Hi:

Went ot see my surgeon today and review all the information we now have and discuss treatment alternatives.  She went over all the tests and offered another option we hadn't yet considered.  She said since I'm now again a good candidate for a lumpectomy I should consider the alternative of starting chemotherapy right away before having surgery.  The advantage of that is that if the tumor responds well to chemo, I might have a better chance the lumpectomy might work just fine since we would have a smaller lump to take out and this would increase the chance of getting clean margins.  If I were to do this, they would do a sentinel node biopsy before starting chemo to know for sure if there are any concerns there and know ahead of time if the nodes will have to be removed.  Although she gave us a lot of information, she also set me up with the medical oncologist so I can understand the whole chemo thing better.  They were also able to move my genetic counseling from December to November (it only happens 1/month) so I will actually have all the information to make the best possible decision.  We decided I would keep these appointments plus the ones for the second opinion and then we would talk and make a plan.

I hope I understood correctly.  Lots of information to mull over.  I do feel better though knowing that all options are on the table and that it is just a matter of going over all the information and making the decision that I feel is the best for me.  So that is all for today.  I do appreciate any comments from people who have had chemo before surgery