Ultrasound: Not Bad News = Good News?

Had my ultrasound with my Surgical Oncologist today and it was “not bad news” which I think is good news.

• Ultrasound
  • The cancer has not grown – this is the headline.  Because of this, we’ll continue with the Taxol and keep charging forward as planned
  • It measured .9cms which is still smaller than my original 1cm tumor, but doesn’t seem to have changed since my last US in June
  • The spot in the ultrasound she thinks is now a cancerous cyst.  There is a highlight at the bottom of the picture which looks like a reflection, consistent with a cyst and it’s black in the center.  So it appears the cyst is the same size.  So my question is what does that mean regarding my tumor? She said it could be that the tumor is very small or gone, and I just have a cyst left.  There could still be a tumor.   The last time we tested the cyst, it was cancerous or “consistent with breast cancer” whatever that means, so it’s unclear if this cyst is still cancerous or not.  So in order to get a better idea of cysts vs. tumor, we’re going to do another MRI Friday to compare.  Either way she said it’s not growing, so we’ll remove it after chemo.
• Plan
  • MRI Friday to see sizing
  • Continue Taxol as planned, ensure there is no growth
  • Check in with Surgical Oncologist week of 9/24 for pre-op
  • Week of 10/22 mastectomy
• Other notes
  • I will be watching the lump between end of chemo and mastectomy to ensure it doesn’t grow – she said it’s rare for that to happen
  • We talked a bit through surgery recovery.  Sounds like 1-2 weeks of no driving, lifting etc.  But 4-6 weeks of full recovery.
  • Radiation – She said with TNBC they normally like to do radiation, but with the double mastectomy and her thought that she’ll be able to remove the cancer with clear margins and she doesn’t think there will be any cancer in lymph nodes – I could be a candidate for no radiation.
  • Need to start finalizing plastics
  • We can do nipple sparing mastectomy

So overall, the fact that the lump I feel is a cyst vs. the tumor is reassuring. I was concerned that during AC treatment the lump felt so small, and then after the cyst explosion it was feeling hard and bigger.  Knowing that the tumor could be gone and I’m just feeling the cyst makes me feel good.  Hopefully the MRI confirms good news.  Unfortunately with a cancerous cyst there’s very little information on that vs. a cancerous tumor.

Also my Surgeon mentioned her staff commented again on how they love my wig and think it’s the best they’ve seen! I’m starting to think maybe I don’t grow my hair back.

My Cancer…