Scanxious and Amazing News!

 Scanxious. My dad made this word up after introducing scanxiety. Say it out loud and then never say it again. 😂

 Needless to say, yesterday's MRI results left me hanging, as it was not an obvious answer as to which direction we should go. I have an amazing team of physicians on my side, and my plastic surgeon called to ensure I was as informed as I could be as to not have too much scanxiety.

 Today, I received the best news I could ask for. My breast surgeon spoke directly with the radiologist who read both my January and March MRIs. With this comparison, while my mass is the same size, the bulk of the tumor has decreased by 20-40% (less cancerous cells present) and the lymph nodes show no further progression or involvement. This was the response we wanted as it has the potential to be a pathologic complete response which again, is the best news I could ask for.

 Plan moving forward is to stay the course of neoadjuvant chemotherapy to finish off my cycles on April 1st, April 22nd, and May 13th if all goes as well as it has been. Surgery would then be late June/early July as we want enough time between my last chemotherapy infusion to ensure I will heal from my surgery. After healing from surgery, I will then start my radiation which will be daily, Monday-Friday for about 15 minutes each day for 6 weeks.

This side won except for one clarification. While the mass stayed the same size, it was the fact that the bulk of the tumor shrunk which leads to the positive response to TCHP that we were hoping for.

 I have learned to say

and instead of freaking out yesterday and panicking, I decided to see what information would be provided to me today for us to then proceed with our decision making.

 TL;DR

• Scanxious is a word best said out loud, only once.
• While yesterday left me hanging, today brought great news and a more firm plan for moving forward.
• Good chance of pathologic complete response due to decreased bulk of the tumor (less cancerous cells present).
• Next chemo cycle planned for April 1st since we're continuing neoadjuvant chemo.
• Plan for surgery late June/early July.
• Radiation to follow surgery after healing.
• Consider saying "What if it all works out?" instead of worrying.