Pathology Report In

So a mixed bag on the pathology report; mostly good news with a couple issues mixed in.

The Good:

• The tumor was composed of mostly non-invasive cancer (a 7 cm section).  There were three invasive tumors, of 1.9 cm, 0.9 cm, and 0.8 cm each.  This is great because it means the dangerous cancer was fairly contained. 
• They were able to get “clear margins”, which means that no cancer cells have been seen at the outer edge of the tissue that was removed.  Also great news.
• And, there was no sign of cancer in any of the veins nearby.
• And no sign of anything on my right side.

The Not As Good:

• It turns out that of the 5 lymph nodes they removed, one did have “micro-metastases”, or cancer cells smaller than 2 mm.  That’s okay; the other 4 were clear and again there’s no need to go back in and take the rest out; if there’s any more it will get removed by the chemo.
• They found a little “DCIS” in my ducts, which is a non-invasive cancer, but it can put you at risk of getting invasive cancer.  That means that either I need to have radiation to take care of it, or they will have to remove my nipple during reconstructive surgery.  My doctor said that of the 75 times he’s done follow-up nipple removal, only 2 of them have required any additional surgery beyond that, and it can wait until my reconstruction either way. 

So the upshot is that I may or may not need radiation, but the cancer is basically gone.  Now on to schedule a couple more visits with radiation oncologists to get their opinions on what to do.  Radiation means that my reconstructive options are a bit more extreme, but still feasible.   

I am a little bummed the report is not 100% clear, but still happy to be recovering, and super grateful for all the nice emails, phone calls, flowers, and gifts folks have been sending.  Thanks so much to everyone!