On October 11th I went to see the surgeon. I was excited that I would finally know the next step. I sat in the surgeon’s office, and before he could tell me what he saw on the MRI he heard the cough I’ve had for the last 2 weeks. He was going to say that there was a spot on my lung, but then when he heard my hack, he figured I probably had pneumonia. As shocking as it may sound, I was relieved. I had been sick since my biopsy on September 26th. I just thought I couldn’t shake this cold. I had been trying to function as if all was well, when in reality, I was walking around with pneumonia. I was so relieved that I willingly went home and laid on the couch all weekend. I was really sick, no sense in trying to muscle through. I wouldn’t get better if I kept doing what I had been doing. It was time to rest and get better.
In addition to discovering why I had been hacking up fur balls for the past 2 weeks, the surgeon explained that the biopsied area was ductal carcinoma in situ which means that biologically it can’t spread. They will remove it and do radiation in case there is more hiding in other ducts.
The doctor informed me there were some other unknowns that needed to be found out. There is a spot near the spot that showed up on the MRI. They will remove it, but they won’t know what it is until after the surgery. If it turns out to be an invasive cancer, I may need chemotherapy.
Because of my age they want to do genetic testing to see if I have the gene that keeps my body from fighting off these bad cells. If the test comes back negative then all will stay the same. If it comes back positive my chances of getting cancer again are 80% so they will suggest a bilateral mastectomy. Those were the facts.
My prayers following that appointment were that the other spot was non-invasive and that the genetic test would come back negative. My husband called me his hero. I felt honored and humbled. I didn’t feel like I was doing much.
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