Awaiting results

In a nutshell, the level of success of my cancer treatment will be determined by the pathology report that I will hopefully receive . . . Tuesday.

There are many different types of breast cancer and all are treated differently.  My treatment began with 4 1/2 months of chemotherapy with the goal to shrink the cancer before having surgery.  The surgery, a bi-lateral mastectomy entailed removing the entire right breast and lymph nodes from the right arm and also removing the left breast.  The left breast, even though no cancer was detected, was removed because my odds for reoccurrance are greater.  If I did get cancer in my left breast, I would not be able to go through the same chemotherapy regimen, which is the most effective, as it is dangerous to the rest of my body to get these chemicals twice.

The pathology report is going to show us two things. 

1.  Did removing the entire breast remove all of the cancer?  If the Margins of the sampled tissue and skin are clear of cancer, the answer is yes. 

2.  Do the removed lymph nodes show any signs of cancer?  If the lymph nodes test positive, then there is a chance that the cancer could have spread elsewhere. 

Obviously, what I'm hoping for is clear margins and clean lymph nodes.  Realistically, I may get only one or the other, or neither.  If that is the case, the oncologist will try some other chemo treatments.  

Radiation treatment is probably going to happen regardless of the pathology report due the the inflammatory nature (involvement of the skin) of my cancer.  That's just a precaution.

Awaiting tomorrow . . .