A Day in the Life with Metastatic Breast Cancer - Episode 14

Hello, hello and Happy New Year! I hope all you listening have had a splendid holiday season - I have!

Not only have I enjoyed family and friends for both Christmas Eve, and the first night of Chanukah, but I also received from the gods of health an unexpected holiday gift.

Last year at this time, I was busy jumping through hoops at the Cancer Institute getting a myriad of scans, blood tests, and doctor’s visits to determine whether it was time to surgically remove the original tumor in my right breast. Well, as I reported then, after all that sturm und drang, it was determined I should hang tight, and revisit the issue in a year. So! Here it is a year later and ANOTHER round of tests and visits was required. Just two weeks ago I had a breast MRI; ultrasound; 2 manual exams; two blood tests; a CT scan; and a full body scan. After all the results came in, I had a consult with both my oncologist, and surgeon. Together, we looked at all the scans, and went over all the results of the blood tests, and found something pretty remarkable - the original tumor is now virtually undetectable! All that remains now appears to be scar tissue, and the markers placed there almost 4 years ago when I first started my ride on the cancer carousel. It appears my big daddy drugs have not only arrested the progress of the disease, but shrunk the original tumor to nearly nothing! The blood tests also show no new lesions, and all is stable, stable, stable. So. No surgery required. This is astonishing to me, and both my doctors seemed a bit surprised, as well. While this does not mean I am cured, it DOES mean I am as close to remission as one can be with this diagnosis. I intend to ride this happy horse as long as she will carry me. Merry Christmas to me! 

So, I greet 2025 with enthusiasm, and gratitude. I look forward to spending good days with those closest to me, and to getting to know better the new friends I have so carefully cultivated this last year. Here’s hoping my plans for securing a reliable part time job; getting back to my home town for a long visit with family, and old friends, staying physically strong, and even falling in love one more time all come to fruition. 

It’s a big list, I know, but I am up to the challenge. I wish for you only the best, and may you greet the New Year with just as much enthusiasm, gratitude, and hope as I intend to. Do hang on to hope. There are new treatments in the works all the time, and the future looks promising, even for those of us with the most grim of diagnoses. 

So, prosit! And thanks for listening all year.