Maggie's 'Safe' spot
I have been a bit lax in my timing for John’s Hopkins re-visits – partly because it is just a hassle, and partly because it is so far away. Also, I tend to forget! So last week I called to find out if I was due. Of course, it was OVERdue, but only by a month. And naturally the plastics guy (who I do not care for) only sees patients on Thursdays, and my surgeon, only on Mon/Tues. EVER so convenient for someone driving almost 2 hours one way. I made 2 appointments, then decided to check with a plastics nurse. I am having no problems, know the visit would last about 32 seconds, so she agreed I could opt out. Especially since I will make the surgeon visit a priority.
So a friend and I headed out yesterday morning at 6 am in the pouring rain, as well as thunder and lightning. Hit stop dead traffic 30 miles north of the 695 split, the drive taking 2 1/2 hours! We called to say we were running late, literally ran into the office building at 8:45, and I wasn’t even called in until 9:15. At which point, they informed me the doctor was in surgery, wasn’t even in the building and they didn’t know when he would arrive! No wonder I put this off…. However, I would be seeing the nurse practitioner. I did not drive that distance, to have my yearly visit without seeing the surgeon. Fortunately he appeared at my door about 3 minutes later, saving me a return trip. I really love this guy – he comes in, gives me a big hug, checks me out, tells me I look fantastic, see him in a year, another hug and out he goes. But seriously, I really do love him, he is so upbeat and positive, and I think quite good at what he does.
I got a lot of very interesting information from the nurse as well (who is also very good, I remember her from my ‘early’ days). She was explaining the difference between ER/PR +, – and HER2 +. While I know the basics, she made it a lot clearer. With triple negative they always use chemo first before surgery, and I thought that was strange. The explanation is, for ER/PR + they know what is ‘fueling’ the cancer growth – the presence of hormones. So they have targeted chemo that addresses and suppresses the hormonal effect. With ER/PR -, the hormone therapy isn’t effective, since that is not causing the cancer. With HER2 +, they know that the HER2 protein is ‘fueling’ the cancer growth, and since the discovery of Herceptin (praise be to God for me!), they can suppress the cancer growth with that. For triple negative they don’t really KNOW what caused the cancer, neither of those 2 approaches will work. So it becomes more trial and error to discover what therapy will shrink the tumors. If you operate first and remove them, there is no tumor to watch shrink, so you can’t be sure you are using the right approach. Consequently they ‘experiment’ with different therapies before surgery, watching the tumor react, to discover what treatment is the most effective to suppress future growth. Once they identify that, THEN they can operate to remove it. Now it makes so much more sense to me, before I couldn’t understand leaving the cancer in a day longer than necessary!
They confirmed once again that my general overall fitness has made this process so much easier, and hopefully with a positive outcome, than others. I am ever grateful that I was in shape before, and was able to continue during and after. The hardest part in keeping up now is my working hours, not my cancer recovery! I also had my trial EKG and electrocardiogram, both normal and in range, so things are looking good.
My early gymnastics days (I am on the left)
However today, my past athletic endeavors really came in handy! I have purchased some new fitness tapes, and several have emphasized the virtues of good posture. I have been a slacker 
in that area, especially when I walk Maggie. I find that I walk looking down all the time, slumped over, and I have been working on straightening up and enjoying the view of late. Today I was out alone with her (Kevin is in Philly) and was focused on posture and controlling Maggie as 3 walkers approached us. Unexpectedly I caught a toe in an elevated crack in the sidewalk. Next thing I know I was being propelled forward – airborne! Don’t ask me how I had time, or the presence of mind to react, but I thought to myself I do not want to land forward – Hard – on the sidewalk, I could break a wrist, ankle or arm. It appears my years of gymnastics training automatically kicked in, and I went for tuck and roll! I haven’t done a somersault in perhaps 10 years, if that, and probably never on a cement sidewalk. However, it appears I executed it successfully as all I have is a small scrape on one hand! The people approaching were in awe – couldn’t believe it as they watched it happen, I must have been quite entertaining! Guess I AM in better shape than I thought!
