Mayo Clinic Cancer Symposium

 

THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 2013

Mayo Clinic Cancer Symposium

2nd annual Mayo Clinic Symposium was held at the Marriott just a mile from the Phoenix Campus of Mayo Clinic. I attended again this year. Seeing my team of doctors was good, and ready-to-present information was good.

Dr. Northfelt, my med/oncologist, and myself

Some of the information I learned from the meetings was new to me, and some I already knew, but this is the reason I like to attend these symposiums so that I can learn all I can about my disease and what the new techniques or statistics are.

I learned that 200,000 new cases per year are reported of breast cancer, and the side effects of radiation are some that I am still dealing with. 

Lymphedema ✓

Lung inflammation

Fatigue ✓

Depression and anxiety ✓

Chest wall and or breast tenderness ✓

Breast swelling ✓

Skin burning

I only have five of those seven side effects, so I feel blessed to not have to deal with lung inflammation or burning skin anymore.

I learned that Radical mastectomies no longer are performed and have not been performed on breast cancer patients since the 1970s. They no longer perform these because the surgical procedures have been incredibly advanced since then. In a radical mastectomy, they used to have to take everything, including the bone surrounding the area, this left women with horrible battle scars. I had a Bi-lateral mastectomy. Both breasts were removed with all the surrounding tissue but not bone. This allows the surgeons to reconstruct more efficiently, with much better results.

When someone has a lumpectomy, they only have a 1.9% of recurrence. a single
mastectomy 1.1% recurrence, and only 0/3% of cancer patients who have a lump in one breast will get another in the other breast--in Dr. Kreymerman, "they are sisters, not twins."
BRCA 1 or 2 mutation only has a 30% 10-year recurrence in the other breast.
Only 25% of breast cancer diagnoses are women under 80.

Some great things to come are:
Cancer Vaccines
the studying of tumor clones
DCIS vaccines
Her2 antibodies

One bit of information I thought was interesting, 15% of patients who go through the cancer process will get Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. As you have been through a war, the fear and anxiety of the return of cancer or having to continue to deal with the side effects of cancer treatments can literally put one's body into traumatic stress.

With recurrent patients, 45% of women have treatable anxiety and depression within the 1st 3 months of 2nd diagnosis. This is a mountain to climb but more terrain to walk through.

Did you know

55% stress over financial problems during treatment
46% cut back on food to be able to pay their bills
6% lose their homes and have to relocate
50% are not comfortable talking about any of these symptoms, even to their doctors
50% of patients do not share all of what they are feeling or their fears with caregivers or family
history of abuse, physical, mental, or sexual, will increase the levels of anxiety and will not be
shared with doctors
most women post-treatment will have low sexual desire and vaginal dryness and feel embarrassed about asking or talking about it with their doctor.

I was not surprised that most women do not want to share many intimate details with their doctors but was reassured knowing I am one of them and it is normal.

I am still waiting to hear back from Mayo about my ultrasound and low white cell count--no news to report.

Mayo Clinic Visit

 

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15, 2011

Mayo Clinic Visit-

Needle for accessing my PORT

I went to Mayo Hospital yesterday for some tests..... still looking at that hip. It was a year ago this month that I finished up my radiation treatments. One of the doctors told me yesterday that Mayo is building a new radiation department at the Hospital. He explained how the new system is so precise that it hits the tumor no matter what size at a 99.9% effectiveness rate, with no room for error. This is so awesome for the world of cancer.

Yesterday as I walked into the Mayo Hospital, I felt calm and at peace until ........ I stepped off the elevator onto the floor, the floor where it all goes down, you know what floor I mean? The chemo floor reeked of chemo smell and made me sick to my stomach; as I waited outside the door for my beeper to go off, I was pacing and remembering and wishing Tamy was there to help me "get over" this panic attack I was having. I mean, seriously? It's been over a year since I've been done with chemo, yet I am sick every time I get there. When I walked into the room, I immediately saw a young girl undergoing chemo treatments. She could not have been more than 16-17 years old. My heart started to race as I sat across from her and watched her being injected with that RED dragon. The nurse took my vitals and said I needed to calm down; I thought to myself, "I wish I could, I really wish I knew a way to do that" She accessed my port, took my blood, and I was outta there. When I got to my car, I had to take a deep breath and remember where I'd been, how far I had come, and where I was going--

Chemo Brain

 

MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2011

Chemo Brain

I feel the best I have felt in 2 years; thank you, Heavenly Father, my prayers have been answered. Blake will be home in 3 short months, and I want to look healthy for him. My hip pain has subsided. It's extraordinary. There's a spot on the bone they still are not sure what it is; once I started to exercise again, the pain went away. I also came back from MLOA to US AIRWAYS about 6 weeks ago. Seriously I had no idea how smart I used to be.... haha! I

I was diagnosed with chemo brain; I forget things all the time. I forget my children's names even when they are looking right at me, and I forget simple daily things that should come easy to remember. Now that I am back to work, I realize how much knowledge I had, and being re-trained has been difficult. I have to write everything down. Just so you know, chemo brain is an actual condition some patients get after undergoing extensive amounts of chemo... boy, that's good to know. I was beginning to think I had the start of something new like Alzheimer's or dementia; those are awful diagnoses to have.  
It's fun to see people at work I have not seen for a long time; some will look at me and say, "Oh, did you cut your hair?"  I just smile and say, "why yes, yes I did"  I am only working 4-hour shifts a couple days a week, but I am thankful to be back to work and challenge my brain a little. I feel like my life is finally getting back to a "Normal" I can live with.