Whew! We have a lot to digest.

While we were driving to Dr. Johnson's, a little bit of the reality of the situation started to sink in.  I started tearing up a little bit because this is when we were going to be told what treatment we are looking at.  I was stupid and didn't eat breakfast before we left.  When we were going up the brick steps I got dizzy and lot my balance.  My knees said "hello" to the corner of the steps.  Ouch!  Jeremiah was torn between laughter and concern.  I have become such a klutz over the past several months.  Once we were in the office I had to acquire some band-aids before I started bleeding everywhere.

We were sitting in the room waiting, and I had my copy of the pathology report on my lap waiting.  When she came in, she looked from me to the report in my lap and back up to me.  She said, "How long have you known?!"  I confessed...since Monday.  She asked why I hadn't called her.  I told her that I was fine and wanted her to have four uninterrupted days to get our war plan together.  She just laughed, sat down, opened her notes, and said, "well let's get started then."

Here is the condensed version:
1.  Because it is larger than 5 cm (mine is 7 cm), I will be doing chemo first.
2.  Dr. Johnson wants to immediately do a lymph node biopsy, and that is when they will probably put the port for the chemo in.  I will find out more about the chemo when I see the oncologist.
3.  I will have a skin sparing mastectomy on the left side.
4.  Then I will probably have radiation.

Before leaving the office, my lymph node biopsy was scheduled for December 2, and I have a 12:30 pm appointment with the oncologist (Dr. Volas Redd) today.  Talk about speeding up the process.  Going to call insurance to see what steps I need to take since this is moving faster than we could have thought.  Will fill you in after I see the oncologist.