Medical Updates and Family Awareness

Antonio thought I should share this here, so I am. This post is based off of an update I shared with my family as far as cancer awareness within the family.

So on Friday, August 9th, I met with my medical oncologist, Dr. Hellerdstat. She’s a genius. And her bedside manners are above and beyond. I only had to meet with her twice and her words of wisdom and validation will forever be imprinted in my heart.

The purpose of our Friday appointment was to share the results of the pathology report and how we move forward in regards to cancer.

Dr. Hellerstadt is so good at her job - she is able to explain cancer to you in a way that makes sense to you. She tells us the medical terminology and then is able to put it into our words.

So here are our words to describe my pathology report to you:

Right breast - we got all the cancer out! My surgeon did a fabulous job and came out with negative margins! No concerns for lymph nodes and no need to go back in 🙂 

Left breast - it was a hot mess! They found four different atypical things going on in there. Biopsies all came back benign, but she couldn’t be certain of the future. Her words “I’m grateful you choose a bilateral mastectomy because we don’t have to worry about the left breast anymore.” If I didn’t get the left removed, she said it would have been removed eventually so good thing we did it now before it wrecks havoc on the system!

So “yay” to our decision of being aggressive! Validation of a big decision never gets old.

So now that I’m cancer free, I no longer have to see my medical oncologist. Bittersweet as she is such a bad ass doctor, but good because I don’t have to worry about cancer anymore.

I do have to continue to see my oncology surgeon, as she is also a breast specialist. She will now take over my breast exams for life, which is awesome because she is a baller of a doctor. I have my next appointment with her in 6 months and then I think we switch to yearly appointments from there. She’ll examine me each year with ultrasounds. No more mammograms for me! I guess I’m a one and done type of girl!

What does this all mean for my family?

Since I don’t carry a gene for this, my doctor said I drew the short end of the stick. My family (sisters and nieces) do not need to take any extreme interventions for cancer prevention. It was recommended they inform their doctor letting them know they are one degree separated from cancer. If they aren’t already doing mammograms, they need to start, and go yearly. For my nieces, they should start being monitored earlier verses later in life, but no extreme threats for anyone. She also said genetic testing never hurts.

I do carry one bad copy for MUTYH gene, since it is only one bad gene, I just need to be diligent with my screenings for colon cancer. She said “do not miss your 45 year old colonoscopy!” And she encouraged my family to make sure they all get scoped as well for their 45th birthday! She said the only major concern for this gene is if Javi happens to find someone who also has one bad copy and together, they give their offspring both bad copies. She said than that would not be good, as this type of mutation causes colon cancer in their teens. So once again, she recommended genetic testing just so we can be informed. And if by some way, Javi got this gene AND he found someone who had a bad copy of this gene, there are now interventions in modern day science where they can prevent this gene from being passed down through IVF! So this is my grand child we are talking about! Like we said, this doctor is a genius and it is her job to keep us informed on how our body works, especially with genetics. We are in no fear with this information, but did find it fascinating. When Javi gets older, he will get to decide if and how much genetic testing he wants to get done with his body.

This is the first doctor who has really explained my Factor 5 mutation with me and what that means for my offspring. Since Javi is a boy, there is no immediate need or risk that we get him tested, unless if he ever ends up in a leg cast or traveling for long periods of time. If so, he then just needs to take a baby aspirin during that time period. She did recommend that he gets tested when he becomes an adult because he should just know his body and how to be responsible with it. If we had a girl, then the plan would be different since Factor 5 does not mix well with hormones. So I did share that information with my sisters so they can keep that in mind for their girls.