Experiment in Terror

 Dr. Liu was able to get my appointment with Dr. Joyce (the medical oncologist) moved up from 10/15 to this past Friday.

Dr. Joyce confirmed that I will have to have chemo. I dread this aspect of my treatment much more than surgery or radiation, but it is what it is. I had hoped that this would be all, but she also feels like I need a chest/abdominal/pelvic scan to see if it has spread anywhere else. If it has, my prognosis is not good, so we are desperately hoping that all of the cancer is contained within my breast and, ideally, just the one lymph node. Of course, I am extremely glad that she is being so thorough, but I am beyond terrified that it could be metastatic. Statistically, the 5 year survival rate is low with metastatic breast cancer, which is automatically stage 4. Stage 4 is incurable.

They tried to get me in for the scan at IU Health Bloomington, but they can’t do it until Friday evening, and that would mean not only waiting all week, but then also an entire weekend full of anxious waiting for results. They were able to get me in at IU Health Paoli tomorrow, so I took it. The tumor board also meets tomorrow, and my (hopefully) last biopsy is Wednesday, as is my new reconstruction appointment with plastic surgery.

With all of that completed (unless the scan finds something that needs biopsied…) I will have met with everyone, tested everything, and should be able to solidify my plan of action. So, I will hopefully have surgery within the next few weeks.

I did get myself a little present to try and cope when I can’t have Patton with me, and I should be able to take one when I have surgery.