It's baaaaacccckkkkk and it's a tumah.

But first an update . . .So last I left off, I had just had my surgery and was given the good, bad, and ugly of it all.  As part of my surgery I had expanders implanted as place holders to help keep my breast shape between radiation and reconstruction.  My plastic surgeon, yes I am that fancy and have a plastic surgeon 😊, recommended time after radiation to let my skin heal to give me the best outcome for breast reconstruction. However, the left breast, which is the breast that had the original Horcrux, aka tumor, had a very difficult time healing from the mastectomy so my treatment plan was delayed several weeks and I did not start the chemo pill until early June.   In the mean time I had a CT and Bone scan that all came out clean so I was feeling ok.  As a reminder, my treatment plan was to start the Xeloda pill for 4 rounds, then radiation, then another 4 rounds of Xeloda.

Well into my second round of the dreaded pill, I found a lump on my chest wall, in the vicinity of my previous Horcrux sight.  One ultrasound and biopsy later, it was confirmed that it was a recurrence of breast cancer, and this time it was highly Estrogen positive.  My surgeon was pissed off about my new predicament and immediately we went into surgery and removed it.  Of course that necessitated more bone and CT scans which indicated an area around the top of my breast bone, the left side of the manubrium, that was a little more lit, compared to the previous scan.  I know what y'all are thinking, being "lit" is a good thing, well not so much in the cancer world.  After a PET scan and some investigative work by my cancer team, it was determined that I have a lymph node that is super tight with the back of my manubrium that was infected with the cancer and decided to share some with the bone.  I also have another lymph node that appears to be slightly enlarged along the clavicle bone.  So while I am officially considered a stage 4 metastatic (or secondary) breast cancer patient, my doctor used the words "a different stage 4" because it is a regional metastasis rather than one that was caused by the cancer traveling through my bloodstream and attaching itself to somewhere else.  Either way saying "stage 4" is scary and the statistics are bleak.  However, my Radonc-a-doc thinks that radiation still gives us a good chance to kill the cells and my oncologist is putting me into hormone therapy with some other fun and fancy drugs to keep my cancer cells dormant or "non-active" as they say in the cancer world.

All this to say is that ultimately this may be my cause of death one day, but that day is not today.  I am still feeling really good, my bloodwork looks great, and I still have my faith.  I know this news is not what others want to hear and it breaks my heart more to see the pain that this causes others, but know that I am doing alright.  I don't know how this will unfold but I am at peace right now as I write this.  Keep my in your prayers and intentions, pray for my family and loved ones, and pray that all be done according to his will.

Until next time . . .