"The Home Run of Good News!"

For the first time since my surgery, I left the house! Now, before you start thinking that a post-op visit with the surgeon isn't exciting, let me correct your thinking! It was the most exciting thing I've done in quite some time, because she had nothing to give me but good news!

The final lab report was so positive, I may have to frame it! She got the entire tumor out with "clean margins" (that's important in case you don't know about such things), all five lymph nodes that were removed tested negative for cancer! That means no cancer had spread! Also, the cancer had not made its way into the blood stream even at the site of the tumor!

My entourage (Mom and Husband) and I were practically standing up and cheering like we were at a ball game and someone had hit a home run! Someone pass the peanuts!

"The Roller Coaster Ride"

In between visiting with all those nurses, I did spend quality time with the doctor. She was patient, explained so many things my head was spinning (even though I took notes) and gave me good news and bad.

According the the ultrasound, the tumor is stage 1 in size (1.6 cm). However, it has that nasty grade 3 rating (aggressive). She said it is best to be positive on the ER and PR lab tests. Both of mine came back negative (of course). Not sure yet about the HER2/Neu. Since I'm young, the tumor is aggressive and is not responsive to hormone therapy, I will be having IV chemo (I almost jumped for joy over that news).

Next step: a breast MRI. Then we talk about our surgical options.

We (my husband and I) have a mixed bag of news. We have shock and emotion coursing through our systems and sometimes we have totally normal moments. It's just like being on a roller coaster, only you don't get the cool wind in your face and you hardly ever get to put your arms up in the air!

"Shell-shocked"

Shell-shocked: mentally confused, upset, or exhausted as a result of excessive stress.

The doctor kept asking me if I was alone. She asked if my husband or someone could be with me. The way she was talking I thought I was going to die! She told me to get my husband and come on in to the office. I called him at work and he picked me up immediately. She saw us right away and showed us the pathology report. I didn't understand a word it said. I did, however, understand that she was diagnosing me with breast cancer. BREAST CANCER! Even during the mammogram, ultrasound and biopsy it had never occurred to me that the outcome would be breast cancer.

After some time of feeling mentally worn out by just taking in the news, I began to try to decode the pathology report. I talked to my Mom (who is also an RN) and my Dad (who is a medical technologist in a hospital lab). I looked up every word online. Information gives me comfort. What I came up with was this: the tumor is small, but aggressive.