WooHoo Update by dad - March 6, 2008

Dear Family and Friends,
So, today was a good day – we got the results back from the MRI-guided biopsy of Rebecca's second mass, and it came back benign. We also got back the results of Rebecca's full-body PET/CT scan, and it showed no indications of any cancer anywhere else. Coming on the heels of the results we got back on Tuesday of the ultrasonic-guided aspirations of a couple of Rebecca's lymph nodes, which also came back negative, we feel truly blessed and relieved.
What this means is that Rebecca's cancer appears to be completely confined to the single 3+ centimeter tumor, and it is just within the breast tissue – no metastases into muscle, skin, nodes, or other organs. This means Rebecca's cancer is probably Stage 2, not 3 like we originally feared.
This tumor, however, is a little larger than desirable for a lumpectomy. Also, the grade of the cancer is considered somewhat aggressive (grade 2.5 on a 3 point scale). But on the positive side, it is "hormone-receptive" and "protein-negative". This makes it a very good candidate for initial treatment with chemotherapy prior to surgery, which should shrink the tumor and tentatively allow Rebecca to be a candidate for lumpectomy instead of mastectomy.
Rebecca will start chemotherapy next Wednesday morning, and will have a series of 8 treatments every other week (so a total of 16 weeks). Surgery will follow chemotherapy 4-6 weeks later. We will choose later between a lumpectomy and mastectomy, depending upon the shrinkage of the tumor and the results of a genetic test to see if Rebecca is a carrier of the "breast cancer gene". If she has this gene, we will probably opt for a mastectomy to reduce the risk of recurrence in the future. If Rebecca has a lumpectomy, we will most certainly have radiation. With a mastectomy, we could probably avoid radiation, but would have to go through reconstruction – which may be a difficult tradeoff. The most important thing is that Rebecca gets well – and fortunately, the rate of total cure with Rebecca's symptoms is over 90%.
Obviously, we are extremely relieved to have gotten this good news – things could have been much worse. However, we have been comforted for the last several days with feelings and promptings that gave us faith that these test results would turn out exactly this way. We are now ready mentally, spiritually, and emotionally to begin treatments and get this trial underway. We are preparing for this challenge, and Rebecca is very positive, strong, and anxious to get this behind us. With the love, support, prayers, and fasting of so many family members and friends, we are so optimistic that the Lord will carry us through this.
Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, and love.