The good, the bad and the ugly

Today was a big day.

We got the call early this morning to let us know that the pathology report had come in and we needed to meet with Dr. Janzen (my awesome surgeon) to get my results. We packed me and my drains up and headed back to the Jim Pattison Outpatient Centre.

I feel like I have had those green cartoon stink lines coming from me lately and the combination of not showering, not shaving and stress/nerves creates a…unique aroma. Well this morning was no different. I sat in the waiting area at the breast health clinic and could feel beads of sweat roll down my arm. Gross right? so gross. All I could think about was the fact that the doctor and no less than one nurse was definitely going to want to get all up in my sweaty, hairy armpit business…which obviously made me stress sweat more. Cue cartoon stink lines.

My name was called and in we went. Dr. Janzen came in and immediately said “Good news!”…exhale. Here’s the nuts and bolts of the pathology report:

• Tumor was 4 cm in diameter
• Stage 2
• There was NO sign of cancer in the lymph nodes that were removed and tested (YAY!)
• No sign of cancer in my right breast that was removed and tested

So then, the obvious question was – what’s next? Next I am referred to the BC Cancer Agency and get an oncologist who will discuss their recommendations of the next steps. We asked Dr. J her opinion as to what she thought would be recommended and she said that based on my age there will likely be some form of additional treatment to ensure that there’s next to zero chance of reoccurrence. Additional Treatment = radiation, chemo or a combination of the two. Ugh. Well that’s not exactly what I was expecting to hear following her “Great News!” exclamation.

Well, if chemo and/or radiation is on deck then so be it but between now and when we meet with the oncologist I will happily live in a cancer-free body and work on healing after surgery. I have been playing this cancer game a lot like a softball game. It’s what I know how to do and it helps make it all feel manageable. I have seen each of these meetings, appointments, tests and surgery as an at-bat. There’s no point in trying to think 3 or 4 pitches ahead, I need to concentrate on what is coming out of the pitchers hand in that moment, deal with the pitch I’m being thrown and try to hit a line drive. So if, at my next at-bat I am told that I need to do a few rounds of chemo then we are going to dig into the batters box and get ready to knock it out of the park.

Now time to gather all of my super important questions for my April 14 oncologist appointment…when can I drink? When can I get my next tattoo?…

PS – I had 1 of my drains removed this morning!! YAY!! The nurse got all up in my smelly armpit, cut the stitch and told me it would feel weird but wouldn’t hurt coming out. She was a dirty liar. It hurt A LOT but then felt good immediately after. The other drain will hopefully come out on Friday at my plastic surgeon follow up appointment.  Double Yay.