So I've had a little over 24 hours to think about things. And it's still as scary. Especially when I've done some research and found out that the majority of women who have breast cancer have to have surgery. And I'm so not looking forward to that. I've never had surgery. I don't want to have surgery. But I have to realize that I probably will have surgery. Me, the person who is terrified of needles, will most likely have to have surgery.
There are 5 stages of cancer:
Stage 0 (called carcinoma in situ)
Lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) refers to abnormal cells lining a gland in the breast. This is a risk factor for the future development of cancer, but this is not felt to represent a cancer itself.
Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) refers to abnormal cells lining a duct. Women with DCIS have an increased risk of getting invasive breast cancer in that breast. Treatment options are similar to patients with Stage I breast cancers.
Stage I: early stage breast cancer where the tumor is less that 2 cm, and hasn't spread beyond the breast
Stage II: early stage breast cancer in which the tumor is either less than 2 cm across and has spread to the lymph nodes under the arm; or the tumor is between 2 and 5 cm (with or without spread to the lymph nodes under the arm); or the tumor is greater than 5 cm and hasn't spread outside the breast
Stage III: locally advanced breast cancer in which the tumor is greater than 5 cm across and has spread to the lymph nodes under the arm; or the cancer is extensive in the underarm lymph nodes; or the cancer has spread to lymph nodes near the breastbone or to other tissues near the breast
Stage IV: metastatic breast cancer in which the cancer has spread outside the breast to other organs in the body
I'll find out on Tuesday what stage I'm in.
Okay - but what really pisses me off is that I met someone. I don't even know if anything will even come of this. But I can't even think that something could potentially come of this. Not right now. And that's so not fair. He's the first guy that I have even been remotely interested in for quite some time. But it's not fair to him or to me. And that just bites.
2 comments:
You're going to fight this thing, so don't give up! You'll get through the surgery (call on us to help!) and we'll get you all hooked up with your new guy. You're too busy to let this beat you, okay? This is just a bump in the road, and you're going to flatten it. {{ hug }}
Thinking about you today - Tuesday - as you go in to get more information
~Nancy
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