mailet
mailet
Survivor: Breast Cancer (Stage II)
Get and/or give support
New York City, NY
Female
My Journal
May 2008—An Oncologist Visit and Egg Harvesting
July 15th, 2011

After a week of recovery I went for a follow up and had the drain removed. We went over the results and it was confirmed that everything had gone well. The tumor removed measured 2cm -  half the size of what was originally detected.  In addition, 21 lymph nodes were removed from my arm pit, three of which were positive.

We talked next steps and I was put in touch with an oncologist, to map out the chemo and radiation schedule.

From the beginning I was very much against chemo and radiation. Just because it was the standard protocol it didn't mean it was right for me. Regardless, I was being pushed by my family and friends to do it, so I set up an appointment.

I met the oncologist and went over the plan which included chemo followed by radiation. The oncologist asked me to stop taking all vitamins and supplements  as they could interfere with treatment.. She also explained I needed a port, my veins wouldn't be able to take everything that was coming. I wasn't happy about any of this, but I complied.

An EKG was next to make sure my heart was going to be able to handle the treatment.

In addition, we went over preserving some of my eggs. One of the side effects of chemo and radiation was the chance that I could become infertile and I needed to decide now if this was something I wanted to do.. We concluded our consultation with a tour of the treatment area which included semi-private rooms outfitted with comfy looking recliners, a TV and DVD players. The chemo sessions were 4 hours each and this arrangement would help pass the time. I scheduled my sessions to begin after the fourth of July.

As suggested, I scheduled an appointment with a fertility doctor in NYC. It was quite a process, requiring lots of visits and injecting myself. I went through two rounds of the process over the course of two months. The large fibroid made it a painful retrieval process. In the end I have five viable eggs frozen somewhere should I ever need them. Not many but at least they provide hope and possibilities.

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