Failing to Prepare is Preparing to Fail

(Melanie and Alyson on our hike in Main-a-Dieu--October 10th, 2006)

With all of this amazing news, I travelled through another couple of weeks feeling confident and hopeful. I did, however, begin to prepare myself for the fateful phonecall from Dr. MacCormick, the oncologist (cancer specialist) at the CBR hospital. The oncologist's job is to meet with the patient after localized treatment (surgery), explain test results and answer any questions the patient may have, come up with an assessment of the particular patient's disease and risk of recurrence, and come up with a suitable treatment plan for that patient's unique case. Dr. MacCormick is one of three cancer specialists at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital, and is known to be one of a kind. Since the first day I arrived back from Korea I heard numerous people talking about his brilliance and his compassionate personality. I gathered that he is quite involved in cancer research and had recently completed a year long sabbatical in British Columbia doing just that. He is well-known and well-respected nation wide. My surgeon had been speaking with him about my case, so it was assumed that he would be looking after me in the near future.

Although I was very thrilled to have Dr. McCormick as an oncologist, the very thought of meeting with him made me sick to my stomach. You see, close to a month had passed since my surgery and I was becoming used to 'life as normal' once again. I knew that when I would meet with Dr. McCormick I would revisit all of this pain and would, once again, be faced with tough, life-altering decisions. I assumed, after the suggestions made to me by both Dr. Butler and Dr. Ellerker, that chemotherapy was inevitable. I read up on treatment for breast cancer and found numerous places that listed some 'reasons why you may need chemothrapy." One such reason included in a majority of these lists was 'Age under 35.'

So, naturally, I began preparing myself for what was likely to come. And, I figured I was better off preparing for the worst than preparing for the best--this way nothing could shock and depress me. I researched all the various treatments out there for breast cancer--what they are, how they are administered, their short term and long term side effects, and other people's experiences with them. I talked to people who had gone through cancer treatment and asked them as many questions as possible. The truth hurt, but I needed to face my fears and accept my condition. From what I gathered, there are 5 major forms of treatment for breast cancer: 1) Hormonal Therapy (for those with estrogen and/or progesterone positive cancer) ; 2) Radiation Therapy; 3) Chemotherapy; 4) Herceptin (for those Her2 positive, or with gene overexpression); and 5) Alternative Therapy. These could be administered alone or in various combinations.

There are a number of reasons why a specialist may recommend treatments such as the above:
1) Neoadjuvant therapy: used to shrink a tumor before surgery or radiation.
2) Adjuvant therapy: a preventative measure after surgery meant to destroy any cancer cells that may have 'slipped out' or that may have been missed during surgery or radiation.
3) Combination Chemotherapy: used to destroy cancer cells that have spread to the lymph nodes (regional spread) or to distant areas in the body (metastatic cancers).
4) Palliative Chemotherapy: used to reduce pain or other symptoms of cancer.

For more information on breast cancer treatments, visit:
http://info.cancer.ca/E/CCE/cceexplorer.asp?tocid=10 (**click on 'Treatment' on the sidebar)

With this information gathered, I felt better able to deal with whatever recommendations the oncologist would make, and better able to understand the issues he may discuss with me whenever that fateful day would arrive.

"And I always found that the harder I worked, the better my luck was, because I was prepared for that." --Ed Bradley