Life is Good......but some days really suck!

This has been a busy week of appointments in the Mountel household.
Starting the week with getting Reilly registered to start school in 2 weeks (what??) - not sure I'm totally ready for that one.

Next up was family counseling - the kids started by telling the lady how mom has "boob cancer" and then they got to throw "feelings" balls at each other and draw rainbows, they loved it.

Thursday was our appointment with the plastic surgeon and after fussing at me about my keeping my street cred as "2 Drainz" she then gave me a couple ounces of boob boost (or as Mark likes to call it IPA).

Our last appointment of the week was the big Oncology appointment we have been anxiously awaiting. Throughout this whole process I have felt pretty positive - realistic but positive. So that is how Mark and I both went into this appointment. We were a bit thrown off our game at this appointment. The basic jist is that the cancer was quite pervasive to the point that they want to do radiation in addition to the chemo.

For those who are interested in more scientific detail please continue otherwise skip this paragraph and go to the next...
They removed an additional 3cm mass which is in addition to the 2.7cm mass they removed which means the mass was >5cm. In addition, they removed 7 lymph nodes 3 of which tested positive. The CT scan came back clear - which means no metastasis (yeah!). So that makes my cancer a T3 N1 M0 or Stage III A.  one of the concerns that came up in the pathology was that there were little cancer nodules spread throughout the fatty tissue which leads to concerns about there being cancer in my chest wall. In addition, because my lymph nodes didn't take the blue dye that is supposed to show the path of lymph fluid there is some concern that there may be some sneaky little cancer cells hiding in my lymph nodes that weren't checked. So that is the reason for the radiation.

What does this all mean going forward. ..
I will get a port installed next week to make blood draws and chemo treatments easier. I will get my drains removed by August 22. Then I will start chemotherapy treatments on August 30th (To my BABC -I still plan on being there!) My chemo treatment will be a high dose treatment which means that I will have a chemo cycle every 14 days. Once the chemo is complete then I will move on to radiation therapy. I still need to meet with a radiation oncologist to find out that plan but that is a ways down the road - so I will not think about it too much yet.

How am I doing?
Right now I'm worn out. I'm sad and disappointed and pretty ticked off!  I'm hanging on to the ticked off piece and trying to let the rest go. I know I will get through this. I know it will be a hard fought battle but it is worth every ounce of pain and energy I have to be here for/with my family - both blood and chosen.  My spirit is a little wounded for the moment but I know by tomorrow it will be refreshed and renewed with the hope and optimism that has carried me thus far.

Love to you all.
2 Drainz