Celebrate Happy!

 The quick update:  We are still figuring things out, but getting closer to a treatment plan.  

I met with the orthopedic sarcoma specialist at Huntsman on Monday, Feb. 9th.  They said we need to know what kind of mass is wrapping around my brachial plexus.  A muscular skeletal specialist did a biopsy of that mass on Thursday, Feb. 12th.  It was perfect timing, because we could await results while we played in California. 

I met with the sarcoma specialist at City of Hope in Los Angeles on Monday, Feb. 16th.  He went over lots of potential procedures and answered questions.  It was so kind of  him to work me in on short notice and spend a lot of time discussing a still unknown type of cancer.  On Thursday the 19th, the pathology report came back from the brachial plexus area.  This biopsy had plenty of tissue to confirm more things.  Both masses are the same kind of cancer, and instead of sarcoma it is carcinoma, and is a breast cancer, though not in the breast.  From the previous pathology report, we know it is negative for hormone receptors.  My previous breast cancer was estrogen and progesterone receptor positive, so hormone blockers helped keep that cancer away for 10 years after chemo and radiation. Hormone blockers won't help this time.  We are awaiting results to see if it is HER2 positive.  We meet this Tuesday, the 24th, with my oncologist to discuss what type of breast cancer this is, treatment options, and a start day-- I'm hoping later this week.  

We had a wonderful trip to Southern California.  Kirsten drove me to City of Hope, and joined in for my doctor's visit.  We were so impressed with everyone we interacted with there.  Everyone was so friendly and helpful.

Courtney's family flew in Tuesday morning, and we all drove down to Disneyland.  Scott flew in and joined us after work meetings. The theme for Disneyland's 70th birthday is "Celebrate Happy!"  That seemed like a great theme for our family too.  We had a great time both at Disney and Kirsten's home.