Glowing

Yes, the blog title is true...I'm glowing and for a couple of reasons (so read on to find out....)

Today was PET scan day.  As I mentioned in yesterday's blog, my surgeon recommended I go ahead and get a PET scan, primarily to reassure me that we've collected all possible bits of information about my cancer before moving ahead with treatment.  She figured out pretty quickly that this was the only way I would feel confident in my treatment plan. Before the scan today, I did receive a call from her where she told me that the 2 suspicious lymph nodes that had been found earlier in the week were, indeed, cancerous. Although upsetting to hear, this was not a surprise, so I took that piece of news ok. 

The PET scan experience was really pretty sci-fi.  My surgeon had told me it was a very easy procedure (much more so than the MRI) and that it was only about a 25 minute scan, so I wasn't really apprehensive.  What I didn't know, however, was that there's actually an almost 2-hour lead up to the scan, so I got a little freaked out when I learned this as I was checking in for the procedure.  After talking it through with the technicians, however, I decided I could get through it ok, and went ahead with the PET.  The whole thing was pretty interesting: I was injected with a radioactive dye and then had to sit in a reclining chair alone in a dark room for 90 minutes while the dye was absorbed by my body.  No TV, no reading, no talking...nothing.  I did convince them to let me listen to relaxing music on my phone, but they would only let me do that after I sat perfectly still for the first 30 minutes.  Apparently any metabolic activity would skew the results of the PET.  Somehow I got through the 90 minutes smoothly and then had to go back and forth through a big tube for 25 minutes without moving a muscle for the actual PET scan. None of it was really all that scary; I was really just apprehensive about the results. I was also warned that I would be "radioactive" (hence the glowing reference) for the next 24 hours.  No very close contact allowed with anyone for extended periods of time (particularly the boys).  And I would apparently set off all alarms if I tried to get through airport security tonight! :)

But all of that angst was worth it: my wonderful surgeon called around 4:30 today and let me know that she had reviewed the PET and the cancer has not spread anywhere beyond my right breast and the two nodes.  Hooray!!! This is the best news I've received since this saga began almost 2 weeks ago.  To me, this means that although it will likely be a long and difficult year, I'm going to survive and kick this cancer right out of my body. And now I have definitive answers about what kind of cancer I'm dealing with.  We went out to dinner as a family and celebrated yet another positive in my journey.

I probably won't have another blog update until the middle of next week.  I'll be starting my new job on Monday, which is very important to me.  This means that I'll have a week where people will meet me as "Amy" and know me before all of the craziness begins. Tuesday will be a big day, however: I'm having my chemo port inserted (which is an outpatient surgery) and also meeting with the oncologist to develop my plan for chemo.  I'm also hoping to meet with a cosmetologist sometime during the week to figure out how to deal with my impending hair loss. Chemo will most likely start the following week. We're also in the midst of planning Owen's 6-year-old birthday party for next weekend - need to get in as many major events as possible before life gets even crazier!

Thanks again so much to all of you for your support over the past 2 weeks.  It's been a roller coaster of good days and bad days, and I know that's how the upcoming months will continue to be.  It won't be easy, but today's news gave me the final confidence that I needed to know that I'm going to be able to ultimately win this battle.