Learning A Whole New Vocabulary

The follow up appointment with Dr. Viscusi rolled around soon enough.  We met with Dr. Viscusi at her office and she brought in the final pathology report.  It turns out that the tumor was actually a breast cancer, Invasive Ductal Carcinoma.  The hormone receptors were tested and they all were negative.  Both Theresa and I thought this was a good thing.  But we learned that triple-negative, in relation to breast cancer, was not a good thing.

We learned that some cancers feed on hormones in the breast and those can be treated with hormone inhibitors.  The triple-negative doesn't respond to any of those inhibitors.  According to Dr. Viscusi, a diagnosis of breast cancer was actually a good thing, compared to the blue cell sarcoma from June.  There were many tools available to fight it and she suggested Dr. Robert Livingston, the best breast cancer oncologist in Southern Arizona.  An appointment was made for July 16th.