pathology report news

Summary: My cancer is still not invasive (so no chemo, hallelujah) but the ducts of my right breast are just packed full of it, right up into my armpit and up to (not into) the chest wall. Where there isn't cancer, there's pre- or pre-pre-cancerous cells. So the whole thing needs to come off. I haven't scheduled the mastectomy yet but will probably have a date by early next week. They want to look at the pathology report after the mastectomy and decide then if I'll need radiation - it might be a good idea for me, even though it's not the usual protocol with a mastectomy. So I won't have immediate reconstruction, which is fine with me. I wasn't ready to make a decision on what kind to have, anyway.

My husband is on a train trip across the country with his father, something they've both been looking forward to for about a year. I'm glad he's getting to do something fun and have a break for himself before this major surgery. He gets back on Friday.

I feel kind of matter-of-fact about this whole thing. I know having a mastectomy will take away most of my worries of not being able to detect a recurrence. I feel confident with my doctors and my whole "support system". I do dread the pain and invalidity (?- being an invalid), but oh well. Other people go through a lot worse. I've been told my case is unusual (not sure which aspects are most unusual though), so I like to think that what's happening to me is helping doctors learn more about breast cancer. I really dodged a bullet, catching this before it became invasive.