my game plan

Met with the oncologist today and confirmed that I will have the one / two punch of chemo and radiation. That was not a surprise. He called it an aggressive stage 2 cancer (in the right side) due to the lymph node involvement. The left side was clear of cancer and no nodes involved. There were numerous small tumors and they are certain they got it all. Clear margins and chest wall (yeah - whatever that means)

Can you tell I received more information than I can process? At one point (when meeting with a gal about a clinical trial I qualify for) I felt like saying "I see your lips moving but all I hear is blah blah blah!" Sorry, that's just me. I'm not a learner. I only wanna know what I have to know and no need for all the details. Sabrina was there to get all the details (thank you!) and I will process it over time / as need be.

I will have a port put in, so that I don't need to be stuck with needles every time I go to the doctor. This port near my collarbone will allow them to administer the chemo and whatever else, the easiest way possible. Anyway, I'll have that done in the next couple of weeks, then will begin treatment another week or two after that. They want all wounds healed before we start.

I got my last drain out - yaaay! But it hurt like hello! The first three didn't bother me much but this one was still draining some. Apparently it was entwined around my armpit area / where they took lymph nodes .... because as they pulled it out it stung - ouch! It's worth that temporary pain though; I'm glad to be done with it!

I'm sure there is more that I learned today - but I just can't think of it right now. Wanted to get this up and out there as soon as I could so you'll all know what I found out. These are the highlights and I'll add more as it comes to me (or as Sabrina calls to remind me :-)