Medical Update

When we saw Ted’s new surgeon on the 10th, the surgeon did not think that the hole in Ted’s heart was the cause of his mini-strokes because he felt that if the hole was causing any problems, that the problems would have occurred at a much younger age. The surgeon ordered a cat scan of Ted’s carotids. If they do not look all right, then he will want them repaired. If they do look all right, then the surgeon will reconsider closing the hole, but primarily he wants to check the stents above Ted’s heart that were inserted when he had a heart attack in January, 1999. His next appointment with the surgeon is December 15.

Today we had the cat scan of Ted’s carotids, saw Ted’s dermatologist and saw Harriet’s surgeon. The surgeon did not have good news. The lump in her left breast is very large, golf ball size, the removal of which would take up to 80% of her breast. Therefore, mastectomy is the surgery of choice. No reconstructive surgery will be done. Some of Harriet’s lymph nodes showed up on the MRI. The surgeon explained that if they show up on an MRI they are almost always cancerous. A lymph node biopsy will be done on the 17th. Another test which is better not thought about may be needed to determine the extent of the spread of the cancer. The surgeon expects to remove about two-thirds of the lymph nodes under the left arm. The surgery is planned for December 1. Probably chemo will follow – 4 weeks on, 3 weeks off, for 18 weeks total. Radiation ?? The most common places for the cancer to spread is to the lungs and liver, and the good news is that it has NOT spread there.