Things are looking up...

My surgeon called today. Yes, on a Saturday afternoon! She could have waited till Monday & had her assistant call, but she didn't. She called me today to tell me my MRI was...are you ready?...CLEAR!! FINALLY! Some good news in this situation.

She still wants to get some more breast tissue, since one of the cancers had a close margin. (The cancer cells are close to the edge of the tissue, but not right at the edge.) Also, she'll do a sentinel node biopsy. So another surgery. When I had the lymph nodes removed 20 years ago, I was in the hospital for a week and I was miserable. So I asked her if I could wait till spring when school is out to have it done. I'm not about to leave Karen without someone to watch Lucas if I can help it. The doc explained that it will be out-patient again. She said if I have the surgery on a Thursday, I'll be able to care for Lucas by Monday. Things have really changed!

We discussed mastectomy. Most often when there are 3 cancer sites, a mastectomy is the norm. However, mine were all close together, and she got them all out; so she's leaving that decision up to me. After the research I've done, there's a 1% difference in survival rates between lumpectomies & mastectomies. And if the cancer does spread or re-occur after the lumpectomy, it's usually within a year. So I'm giving it the year. I don't see the point right now of having that major invasion of my body if there's a possibility it's not necessary.

Tuesday I see the oncologist. I'm going to the same one Gary has been seeing for 2 1/2 years. She's young and very straight-forward & I like her. She explains things in layman's terms and answers every question you may have. She also keeps up on all the current treatment protocols.

I'm hoping for just radiation therapy, but we'll see what she has to say.

So that's the journey so far. Looking up for now!