This blog post is the 21st in a series about my (and my twin sister’s) preventative breast cancer screening journey that began when we were 30 years old in July 2019. The 1st post is about my first mammogram ever; the 2nd post is about my consultation at Mayo Clinic’s Breast Clinic; the 3rd post is about my stereotactic core biopsy at Mayo Clinic’s Breast Clinic; the 4th post is about my diagnosis with “Stage 0” DCIS breast cancer; the 5th post is about my in-person DCIS diagnosis at Mayo Clinic, beginning thoughts on my surgery timeline, and discovering that my twin sister might have breast cancer, too; the 6th post is about my twin sister’s invasive ductal carcinoma clinical stage 2A breast cancer diagnosis; the 7th post is about my breast MRI and two ultrasounds to investigate “suspicious” spots on my right breast and liver; the 8th post is about my second DCIS diagnosis following a week of MRIs, ultrasounds, and biopsies at Mayo Clinic; the 9th post is about preparing for my twin sister’s chemotherapy appointments, including details about her egg banking procedure in the city; the 10th post is a summary of my sister’s ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome and visit to the emergency room; the 11th post is a summary of my double mastectomy surgery plan scheduled to occur on December 3rd, 2019 at Mayo Clinic’s Methodist Campus Hospital in Rochester; the 12th post is about my twin sister’s first chemotherapy infusion at Mayo Clinic; the 13th post is about foobs, photo shoots and nipple tattoos (my plastic / reconstructive surgery plan); the 14th post is a recap of my successful double mastectomy and immediate direct-to-implant reconstruction operation; the 15th post is about my surgical recovery and day full of follow-up appointments at Mayo Clinic in Rochester; the 16th post is about my one-month-post-surgical-follow-up appointment and preventative baseline ovarian cancer screenings at Mayo Clinic; the 17th post is about a suspicious rash I developed a month after my surgery called “pigmented purpura,” my consultation with a gynecological oncologist about ovarian cancer prevention, and my sister’s fifth chemotherapy infusion; the 18th post is about the end of my twin sister’s six neoadjuvant chemotherapy infusions (TCHP); the 19th post was about my twin sister’s double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery plan (amid the global outbreak of COVID19); and the 20th post was about my twin sister’s double mastectomy with immediate reconstruction. To keep tabs on new posts, sign up for the “A Daily Miracle” email list at this link.

It’s been one month since my twin sister’s double mastectomy with reconstruction operation at Mayo Clinic’s Methodist Campus Hospital in Rochester, which was awesome. Her operation took place a day before Mayo Clinic shut down all “elective” surgeries! We’re fairly certain her operation, given it was for breast cancer, would have happened regardless, but we are praising the Lord that her operation was completed before coronavirus caused the entire world to implode!

Because of all of the “shelter in place” rulings all across the world due to COVID19, my sister’s surgical recovery has looked MUCH different than mine! All of her follow-up appointments with doctors and surgeons and oncologists have been virtual phone calls and video chats–she hasn’t been back to the hospital or doctor’s office for one meeting or follow-up appointment! All in all, my sister has done a great job recovering at home! Here are the highlights of my sister’s one month of surgical recovery:

1. Instead of seeing doctors at Mayo in person, my sister’s husband played doctor at home! He removed her drains (whoa!), changed all of her bandages, and took care of her “battle scars” in the weeks following her surgery under the virtual directions of doctors and nurses. He gave her showers and made sure her heart rate didn’t go above 100BPM. My mom and sister and I helped as well by helping with the bandages, keeping her company, giving her medicine, and taking photos of her incisions and reconstruction to send over to the doctors via the Mayo Clinic Patient Portal.
2. Mentally, my sister keeps herself busy by reading through the entire Bible in 30 days with the YouVerion “30 Day Shred” plan. She’s also been playing SimCity on her phone, resting, and taking leisurely walks. She’s chatted on the phone and Zoomed with friends around the world as well! She really misses her work as a lawyer but has been on FMLA leave for 4 weeks. She’ll be back to working from home in a couple of weeks. She’s also not missing much in society because everyone has been sheltering in place anyway.
3. Physically, my sister’s breast reconstruction looks great! It’s a bit more swollen on the left side due to the removal of a few sentinel nodes that came out on that side and not the right, but over time, the swelling should go down and everything should be perfectly symmetrical. She’s been wearing a compression bra too to keep the swelling down, and we’ve been shopping for sports bras with extra compression that we can wear for workouts in the future. One of our doctors recommended front-zip sports bras, so we are trying some of those from Lululemon and Under Armour!

Gearing up for 10 more months of chemotherapy

My sister finished her last round of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (TCHP) in February. She lost about 40-60% of her hair during chemotherapy treatment while using the Paxman Cold Cap, and she lost some eyelashes, too. It’s been eight weeks since her neoadjuvant chemo wrapped up, and her hair has already started to grow back all over her head and her eyelashes are coming back in, too!

We are all thankful my sister’s surgery removed all of her cancer!, but because there was some cancer remaining in her left breast at the time of surgery–a 1.1cm spot and a 9mm spot of 20% cellularity that were initially attached to the original ~4cm tumor–she will need 14 more infusions of chemotherapy starting every three weeks on May 22nd: a new, targeted regimen called T-DM1. Clinical research trials prove T-DM1 after surgery reduces the risk of recurrence of invasive breast cancer by 50% as compared to trastuzumab (Herceptin) alone, so my sister’s oncologist prescribed her with this! My sister’s oncologist calls this “chemotherapy light” because the side effects are minimal compared to what she’s already been through with TCHP.

In addition to 10 months of T-DM1 (14 infusions 3 weeks apart starting in May), my sister will also take a daily dose of Tamoxifen for 3 to 5 years to minimize her risk of recurrence (Tamoxifen manages the amount of estrogen in her system). T-DM1 will be 14 treatments: 1 treatment every 3 weeks. T-DM1 infusions only last 2 hours (her TCHP treatments lasted 6 hours each)! Side effects of T-DM1 are that it can cause teensy bit of neuropathy, fatigue, and diarrhea. T-DM1 can also be a bit rough on the heart, so she will have ultrasounds on a regular basis–every three months–throughout her treatments to ensure her heart is pumping normally!