I met with my medical oncologist today and got some not-so unexpected news and some very unexpected news…
First off – as a result of my final biopsy, my cancer has been re-staged; I am now Stage 2b, borderline stage 3. That wasn’t unexpected since 40% of my tumor mass ended up being grade 3 (aggressive growth pattern).
The other not so great news…My oncologist is very concerned about my red, hot mess; which is still red and throwing off heat despite being on antibiotics for about 5 days now. She has only seen this type of reaction after chemo once before and long story short, they had to take the breast. So I have been put on notice that if the redness and heat intensify again after the next round of chemo, that I will likely be recommended for a mastectomy. The concern is that there are numerous individual cancer cells throughout the breast and are just not in a ‘lump’ formation. We’ll know more in 2 weeks when I start the next round of chemo.
I also asked about the chemo migraines that I’m getting daily…I guess on top of all the usual side effects, patients get 1 big bonus one (trying to be lighthearted here lol) and this one seems to be mine. So doc will keep me fully stocked on meds to help manage the chemo-migraines.
On a side note… A huge thank you to those that have been making casseroles for us! The help is incredibly appreciated…we’re learning that we can’t make it through this alone and feel blessed to have people in our lives stepping up to help. Please keep them coming 🙂
