Well this is new...

Just a brief update today.  I met with my radiologist today, and we reviewed the plan, which is to have about 15 zaps of radiation, so not too bad! You go in daily, Monday through Friday, and it takes about 30 minutes total. Today I had a quick CAT scan of my chest and my armpit, and then they put small tattoos to guide the technologist with the radiation.  The side effects are scary, like heart and lung damage, ribs that fracture easily, and other pleasant things. Most likely though, I will just have minor skin damage, and feel tired. But my treatment plan is short, so I'm hopeful for minor side effects. The other thing is figuring out how I want to look. Right now, I look like a pear. Or a pregnant teenager. You'll have to use your imagination here. Believe me, they sell all sorts of prosthetics, all sizes, materials, it's crazy. The good thing is insurance covers part of the cost, so thank goodness for insurance!  I think I'm going with Knitted Knockers (go ahead and...

Since I last posted, I had a double mastectomy and a chemo port placed near my left collar bone. I'm doing fine, mostly! There is pain, but it's manageable with Tylenol or Ibuprofen. I wore chest drains for about 2 weeks, and had them removed yesterday, which is great, since they are stitched to your sides and make it hard to sleep. My arms are very sore, especially on the side where my lymph nodes were removed. But I have exercises to do, which help. The VERY BEST NEWS is that the pathology report showed no cancer in my other lymph nodes, and none remaining in the right breast. The left breast has a non-cancerous "marker" for future breast cancer, but it's not attached to me any longer, so yay! Technically, we are calling me Stage 2b cancer in remission, but we are treating for stage 2b cancer, to cover all the bases. I chose radiation and estrogen blockers as my next step. Chemo is recommended, but would only add about 10% to my survival chances. And chemo is mu...