Second Opinion is In!

It has already been a whirlwind week, which kicked off with coming home Josh's high school reunion in Eastern Washington. (Pic of me and Rhodes buddy at the water park there.) It was fun to see family and lots and lots of friends. ❤️

Monday I had my endocrine (hormone) therapy shot and for some reason this month's round hit harder than last month's. My ovaries are essentially being forced to shut down so that there is less estrogen in my body to feed any potential cancer. I'm suddenly in the throes menopause now. Cue the hot flashes, fatigue, headaches, and insomnia (slight bout). It's awful, but better than cancer! My aunt Ann watched the kids while I snuck in an acupuncture treatment today and it felt so good!

Wednesday I saw my breast surgeon and everything looks good. I'm supposed to keep up on lymphatic massage, but aside from that I'm all clear and don't need to go into her office for 6 months. (My breast surgeon follows me for 3 years.)

Today was the big second opinion at Fred Hutch, which is an amazing research institute and care center. It felt really good to be there. My mom came along and took notes (and was my support person). Essentially the advice I received was the same as my first oncologist- no chemo! The "why" was a little different than my original oncologist but I will save that for another post. My best defense against recurrence right now is hormone therapy, followed by lifestyle factors and lots of screening. I should be celebrating the fact I'm not being recommended chemo, because chemo sucks, but part of me is panicked about "missing" a defense against recurrence. That said, I'm trusting the doctors and science and leaning into my faith.

Next Steps (happening this summer):

-Start a secondary hormone therapy (daily pill)

-Bloodwork/follow-up with with my OG oncologist

-Meet with plastic surgeon re: reconstruction (July)

-Get bone density baseline (hormone therapy can cause osteoporosis, so I need some bone density scans every few years to track how my bones are doing)

-Set up appointment at the Fred Hutch center for breast and ovarian cancer prevention to talk about special screenings due to my ATM gene mutation and also hysterectomy vs. hormone therapy

-Exercise, avoid alcohol, take calcium, sleep, relax, avoid stress, go to therapy, go to acupuncture, etc.

It's a lot and I'm processing, but I'm cancer free and the kids keep me mentally busy. 🙌🏼 Plus I have two weddings this weekend and I'm very excited for them both. ✨

Thank you all for following along!

Xx-

Lauren