Evaluating Options

Day 79-80: Decision Time…

Day 79-80: Decision Time…

This is a long one… 2 days 5 doctors, 2 nurses and a resident.  Yep it’s been busy.  However, before I write it all up, there are a few disclosures I want to toss out there:

  1. My cancer and diagnosis is not like the cancer and diagnosis of anyone else… and as such, no one has the same cancer situation as I do.  I think it is really important for people to do their own due diligence, my decision is mine solely and not intended to influence anyone else.
  2. If you are a doctor and reading this, please remember you treat a human with a life they likely rather enjoyed prior to the diagnosis – you are not treating a disease but a person.
  3. I have said since the beginning that quality trumps quantity for me personally.

That being said… here we go – Continue reading →

Day 51-53: Cancer math madness…

Day 51-53: Cancer math madness…

Well… This has been a tough one to write.  I’m parsing through all the data and many emotions.
Many of you know that I saw the oncologist Thursday and things have been quiet since then… I am learning “cancer math.”  Cancer math reminds me of my marketing classes while I was pursuing masters of business.  My classmate Britt and I kept getting stuck on how certain numbers were derived, in class one day in total frustration, I decided that there were horses and unicorns and that marketing math was filled with unicorns made from assumptions based on some level of experience but truly they are assumptions and not tangible reality.  We will refer to cancer math as “kitten unicorn cancer math.”

Continue reading →

Day 50: Post-op, pathology, staging, decisions and drains oh my!

Day 50: Post-op, pathology, staging, decisions and drains oh my!

WOW!  Where to start.  Today is a very mixed bag of good news and not so great news.  I am going to let the words flow through my fingers and try not to over think it.

Starting with some of the good news from the post-op appointment.  The drains are out and the surgical sites look FABULOUS.  The tissue is healthy and clear and it truly looks great.  Having the drains removed did smart a little bit, ok, right drain #2 smarted a lot… and I dropped the “F-bomb” again… but the doctor was very understanding.  Having the staples removed did not hurt at all.  I am still a day away from a shower though.

Pathology report was not what I was hoping for, Continue reading →

Day 34: Finally… A plan and I’ve been staged…

Day 34: Finally… A plan and I’ve been staged…

It will grow back they said... curly they said...

It will grow back they said… curly they said…

Ok… We have some answers, some good news and a plan.  Let’s start with the good news.  The CT and bone scan came back clear.  There is NO indication of metastasis. This is great news.  Lymph nodes look good – although they still will want to take the sentinel node(s) next to #killerleftboob

My Oncologist (aka Potions Master), the Radiologist (aka Bones) and the Surgeon (aka Hack & Saw) Continue reading →

Day 23: Evaluating options

Day 23: Evaluating options

Had a friend stop in the office yesterday to share their Cancer story and remind me to research options and opinions when it comes to treatment. He has a very compelling story and long story short, he gave me his oncologists cell phone number and I am seeing him at 3 today.

This Cancer process is interesting because it is both abysmally slow and wicked fast. Slow in the data getting to you and fast in the appointments and tests and feeling like you have time to analyze the data as it makes it way to you.

Along the way I have had reminders to seek second opinions – but radiology and pathology and data driven, thankfully, so not much opinion in those disciplines. But now we are talking treatment and goodness…, how that does vary and doctors all have different thoughts. Gyno/General says just take out ‪#‎killerleftboob‬, surgeon says may as well take ‪#‎hawtrightboob‬ too… And the guy today? Story is he prefers no surgery unless we can’t get rid of it through other methods. I’ll find out for sure what his story is this afternoon.

This will “probably” be decision weekend. Or, to put it another way, *If* no more tests are ordered, *then* it’s decision time, *else* go through more tests and evaluate more data

I see the surgeon again tomorrow.

I feel so popular… All these people wanting to see me.

‪#‎strongerthancancer‬ ‪#‎embracingtheadventure‬ #killerleftboob #hawtrightboob ‪#‎breastcancer‬