Oncotype DX results

What a way to start off the day! Dr. Isaacs's nurse called me first thing this morning about an issue with a Vitamin D prescription...and then she said, Dr. Isaacs wanted to talk to me about my Oncotype DX results. He asks how I'm doing.....I said, well, now I was really nervous (since I was getting results!) But he said nothing to worry about. The test result came back at 18. As long as it's under 20...chemo is not advised. So, I may have gotten in right under the wire....but that's OK! NO CHEMO IS NOOOOOOO CHEMO!!!!!!

Next phase...........now I will be given Tamoxifen for five years. There are side effects....oh joy.....so we'll see. I think he wants me to start on it fairly soon, because he said any side effects can be discussed at my next appointment on 9/22.

I'm figuering out that this will never be over. My life will now be a new kind of life........never back to the one I had. Yes, I know...I'm still living. But this is going to be an adjustment, and not something I can adjust to overnight.

What I am learning, and need to pass on to anyone reading this is:
There are so many variables to breast cancer, it is staggering. The size and location of the tumor, or if there are multiple tumors, the type of tumor, if the tumor is hormone receptor positive or negative, if the tumor is Her2Neu positive (which mine was, and means the cancer is more aggressive), where the results fall in the Oncotype DX assay....All of this, and more.....plays a part in the treatment. So, if one physician tells you early on that things are one way or another...take it with a grain of salt. You have a TEAM of doctors ....they will all have something to say about your diagnosis....but the physician that makes the final plan is the oncologist....and your input, too, of course.

I still have more tests to take in September. More pieces to add to that puzzle :)