Still Writing My Story
It has been a while since I last posted. Life and time is moving so fast! My 50th birthday passed at the beginning of the month, and it was not a huge celebration, but my mom came to visit, and my daughter flew home to surprise me, so it was a wonderful birthday. It should have been a huge celebration for me because it is a milestone birthday and because I never, ever thought I’d make it to see 50. But I didn’t want a huge celebration because I really didn’t know how I’d feel about this birthday and turning 50 years old. It turns out, I was pretty emotional. Only 30 percent of patients with metastatic, Stage Four triple negative breast cancer were surviving for five years beyond their diagnoses when I was diagnosed with it. And here I am, now more than five years past my diagnosis, still here and 50 years old. I am always grateful for another birthday, but this year, I made it to a number I just didn’t think I’d ever see. It’s all downhill from here! And, honestly, I can’t ask for more. But … I can hope for more. Thanks to immunotherapy, I am still here. Who knows what they’ll come out with in the next five years?! But I try not to think about it. I just try to survive and thrive one day at a time.
I am having some symptoms, a problem in my breast, that could be serious but could also just be an infection. My last PET scan lit up and showed uptake in this area. I had an MRI after my PET scan, and everything looked normal. But I am having some problems in that area again. So, I have an MRI scheduled for July 2. A little nervous about it, but I’m more curious to learn what the heck is going on beneath the surface to cause my symptoms. My oncology nurse practitioner was wonderful when I talked to her on the phone. We’ll air on the side of caution with the MRI, and she prescribed an antibiotic in case it’s an infection.
I have really been struggling with not having a scan till November. I’d like the assurance of another clear scan to help me stay positive, but I don’t want a scan in case it shows something. I want life to continue just the way it is. We have a lot of travel lined up this fall and winter, and I don’t want anything to get in the way of that. Maybe this MRI will be a good compromise and make me feel better knowing that at least there is no cancer in that one area. I am feeling great, and I have no reason to worry, but I think it would be better to find cancer earlier vs later, and I find myself wanting another scan before November. But I am trusting my doctor and trusting God and will probably just wait till November for a scan. We’ll see what this MRI shows on July 2. I’ll update again after my scan with the results. 🙏🙏🙏
PS—an update on my little fox: She comes to visit me under the tree we released her under every evening, sometimes with a sibling or two or three. 🥰🥰🥰🥰🦊🦊🦊🦊