Actual Great News

Cutting to the chase here, my tumor is gone. (!!!) 

It was (roughly) 4.5cm x 2.8cm. Which is pretty large, yeah? 

So this is remarkable. It is early. Just over two months of Taxol/Carboplatin, and (possibly! we shall never know) immunotherapy. And I still have two of 12 infusions to go! (plus four of the AC... and surgery and radiation.)

I received this incredible news yesterday afternoon at my routine three-month check in appointment with the breast specialist/surgeon, Dr. V. They do not normally do an ultrasound for this appointment, it is mostly to see if there has been any progress, and to begin the surgery discussion. But when they felt nothing where the mass had been, they wheeled the ultrasound machine in for confirmation-- and it is indeed gone! GONE. Dr. V. and all of the staff were visibly excited, gave me hugs, and stated that this is really something to celebrate (I had to directly ask, because at this point I am maybe slow to acknowledge good news). Dr. V. told me that I should go home and open a bottle of wine. Then he saw my maybe confused face and restated, "No, really. You should. This is remarkable!" (Note: John picked up some bubbly on the way home.) 

So what does this mean? Unfortunately it does not mean that I can forgo any of the treatment plan (I know, right?!). I do still for sure have at least two lymph nodes that are inflamed, and we would need more scans to be able to tell if there are still floaty cancer cells (more tests will happen in a couple months). What it does mean is that I am responding well to treatment, and the cancer cells are dying, and also that this is happening very quickly and completely. And there is no longer a cancer mass in my right breast.

If you would like to, please raise a glass of whatever beverage you prefer, and celebrate this news with me-- and in honor of our friendship. 💜

Cheers! 

Featured Chemo Buddy: Megan J. 

Megan and I have been friends since the Dean campaign, when we met in Iowa and then hung out extensively for the rest of the 2004 campaign in Wisconsin, where we occasionally enjoyed a snakebite (Strongbow and Guinness, if you did not know) from Paul's Club on State Street. We are Minnesota girls at heart, though, and we made our way back as soon as we could (granted, I have left and returned several times, perhaps will someday return again? who knows) because we are not cheeseheads.
The years have brought us more campaigns, loves, weddings, half-marathons, J. Crew, yoga, pet-sitting, airport rides, walks around the lakes, birthday parties, tears-- all the stuff of friendship-- and recently she has brought to the world sweet Baby E. (proud doula here!), with whom I got to spend time with this past Saturday (Baby E. was not a Chemo Buddy-- but I did get to dine with her the following day). Thank you for coming to see me, and I hope you come back soon! xoxo

Apparently our voices sound alike?