Miracles do happen

The last two months have been difficult since my mom's breast cancer diagnosis. At first I didn't sleep for nights, lost ten pounds over three days, and then it was one waiting game after another: Wait for biopsy results, wait for surgery date, wait to find out lymph node status, wait for pathology report, wait for referral to medical and radiation oncologists. This is in addition to trips to the lab, x-rays, having wires inserted, and generally being poked and probed. All you want to know is, what will the treatment be, and what are one's chances of living a 'normal' life again? Would there simple be radiation? Or other treatments? Would there be chemo? Will you be able to tolerate all these treatments? It is perhaps the unknown that makes one worry more than knowing what is actually going on.

Today was the big day: getting treatment options. We met with the medical oncologist, who asked all the same questions again, but then got to reviewing the detailed pathologgy report with us. For some strange reason we had thought since my mom's surgery that her HER2 status was positive, which means quite aggressive and with a less favourable prognosis. We must have mixed it up with something else, as it is, in fact, negative. That was the absolute best thing I could have heard, as it is generally HER2+ that requires chemo treatment. The grade of the tumor was intermediate, which clearly isn't perfect, but the other factors were all favourable. So the options we were presented are:

• No further treatment. Every patient is given this option (post-surgery). 69% of these patients are living without relapse after 10 years. 24% chance of relapse. Remaining 7% die of other causes (for all of the options).
• Hormonal therapy and radiation. This is our selected option. 78% of patients living without relapse after 10 years. 15% chance of relapse.
• Hormonal therapy, radiation, and chemo. 83% of patients living without relapse after 10 years. 10% chance of relapse.
• Enter clinical trial for genetic testing (OncotypeDX) in the US. This could give reassurance that one falls towards the lower end of relapse chances (if that's the case), indicate that one has higher chances of relapse and chemo would be worth trying, or end up in an intermediate group where you have a 50:50 chance of getting chemo for study purposes. The medical oncologist felt that my mom would likely be lower end, so we're not risking chemo. Side effects of that seem to outweight the benefits. This option includes hormonal therapy and radiation as well.
(For any random person who may be reading this, note that these figures are specific to a patient, taking into account such factors as age, cancer stage, grade, lymph node status, hormone receptor status, and HER2 status. These numbers do not apply to everyone.)

So, it'll be hormonal therapy and radiation - perhaps the most straightforward treatments given all the possbilities. My mom wanted to just get on with things as normal as possible, and this should allow her to do just that.

I am taking the rest of the day off work to get some me time. This process has been draining, so it's time to focus on living better overall.

Thank you to all of you who've helped me through these past couple of months! Whether you were there to listen, came out on a hike with me, had lunch with me, or just sent me a message to say you care, know that it does make a difference.