An Unexpected Turn

Well I wasn't expecting this day's outcome.

After an amazingly long session with Dr Keith Block this afternoon we have taken another turn in our cancer journey.

Before going to the Block Center I had to gather and send them almost 100 pages of records including a 16 page patient questionnaire. Today I discovered they actually read all of it, who knew?

First the good news, Dr Block was really amazing, and a genuinely earnest and lovely man. One of my first questions for him was going to be how he came to where he is. I didn't need to ask...he led with that to explain who he was. Among other things he explained that he has a special interest in fighting breast cancer because he lost his dear grandmother to this disease. We liked him right away and he was painfully honest and straightforward with us. He won our confidence quickly. He was also completely supportive of and grateful for our dietary and lifestyle changes. That was a great encouragement.

Now the bad news, as we reviewed my case, he clarified my post surgical pathology report and explained that even though the surgeon had said that my lymph system was clear, the pathology showed that the cancer had definitely spread to the lymph nodes. The surgeon said she had "gotten it all", which I did recognize at the time to be a questionable statement considering the nature of this disease. But the truth is the cancer had left the confines of the tumor and spread to the lymph system. Unfortunately, I also have several additional markers that puts me in a significantly higher risk for reoccurrence of cancer in my breast or elsewhere. Not very encouraging or happy news.

Dr Block has recommended 6 rounds of chemotherapy, using a unique and highly personalized method of delivery that works at boosting my immune system and protecting my body throughout the process. His goal is to destroy the cancer's ability to reproduce while keeping my body as safe as possible and protecting me from all the potentially nasty side affects that most chemotherapy produces. It's again, not the news I was hoping for but I am grateful that God appears to be leading me to the right resources for support and treatment. There is much we still do not know, and we will need to decide about paying thousands of dollars more out of pocket for some special "mapping" of the tumor which would not be covered by insurance, to assist Dr Block and his team in developing the BEST possible strategy moving forward.

We move forward trusting that all will be well.