Breast Cancer Treatment Preliminaries and Clearances
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October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I’m sharing this part of my journey in the hope of assisting those who are seeking a bit of enlightenment as my way of contributing to the advocacy. With the daunting road up ahead, it usually helps to know what to expect to ease the burden somehow. After having completed the screening (Mammography and Breast Ultrasound) and diagnostic (core needle biopsy) tests and it had been confirmed that I have breast cancer, more tests were required before therapy starts. As I mentioned in my previous post , my oncologist recommended neoadjuvant therapy, where I would undergo chemotherapy to downstage or shrink the tumor before going under the knife to remove the lump. Below is a run-through of the list of tests and procedures I had to complete to prepare for my treatment: Electrocardiography (ECG or EKG) A common and simple test to check the heart’s electrical activity and rhythm via sensors attached to your skin, ECG is a test to monitor and dete