Up to Dates and 13 vs 87

A week of being spoiled and treated like a queen has passed. I am extremely well fed, and those blood cells are beginning to dance! Besides my wonderful family, friends - C and C, and H and N, the good CEO and the school - have generously filled the gap with the young PS. My incredibly kind cleaner has exhausted herself keeping my house and laundry under control. She also shanghaied her daughters into walking our dog, and I sent the young PS along too.

All in all it has been a gentle amble, but the H o H is not far off. On Sunday I got up and watched while the young PS had a swim at the local pool - practice for my first Real Day Up on Monday. DH took the day off work. "this is nice I said - we're having all these dates alone together!"

So on Monday I went to the Kind Doctor and then later Herself (this nickname is only apt because it alludes to her surname - she is very easy going and approachable). I told the KD that this choice about chemo was annoying - I wish someone would just tell me I've got to have it, and no dilly dalllying! Funny you should say that ....he told me that there was an amended report on my node. A new and very efficient test had found one 0.25 mm cancer cell on the node, less than 0.2mm and they would have ignored it but this 0.05 pushed me over the line and I'm now technically node positive. I have to have chemo and no dilly dallying, BUT now I have the choice of having more surgery to remove all the nodes. Oh Poop. It's never a good thing to stop off at the Hall of Mirrors, the sights just leave you more confused than ever.

I have a 13% chance of having more cells present on other nodes. An 87 % chance that they are clear.

Now I'm praying and waiting, talking to D and DH and the Breast Nurse. I forgot to talk about her/them - she's coming over soon to bring me the latest thing in mastectomy lingerie. (provided free in exchange for your boob). When the young PS was so upset before I had the surgery, he asked "what will happen to the other side of your bra?" "put a sock in it" I said, reviving a family joke of encouraging noisy boys to be quiet. He laughed for ages at that, but that's what the BN gave me for temporary use - a soft stuffed triangle to jam into the gap. So far I've only used it under my arm in place of my bigger Zonta cushion - it's less noticable in public.

The good news is I have a very common cancer: Invasive Carcinoma of the Ducts, Not Otherwise Specified (ICD NOS).

It is oestrogen and progesterone positive, but HER2 negative. This Herself assured me is a good combination for a good prognosis. After chemotherapy I will have Hormone therapy for 5 years.