On becoming a guinea pig

I spent the remainder of that week doing whatever I could NOT to think about my next appointment with Dr. MacCormick. Essentially, I was avoiding getting worked up about something which I had completely no control over. Mike and I had a blast celebrating Halloween over the weekend, and I managed to keep a full schedule the remainder of the time.

The following Wednesday soon arrived, however, and no phonecall was recieved. Dr. MacCormick had said that someone would be calling me with an appointment within the next week so that we could discuss the recommendations of Dr. Pritchard. A week has passed ... I wonder what's going on? I couldn't wait any longer. I phoned the cancer centre that afternoon and explained the situation. The secretary said she would talk to Dr. MacC's nurse and have her phone me back.

Less than an hour passed, when I received a phonecall. Expecting the nurse, I was surprised to hear Dr. MacCormick's voice on the other end: "I'm sorry we haven't phoned you yet, but you've turned out to be quite confusing to us!" He went on to explain that he spoke with Dr. Pritchard in Toronto, who said that if my cancer was indeed Grade 1 she would also suggest Tamoxifen and possibly Zoladex (another anti-estrogen drug) for 5 years. She was stumped if it was grade 2. Dr. Mac Cormick asked her: "If this were your patient, everything aside, what would you do?" Her reply was ... get this ... "I don't know."

If this is not enough to convince you that more research has to be done on younger cancer patients, I don't know what will. The doctor explained once again that if I was 40 years old, whether grade one or grade two, they would be fine with recommending Tamoxifen for 5 years. However, it is AGAIN my AGE that is stumping them. He kept saying that I have a lot more "potential years" left to live, which is why they are more concerned. The whole "potential years" thing has been wracking my brain ever since he said it. (I'm not sure exactly what he means by this, but I'm looking forward to asking him next time I meet with him!)

Following her reply of "I don't know," Dr. Pritchard asked permission to present my case at a national cancer research conference which she would be attending that week. Dr. MacCormick asked if this was okay with me, and I, of course, replied that it was. I am now becoming a guinea pig-- a newer case of less-aggressive early cancer in a young pre-menopausal woman. He told me that he would wait another week for Dr.Pritchard to come back with whatever input she recieved from the numerous specialists nation-wide that had heard my case at the conference. Hopefully, they could brainstorm and get multiple opinions to come up with a satisfactory plan for me. In addition, Dr. Mac C informed me that he had also sent my specimins on to some more pathologists to get more opinions on the grade of the tumor ... grade 1 or grade 2? If it comes back as grade 1 from these additional pathologists, then I will likely (99%) be staying on Tamoxifen for 5 years ... and nothing else. If it comes back as Grade 2, this is where Dr. Pritchard's work will come in.

This brings us up to date!!! My appointment with Dr. MacCormick is scheduled for this coming Thursday, November 9th. At this appointment, I will hopefully have the 3rd pathologist's opinion on the grade of the cancer, and will know more about Dr. Pritchard's findings.

All I can do now is hope, wish, and pray that the tumor is grade 1 and that chemotherapy is not required ... soon we'll see ...