Verdict

If there can be any good news about finding out for the second time you have breast cancer, it is that apparently it is not recurrent but rather a new tumor. Recurrence is not good. I'd rather not have the new one, but it is just now showing up in tests.

My mammogram in 2007 was BI-RADS-2, which is benign and would not raise suspicion. In a year's time, it had increased to BI-RADS-4: suspicious. So my stereotactic needle biopsy confirmed that it is a tumor. My surgeon recommends a simple mastectomy, and that is scheduled in a few days. I may require chemotherapy. We have a really good Oncology clinic here where I live. That will be convenient for us for the chemo. If I require radiation therapy, that will be done in Tupelo. I know and love those people there.

When I was a new medical transcriptionist 10 years ago, my first job was there at the Cancer Center in the Radiation Oncology department. About six weeks after I started there, my regular mammogram returned a malignancy. After consulting the excellent oncologists there, I opted for the lumpectomy with radiation, since the tumor was 1.2-cm, with 1 cm being the cutoff for no therapy. I was assured that the results would be the same if I had a lumpectomy or mastectomy. I would not get chemotherapy because my tests showed that I was estrogen receptor positive and chemotherapy is not used in that case. Instead I took tamoxifen for about 5 years, and after my stroke, I was put on Arimidex for about a year and a half more.

Anyway, with this past experience under my belt, I approach this with calm. I know it won't be fun, but there are other things not fun either. My sister just younger than I is now terminal with COPD. Another younger sister just this year had an E. coli infection which later went into sepsis. She actually went into a total system shutdown and was considered a miracle when she was resuscitated successfully. Compared to this, I don't consider I have a hangnail!

So, for the next two weeks, I'll be catching up on things around the house, taking care of the garden produce, and generally just being thankful for the good health care we have. Then the mastectomy, after which I may rest a few days and then be back doing things J and I love--enjoying life. This little time-out will give me time to get focused again and I will be full speed ahead once again.