Thought some of you would like to read this article. It is about a new gene that has been found to be associated with higher risk of breast cancer.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Friday, February 17, 2012
Doctors appointments
The past two months I have been trying to play catch up. When I found out last February that we would be adding Charlie to the family I also realized I would be forgoing my recommended screening for 2011. Breast MRI's are not really possible while pregnant. My one year check up with my surgical oncologist was scheduled for last June. After speaking with the nurses it was decided to postpone my appointments until after Sir Charles was born. In October I started trying to coordinate appointments, babysitters, and everything else needed so I could make two trips to Lubbock within a two week time period to have an MRI done and then visit my doctor after the results were back. Let's just say this did not work out well. After rescheduling 3 times it was brought up that I might need to move all of my care to Amarillo. I visited with my gynecologist and we scheduled an MRI, CA-125, trans-vag ultrasound, appointment with an oncologist in Amarillo, and that was that. So much simpler than trying to orchestrate care for all 3 of the kids while trying to go to Lubbock twice.
Results- my CA-125 and ultrasound came back great! I went in for my visit with the oncologist on Tuesday, loved her! We discussed the future plans for my hysterectomy, and she said she was proud of me for the decisions I had made thus far. It always feels nice for a doctor to give you praise, and it also helps to ease the concerns of "have I made the right decision?". She continued to recommend that I have my hysterectomy this summer. With three amazing kiddos and a wonderful husband there is no reason to test my luck, especially since we are not planning on adding anymore Little Timmons to this world!!! So this summer I will join the ranks of the hormone deprived! ;).
I had my MRI yesterday. In Lubbock they had the open MRI machine, at the breast center here in Amarillo they have the machine that you are pushed into the tunnel. For some people this would be an issue, but I was face down with my eyes closed the entire time so I didn't even notice until the test was over and I lifted my head. My only regret was that I did not take advantage of changing the music before we got started. I fully recommend requesting music or a station that you enjoy. You will be listening to your selection for at least a half hour so get something you enjoy. The music is more for filling the time during the pauses when the machine is not scanning. During she scan what you hear is like a constant knocking/vibrating noise. It is not really all that abnormal (think of a jackhammer) it is just loud. During the times when the machine is scanning I tend to sing to myself in my mind, or at the beginning of the scan I pray. At the very beginning my heart typically starts to race a bit. I don't really think I am nervous, it is more of an over stimulation in my brain because of all of the noise and the thoughts of lay perfectly still so I don't have to do this again. After the first few series of scans I have calmed down and it is kind of nice to not have my everyday craziness. I honestly think I could have fallen asleep yesterday, but the technician will talk to you every once in a while so that didn't happen. Overall, I would say it was not too big of a deal. I am expecting to get my results next week!
Hope all of you are having a great 2012 thus far! If you ever have any questions don't hesitate to ask!
Results- my CA-125 and ultrasound came back great! I went in for my visit with the oncologist on Tuesday, loved her! We discussed the future plans for my hysterectomy, and she said she was proud of me for the decisions I had made thus far. It always feels nice for a doctor to give you praise, and it also helps to ease the concerns of "have I made the right decision?". She continued to recommend that I have my hysterectomy this summer. With three amazing kiddos and a wonderful husband there is no reason to test my luck, especially since we are not planning on adding anymore Little Timmons to this world!!! So this summer I will join the ranks of the hormone deprived! ;).
I had my MRI yesterday. In Lubbock they had the open MRI machine, at the breast center here in Amarillo they have the machine that you are pushed into the tunnel. For some people this would be an issue, but I was face down with my eyes closed the entire time so I didn't even notice until the test was over and I lifted my head. My only regret was that I did not take advantage of changing the music before we got started. I fully recommend requesting music or a station that you enjoy. You will be listening to your selection for at least a half hour so get something you enjoy. The music is more for filling the time during the pauses when the machine is not scanning. During she scan what you hear is like a constant knocking/vibrating noise. It is not really all that abnormal (think of a jackhammer) it is just loud. During the times when the machine is scanning I tend to sing to myself in my mind, or at the beginning of the scan I pray. At the very beginning my heart typically starts to race a bit. I don't really think I am nervous, it is more of an over stimulation in my brain because of all of the noise and the thoughts of lay perfectly still so I don't have to do this again. After the first few series of scans I have calmed down and it is kind of nice to not have my everyday craziness. I honestly think I could have fallen asleep yesterday, but the technician will talk to you every once in a while so that didn't happen. Overall, I would say it was not too big of a deal. I am expecting to get my results next week!
Hope all of you are having a great 2012 thus far! If you ever have any questions don't hesitate to ask!
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
My information junkie is coming out again today. I love finding useful websites and visiting them often to see what all is going on in the BRCA world. FORCE is one of these websites, and today I would like to recommend their webinars.
Over the past couple of years I have listened or watched a few of the live productions or looked back through the archived collection. There is so much to be learned in my mind and who better to learn it from than the doctors themselves.
For upcoming webinars you need to pre-register before the event. They will e-mail you the information and the time to log on to watch it. Archived events can be watched at anytime.
They have several great topics to look at, and I would recommend them to anyone looking for more information!!
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