Stage Zero!

My entourage and I met with Dr. G. yesterday to find out what my next steps are. He was great: besides being articulate and patient, he had a great twinkle in his eye. I took this as license to go to my bent humor side. In fact, I probably got carried away because I started feeling hyper so by the time I was done I was exhausted. After almost 3 weeks of waiting for this appointment it stands to reason that nervous energy had built up, and therefore is understandable that it all came to a head yesterday.

Enough of that. You want to know what's going on. Well...the really great news is that it's "Stage zero" cancer. Earlier than early is how I think of it. After an MRI on Tuesday (to determine if the cancer has spread beyond the lobe) I will schedule an outpatient surgery. It will require only a local anesthetic and maybe 2 days of recovery. So far so good.

Then..........the doctor said something about radiation following surgery. What??? Radiation??? That totally caught me off-guard. I had not anticipated that and reacted like a whiny 2 year old. "No! I'm not doing radiation." "Why not?" he asks. I tried to skirt the answer because I really didn't know why. He wouldn't let me get away with it, though...and, get this, I said, "Because I don't want to get sick." Yeah, I heard myself. He pretty much said, if you want to make sure the cancer does not come back, your choices are radiation or mastectomy. Oh.

Lara and I are scheduled for a one-day cancer workshop on the 17th, my 65th birthday. Is that just a little weird? But, it's at Harmony Hill, one of my favorite places on the planet so I'm excited about it.

Oh, and you people who've volunteered to help...you're still on, even if I don't NEED help. I decided I WANT it! Yay!