Good News....But Battle is Not Over

 Dr. Yahanda gave me the results of my pathology today.   

T1N0M0

This means:
(T) 1, meaning (t)umor, size-wise, is Stage 1 *
(N) 0, meaning no spreading into my lymph (n)odes
(M) 0, meaning no (m)etastasis

*I asterisk'd this one, because the exact size of my tumor is unknown because they still need to "piece" together the part of the tumor my plastic surgeon took out when he came across it during reconstruction with the tumor taken out during my mastectomy.  The pathology report states that the size of the tumor taken out during my mastectomy was 1.8 cm in greatest dimension.

The tumor was highly progesterone and estrogen receptive (a good thing).

All margins were clean of cancer cells.

Then he told me about my HER2 status. 

HER2-positive breast cancer is a breast cancer that tests positive for a protein called human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), which promotes the growth of cancer cells. In about 1 of every 5 breast cancers, the cancer cells make an excess of HER2 due to a gene mutation. This gene mutation and the elevated levels of HER2 that it causes can occur in many types of cancer.  HER2-positive breast cancers tend to be more aggressive than other types of breast cancer. They're also less responsive to hormone treatment. However, treatments that specifically target HER2 are very effective, and have become available in the last few years.

My pathology report stated that the HER2 tested 2+ by the IHC test (ImmunoHistoChemistry) which is performed in initial pathology.  2+ means borderline.  Therefore, it must be re-tested using FISH (Flourescence In Situ Hybridization) and this test will verify if indeed my tumor is HER2 positive or negative.
If the HER2 status is positive, then chemo will undoubtedly be in my future, along with treatment involving the drug Herceptin (thank GOD for this drug, but GEEEZ, side-effects look horrible).

At this point in my appointment, I thought, well, maybe there is a chance that this new test will reveal the tumor is HER2 negative, in which case, would make it the best possible outcome of my pathology. 

And that is still possible. However, my heart sank when Dr. Y told me that even if it is HER2 negative, given my younger age and size of the tumor, chemo is usually always recommended as the standard course of treatment.

All of this will be evaluated by my oncologist.  WAIT!  That's right, I don't haaaaave an oncologist, because mine was busted for meth.  And guess what?  I found out the one I finally decided on isn't taking new patients.  And I can't get in to see my next choice of oncologist until March 15!  I'm going to do some more oncologist research.  I guess if I have to travel a little further for treatment, but get in faster, then I may do that, but that just adds to the burden of more time off work, away from kids, etc.

Cancer is fucking bullshit- there I said it.  I'm so over it already.  It's gone from my body, but it's still completely disrupting my life.

As far as my recovery, I am still experiencing some pain, but I'm slowly weaning off my pain meds. Every day gets a little better.  I saw Dr. S (plastic surgeon) and my incision looks good (well, it looks good to him- to me, it looks frankensteinish).  Because this incision is so close to the one he made during reconstruction, we need to closely monitor the blood flow between these two incisions.  He only took out one drain tube, which puts me no closer to the shower I desperately need!  I'm sure that once my incision is healed, and my drain is out, all of my visits to Dr. S will come to a halt for a while until my treatment is well over.

My cancer has not spread!  I am extremely lucky that this was all caught, maybe not as early as it should have been, but early nonetheless.  As much as I dread the thought of chemotherapy, if that is what it takes to make sure cancer stays away for good, then I guess I'll just have to deal.

Comments, pep-talks, and stories encouraged at amymariesmith93@gmail.com