It's been a while ...

I'm sorry. It's been a while and I haven't had much to say. But things are ramping up, and I'm excited.

My sister had her lumpectomy. Twice. I wrote about the first time, and the lymph nodes were clean, and that was wonderful news. But her margins didn't come back as clear as her surgeon wanted. So they went back in again. And all the cells they took out were clean! YEAH! So surgery done! Move on to the next adventure.

She met with her oncologist last Friday. The oncologist told her that she would be radiation for 6 weeks, and she would have to take Tamoxifen for 5 years. Ok, all expected stuff. We already knew this. The doctor then said she was sending her cancer cells off to California to be tested, it's called the Oncotype test. It tests the rate of reoccurence of the cancer. If it comes back low, NO CHEMO!!!! If it comes back medium or high, she is giving my sister of the option of doing chemo, or not. Her choice. But she told my sister that if she opted to do the chemo, it would be a very low dose, and she wouldn't even lose her hair. Yes, that was one of her biggest worries. So my sister said she will probably do the chemo if it comes back medium or high to be safe.

The not so good news is that oncologist will not release her to go through a cycle of IVF prior to starting her cancer treatment. She is concerned because my sister's breast cancer was estrogen driven, and doesn't know what effect all the drugs they use during IVF will have on her. My sister told her doctor that she still wanted to do it, and the doctor said she would give her 6 weeks to do it, but no more.

So it's an issue. Our fertility clinic will not even let her cycle without the release from her doctor. So she talked to her nurse at the clinic and they referred her to an oncologist that they work with a lot in our area. My sister has an appt to see her on Monday for a second opinion.

All that being said, we are starting our process. My sister has 4 embryos on ice from a previous cycle, so worst case, I will do a FET for her. So I have some sort of saline something or other tomorrow to check my uterus. I'm really excited to get this ball rolling. I got pregnant on my first IVF cycle when me and my DH were trying. I keep hoping that I will get that lucky twice, but this time, it won't be for me.

So here's my schedule:

Tomorrow, saline test to check the uterus.
10/7 - Pre-screen with the shrink
10/14 - Pre-screen with the medical doc
10/21 - "All - Day" at the Fertility clinic with my sis, her husband and my husband. Lots of blood work and all our tests...

I'm excited. I'm anxious. I SO want to make this happen for her ...

Caba