Breathing a Sigh of Relief

The meeting with the surgeon went really well.  She is super smart and was able to impart her knowledge in a way that was both incredibly reassuring and very down to earth.  She answered all of our questions thoroughly and even explained the dumb ones. I feel like I am in very good hands. 

Here is what she told me:  I have Stage I infiltrating breast cancer.  This means that the cancer cells have begun to exit any enclosed neat little package that would have classified it as Stage 0. However, the tumor is, by its nature, slow growing.  Dr. Dietz estimates that this one has been working up some steam for about two years. The current estimate of the tumor's size is 1.4 centimeters (for those of you educated prior to 1975, that is .6 inches.  For those of you totally uneducated but able to earn a living, that is smaller than a dime) 

From all current information available, the cancer has not spread beyond the breast; definite confirmation of this will be made when a biopsy is taken at the time of my surgery-but she feels the chance of this is very low.

THE NEATEST THING is that she said she was so pleased that it was detected so early because this type of cancer does not form a hard lump and therefore it is usually much harder to detect.  She was thrilled, and so am I! Yippee!

My treatment will have two aspects: Local and Systemic. Local refers to what surgery will be performed and Systemic refers to what drugs I will need to take.

 I have some decisions to make about my  "Local" treatment.  Basically I can choose a lumpectomy with 6 weeks of radiation, or a mastectomy with reconstructive surgery and no radiation. There are pluses and minuses to each. I'm going to let this settle for a few days. 

My systemic treatment will include a drug to block reception of the hormones estrogen and progesterone, since this cancer is fed by them.  Chemotherapy as we know it will only be considered in the unlikely event that cancer is found in my lymph nodes.    

Thank you to God and to all of you who have told me how much you love me. I really do feel lucky to be a part of this family.  Love back at you big time. Berta

For the technophiles among us, here are the specifics of the pathology report: 

 "Infiltrating Lobular Carcinoma, Nuclear Grade 2" (the Nuclear Grade is on a scale of 1 to 3 and further rates its propensity to infiltrate)

HER2 Gene Absent (this is a good thing)

"Estrogen and Progesterone Receptor Positive" (this means I will require medication that blocks estrogen and Progesterone receptors, probably Tamoxifen)