A Clear MRI!

I went for an MRI on August 25th to see if the chemo had done it's job and great news...it had!!!  The chemo masses were gone and my lymph nodes were back to normal size!  It doesn't change next steps, but it as nice to know that all those days of feeling awful were not for nothing.  So what are the next steps??? Well, I was prepared to a bilateral mastectomy next, then radiation, then reconstruction. I met with my surgeon on the 28th and she had a different plan, one that I love!! I am going in on September 11th for a lumpectomy, if all goes well I'll start radiation on October 9th, then sometime this spring I'll do the mastectomy and reconstruction in one surgery.  I love this plan because it means I will only have one big surgery instead of two.  

Some questions people have been asking....

So, why the lumpectomy?  They placed markers where the masses were and those need to be removed before radiation.  Additionally they need to remove the impacted lymph nodes before radiation.

Why radiation if I've done chemo and am doing a mastectomy?  It's all proactive.  The doctors what to be sure the are able to kill any small, lone cancer cells that are in that area before they have time to grow.  

Why a mastectomy if I'm doing everything else?  I don't want to do this again!!!  My cancer is hormone negative HER2 positive.  The HER2 likes to find cell and encourage the cancer to grow.  If there are no more boobs, then the chance of that type of cancer coming back is very small.  

And I'll finish with a picture that means more to me than almost any other picture I've taken.  My kids have been with me on this journey and they have been rock stars.  Thanks to my dear friend Tanja for capturing this moment!!