Not a bad day....

Today was a mixed bag but I'm feeling pretty good about it.

The MRI didn't happen. We got up there around 9:45 for 10:15 check-in time. The registration clerk told me that the paperwork said it had been scheduled at MW in Pittsburgh. They fixed that. Then she handed me more paperwork, told me to back to the waiting area, fill it out and wait until someone came and asked for it. We sat there until 11:45 a.m. BDHA went back to the registration desk and asked why the delay. "Oh...you were supposed to bring the paperwork back to us when finished" (Not what we were told). Then they couldn't find the faxed prescription and bloodwork. Finally located that.

I went into the back with the technician, Kathy. She said that she would not put the I.V. in until it was determined whether I could complete the MRI. (Thank you, Kathy.) As the table went into the tube, it pressed against my hips and I started to panic. I decided that I couldn't do it. We left and I dreaded having to call Dr. Z and tell him.

Now for the news that took a huge weight off of me. Dr. Z called around 4 p.m. to tell me that the results were back from my CT and Bone scans. The scans did not show that the cancer had spread past the lymph nodes. Yay! He said that the lymph nodes under my right arm would need to be removed and we would talk about breast conserving surgery vs a mastectomy. He said that the chance of recurrence would be the same for both. He asked about the MRI and when I said that I couldn't go through with it, he said that at this time, the MRI was moot.

Then....

He asked about the "infection", the redness. I said I started the antibiotics on Saturday so was on my third day and I didn't notice any change yet. He was concerned about that. He said that there was the possibility of it not being an infection but Inflammatory Breast Cancer. I told him that I had been thinking about that too. He said that the MRI might have to come back on the table again. Arrgh. I'm supposed to call him on Friday to let him how it's going. Maybe I'll take a picture each day to see if I can tell it's changing.

I wanted to thank Janet and John P for the "Thinking of You" angel. It's beautiful. She's listening to a conch shell. I've posted a picture below. I have such good friends evn though I don't see them as often as I should.

*I* think it was a good day. I feel calmer, more relaxed knowing it hasn't gone past the lymph nodes and right now the rest of me is "clean".