Yippee, Skippee, Hooray...hmm...

I had an exciting fun=filled morning visiting doctors and hospitals today.

First up, I had an ultrasound to see if my tumor shrunk. For those of you who have had ultrasounds while pregnant, you know they do a lot of measurements. This is no different. They move the Doppler around to get the best views and click to get sizes. That's how it has always been for me, except today. The technician can't comment on what they see, only the doctor can. So, my technician moves the Doppler around for about 5 minutes then says the doctor will be in to take a look. Carol, the nurse that counsels patients, came in and I told her "no measurements." We talked for a few more minutes and then the doctor came in and did her thing. She said that there wasn't anything to measure. Yep, that's right, the tumor is nearly gone! She could see the clip that was put in during the needle biopsy to show the place of the tumor, but there wasn't any measurable tumor there. She could see a little spot that was probably remnants, but that was it. How cool is that?!

Now, don't get too excited. This doesn't change anything as far as treatment or surgery. All it means is that chemo and herceptin have/are working. I almost didn't get this done, but I told my oncologist that I needed to have concrete numbers to make myself feel good. And you know what, I feel GREAT!!!

Next was the pre-surgical consult with my surgeon. Everything is still on for 12/4. Surgery is at 7:30 am central time, so be sure to send good karma, energy, prayers, well wishes, etc. my way that day. I'm going to need them. Surgery is about 5 hours with recovery 3-5 days in the hospital. And there will be a lot of pain. I love a doctor that tells it to you straight. No sugar coating here. Luckily, I will also get a lot of "dope" to quote my surgeon. I don't like that to much either, but it's got to be better than pain.

Lastly, I had an echo cardiogram. The herceptin can cause heart problems, so I'll be monitored over the next several months while I'm on that. While they did the echo, the technician asked if I noticed the skipped heart beats. I did. She wanted me to mention this to my oncologist and they would probably do an EKG. After she was done, she suggested calling the doctor and see if they wanted it done now, since I was already at the hospital. They did and so I had that done too. I'll get the results next week. I was told not to worry too much about the skipped beats. A lot of people have them and I may have always had it and not ever had a problem. I think she called them PVS. If you know about this, email me.

So, all in all, I'm doing great. We are going to enjoy this cold front coming through this weekend. Sunday, we all head to the Renaissance Festival 45 minutes north of here. It's the biggest one in Texas and we do big well. It's always fun. I'll post pictures when we get back.