The First Doctor's Appointment (Jan. 3, 2006)

Laurie and husband, Jim, met with surgical oncologist, Dr. Sally Knox, on Monday, January 3, for their first consultation. Dr. Knox is highly regarded in the Dallas area. She is not only an excellent surgeon, but knows and loves the Lord, and has served in medical missions as well as developing a foundation to provide breast cancer care for women otherwise unable to afford the costs.

When we went in, we had no idea what to expect from the process. The pathologist who had called us with the initial diagnosis before Christmas had indicated that Laurie would likely need only a lumpectomy, probably with chemo, and that her prognosis was extremely good. That certainly had eased some of the stress over the holidays. This appointment with Dr. Knox, however, would provide the detail that we would need to move forward.

Dr. Knox affirmed that Laurie's tumor was very treatable, requiring only a lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy. A mastectomy was not necessary. However, a lumpectomy does require radiation treatments.

Two types of radiation were presented as possibilities for Laurie's treatment. The standard radiation treatment protocal requires 33 days of external-beam radiation once a day over a six-and-a-half week period. A new procedure, called Mammosite, required only five days of treatment twice a day. This procedure would irradiate the tumor cavity from within the breast with a more intensely radioactive pellet. This procedures delivers the radiation only to the immediate vicinity of the tumor cavity, which is less invasive. This treatment is preferred if no nodes are involved and if the tumor cavity is small and not close to the surface.

The hope was that the tumor would be completely contained and no lymph nodes would be involved, because the Mammosite procedure seemed to be the preferrable option for us. We wouldn't have all the answers until after the lumpectomy and the pathology report.

Laurie's first surgery was scheduled for Monday, Jan. 16.