be sure it is still only isolated to nodes.
Some good news- reviewing all the breast tissue and lymph tissue- margins were negative. Woohoo! Oh also, the 4 tumors in breast...3 were tiny, and the 4th one was still close to the original size (1.9 cm).
As always, your positive thoughts, the prayers, the gifts and the meals are truly appreciated. The love-filled outreach via visits, cards, phone calls, email, texts & facebook messages absolutely lift her up. 💗 Thank you all!
More Long Healing Prayers to Come your Way. Love you SO Much.