Tag: BRCA2

CT Results

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The cancer is throughout the lymph nodes in her abdominal cavity but it hasn’t grown much so they are considering it stable. The lymph nodes grew by 0.2cm on average.  So while they are growing they are growing at a super slow rate.  So that’s why they are classifying it as stable. In order to keep it stable she will have to be on chemo indefinitely. They will stick with the same drug she is on and are adding another chemotherapy drug next cycle.  They will stick with this protocol until either the lymph nodes grow larger by 30% or she has a severe allergic reaction. He let us know that this isn’t going away with treatment and that the goal now is to keep it small and stable.

So while it isn’t the best news its certainly not the worst.  We would have liked to have heard,  “These things are shrinking and you should be in remission in no time”, absolutely! But we also didn’t hear, “It’s growing out of control and there’s nothing we can do”.  So ya it’s a bummer, but it could’ve been worse.  So that’s what were rolling with.

 

**Thank you all for taking the time to read the blog, pray for us, reach out to us and surround us with so much love and support.  It truly means more than words can express.  You are all wonderful and we appreciate every single one of you!**

Some Thoughts

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My mind is somewhere else and it probably will be this entire week. It’s torn between what my mom’s test results will be and remembering to get eggs to make cupcakes for Julian’s birthday.

I’ve developed a coping mechanism over the past couple years. I’m not really sure if it’s actually a coping mechanism or just an attempt at avoidance.

When my mom was first diagnosed my fears were always at the front of my mind. I would sit on the bathroom floor every night and just cry. Eventually this subsided.

These days I’m almost able to stick my fears in a box and focus on what we have. What we have been blessed with and not what we stand to lose. I’m sure this has come with time, therapy and medication. But on weeks like this I allow myself to open the box. I allow myself to feel my fears.

February 14th she has her scan. And once that scan is complete we know at any moment her nurse could call and give us some crappy news. The 18th she meets with her oncologist so we are guaranteed to know something by then.

Maybe chemo has started working. Maybe it hasn’t. Maybe the next drug they try will slow or destroy the cancer. There are a lot of maybes. But there is one thing I KNOW for sure…regardless of the news we receive we will deal with it how we always have with tears, humor and with love and support from the people around us.

It’s Been A While

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Hello, it’s been a while.  Almost a month since the last time I wrote a post.  The reason is a good thing. We’ve just been over here living life.  Mom was getting chemo once every 3 weeks and other than that we’ve just been enjoying summer.  Mom has been making up for last summer.  Watering her flowers without intense amounts of pain and going on vacation.  We don’t talk about cancer or death like we were.  But things are starting again or ending, I suppose.  All depends what the scan says.

Today mom will have her final chemo for this course.  This could potentially be her last chemo for a very long time but that all depends on the scan.  Today she met with her oncologist and here is the game plan.  Chemo today, scan next week and an appointment to go over the scan on July 3rd.  Something about seeing the words scan next week makes my stomach turn.  I guess it’s because I know how we all get after a CT scan and during the waiting period.  Hoping for good results and overanalyzing how we will react if it’s bad news.  It’s been a rollercoaster and this is just how we are programmed at this point.

So if the scan is clear mom will start a drug called a PARP inhibitor.  It is a pill she will take until the end of time.  The PARP inhibitor is a drug that treats cancer.  Specifically patients with BRCA mutations like mom.  It makes the cancer unstable so it can’t grow.  It doesn’t extend a person’s life but extends progression free survival.  Progression free survival is the amount of time a person is living without their cancer growing and spreading.  The downside to these drugs is that over time the cancer gets smart and figures out a way around the drug (a secondary mutation) and then you need to find a new drug because the current one becomes ineffective.  I’m not saying this to be a downer.  Just scientifically this is how these drugs work.

So two weeks of limbo and then some answers and a plan going forward.  As always thank you all for your love and prayers and support throughout this insane year!

Heads or Tails?

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I should be walking into work right now. But I’m not. I’m just sitting in my car. Today is her last day of chemo for this course. Today is my blood test and genetic counseling appointment. I know what to expect and honestly nothing is going to happen today. Except I give my family history, they’ll give me some odds and then I’ll get my blood taken. But honestly I have no desire to leave my car. The sun is shining and country music is playing. It’s quite lovely.

**UPDATE** I did get out of my car and go to work. And now I’m just sitting at my desk waiting.  Waiting to go to this appointment.  This is literally the simplest thing and I won’t even be getting results today and I don’t even have cancer.  But when I went to my mom’s genetic counseling appointment with her the gene was a hypothetical.  We THOUGHT she had it based on her age when diagnosed with breast cancer and the fact that she had breast and ovarian.  But we didn’t KNOW…we didn’t know which BRCA gene.  And now we know.  So now they can give me very specific statistics based on this gene.  And it’s weird and my appointment is at the Cancer Institute because that’s where they had an opening and I don’t have cancer and I feel super dramatic but the whole thing is weird and strange and odd and weird.

**UPDATE** Everyone at the Cancer Institute was incredibly kind. The receptionist that checked me in asked how are you? And she was incredibly sincere when she asked. It was such a comfort. The genetic counselor explained everything really well. I have a 50% chance of getting the BRCA2 gene. If I have the gene mutation screening and surgical options were discussed in order to reduce my risk of getting breast and/or ovarian cancer.  It made me feel a lot better knowing I could be proactive about my health and that I can take control in some sort of way. So it’s a flip of a coin and in two weeks I will know.

TGIF

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I’m sitting here at Au Bon Pain. Maroon 5 is playing over the speakers and I’m just in a daze. I thought I would feel different and I just feel weird. My mom has the BRCA2 mutation. I have looked up data on these mutations a million times over the past decade and she tells me this and my mind goes blank. My sister texts me asking what it means and I had to google it. I couldn’t remember other than its a mutation in BRCA2 and it increases the risk of breast and ovarian cancer as well as a few others. And now I’m just sitting here listening to music starring into space. I literally feel nothing. But I will say this if you’re going to get one of the BRCA genes this is the better one statistically soooo yay?!