CW: Cancer stuff
I am serving my primary purpose as a cat warmer while writing this, so know that all is well in the world.
Just to quickly get everybody up to date, I had an abdominal CT scan last week and it was negative for any metastases, which is exactly the kind of thing we want from a CT scan. It was my first CT scan but apparently won’t be my last, as I met what is hopefully the bottom turtle of my oncology team today, the radiation oncologist, and I am now scheduled for what they call a “Simulation CT Scan” on November 2nd.
I meet with my medical oncologist again next Thursday, at which point hopefully they will have the results of my oncotype and genetic testing, and even more hopefully those results will indicate that it’s safe for them to send me over to radiation without initiating chemo. If after the results are in we decide to go forward with chemo (please no) then radiation gets punted to next year.
Oh, my aching deductibles.
The radiation oncologist is pretty optimistic: his attitude is that surgery and radiation results in a cure without recurrence in 95% of cancers like mine (stage 1 grade 2 lobular carcinoma) and if it does recur, well, they do a mastectomy and we roll from there. The medical oncologist is Mister Abundance Of Caution, which is why I had the abdominal CT scan last week and why I’m having the oncotype and genetic testing.
Essentially, he said, that if I were seventy he would tell me to go home and get regular mammograms. He thinks its very unlikely that Barry slipped through the net, but there might be a random murder-cell lurking, waiting its chance.
So, since I’m fifty and have at least another 29 years of life expectancy before people start to say “Well, she had a good run,” maybe kill that fucker with fire.
I suspect it’s healthy for me in the long run to be being treated by Bert and Ernie simultaneously, as long as I can walk the emotional tightrope between them.
Meanwhile, I need to track down some fragrance-free aloe vera gel for treating my eventual radiation burns. yay?
Subscribers will get a post about horses and another post about books in the next few days, and who knows what all else? Also access to the Discord where last I checked there are .gifs of very dazed looking cats.
Lots of love,
Bear