Preliminary Pathology Results

  I received a call from my surgeon last night with my preliminary pathology results. Here they are:

• 3 sentinel lymph nodes were removed from my left axilla (armpit) and all three were negative for signs of cancer ✅
• The entire tumor was removed along with margins which were negative, meaning no residual cancer cells from that specific tumor were left inside me ✅
• There was residual cancer found inside the tumor that was removed which means I did not have the pathologic complete response (pCR) I had hoped for ❌

 Next steps:

• Healing from surgery
• Attending upcoming appointments with various surgeons and oncologists
• Determining my adjuvant (post-surgery) treatment which will likely have a further component of chemotherapy (not just targeted therapy) but that is yet to be determined
• Return to work
• Targeted radiation therapy
• Oral (pills by mouth) therapies for 5-10 years
• Live my life