My Christmas Wish

Dear Santa,

I know it’s been a while since you’ve heard from me. I’m hoping that I’m not too old and you can grant my Christmas wish.

You see, after my surgery I thought things were going well. The surgeon was able to remove the tumor in its entirety and we all thought that I was cancer free. Then the rest of the pathology reports came in and a bit of bad news arrived. It seems that one of the lymph nodes “leaked” and there is no telling on how long it’s has been going on. It could have been 3 months or 2 days. So, while yes, the tumor is gone, there is no way to say that I’m cancer free.

The panel of doctors reviewed my case. I asked them to think out of the box. Since my case wasn’t ordinary, I didn’t want just an ordinary treatment. So, they put their heads together and came up with a plan. I didn’t love it at first, but I’ll do what must be done. Radiation will come first, once I’ve healed. Then will come 6 months of a chemo pill, 2 weeks on – 1 week off, to kick any lingering cancer out of my body. I only agreed to the chemo pill because they promised I could pause it to go on vacation. I am in desperate need of some time on a beach, a cocktail or two and not a worry or care.

With a plan in hand, there was only one thing left to do. Before radiation a PET scan would be good. They knew that it would show trauma from the surgery, but they wanted to make sure cancer hadn’t taken up residence anywhere else. So, Monday I went, and all was well, until the results were posted in my health portal. Hallelujah! There were no signs of cancer anywhere else, but the left breast is showing another mass. It might just be a bit of trauma from the surgery, but a mammogram and ultrasound are needed to stop the worry.

The orders were placed and Friday morning I was at the Women’s Breast Center for a “squeeze and scan” and a few laughs too. The one thing I’ve learned is after your ultrasound, it is not good when the doc that reviews the images comes in. The mass looks a lot like the cancer tumor that they just removed, so a biopsy is needed to see what it really is. The good news is they were able to fit me in for the biopsy in about 45 minutes. Now for the best surprise, the tech and the doc that did my biopsy back in May was the team that were going to do the biopsy. Yippee! Old friends, kind of. Once we got started the biopsy was quick and for the third time in 6 months, I was leaving the hospital with an ice pack in my bra.

I should know the results sometime next week and I will do anything for all this fuss to be about nothing. If it isn’t could you please send me some extra strength to get through whatever comes next?

Merry Christmas!
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Love,
Dawnie