Chemo #5 - Penultimate Poisoning

Good news! My CT scan was full of truly, genuinely great things. My bones show signs of healing. The 2 lymph nodes - one under the muscle in my breast & the other in my armpit - are both significantly smaller. The tumor in my right breast is getting smaller also!  My oncologist, my aunt (Nurse Practitioner Extraordinaire), and I are completely thrilled especially because the results are so much better than expected. It's always wonderful to get such news from my oncologist. Let's hope it continues.

Mediocre news... The CT scan picked up some spots on my liver and a cyst on one of my ovaries. I say this is "mediocre" news because my oncologist is not concerned with either issue, but I'll get a MRI next week to confirm his suspicions. The cyst on my ovary isn't at all a concern, because it's plainly not cancerous, and it probably has been around for a while, and it likely caused much of my horrible painful cramps throughout the years. The spots that showed up on my liver would have clearly lit up on my PET scan before treatment started if they were cancerous, and they did not. It's highly unlikely that they sprouted up during my chemotherapy treatments when all the rest of the cancer cells have been responding well. 

My oncologist & aunt both said not to stress over either thing, and we'll do another MRI just to be certain.

Bad-ish news... I had Chemo #5 today, and one more left to go. I wasn't lucky enough to get to skip anything, but I'm really not even that upset about it considering the great news I got. Yes, I'll feel like crap for another week or two. Yes, it'll suck just a little more than last time. And yes, I'll get through it just like I did the previous 4 times -- by being my normal bad-ass self (with a little less cancer.)