Today I saw the oncologist for the first time, and liked her. First thing, I said to her “Are you confident you can heal me,” and she emphatically said “YES!” That felt great to have her confidence.
Dr. E confirmed Dr. Curcio’s report that the tumor is Stage 1. Also, it appears that the lymph nodes are NOT affected, but won’t know for sure until the biopsy during surgery in 5 months.
On the table, when Dr. C looked at my MRI, there was an area in question that was nearby the tumor, with a seeming line attaching the 2 masses. That second area was not biopsied. When their radiologist looked at the MRI for a second opinion, my team decided we want to biopsy that too 
Of course I don’t want MORE cancer, but if its also positive on biopsy, this will allow me to add yet another drug into the cocktail, called Perjeta, which doubles the chance that the chemo will completely get rid of the cancer. So, it’s good news/bad news.
Let’s see, what else…She said that the chemo treatment has historically not been too painful for patients, but I absolutely will lose my hair…so there’s that Looking into wigs etc. Can I just pause for a second and acknowledge how strange it seems to lose my hair??
This cancer thing is a full time job! Before I can start chemo, we have daily appointments to undergo tons of testing. Blood test, CT Scan, bone scan, echocardiogram, MRI guided biopsy, port surgery and oh yeah, have an infected tooth extracted to stop an ongoing infection in its tracks. Phew! It’s a lot!
Then the tumor board will meet in a week to discuss my case and I will see my doctors afterward. All this is to get me to the point that I can start Chemo. While time is of the essence, Dr. E said that a few weeks, the time we need to this all sorted out, won’t hurt anything.
Navigating "New" Normals 