So I guess if there can be any good news that goes along with having cancer again, that would be the good news I received today.
There is a spot on one of my ribs in the nuclear medicine bone scan. I am confident that it is from when I fractured my rib ages ago. We need to be sure that it is from my fracture and not more cancer, so I have a PET scan scheduled for next Friday. Something odd is that the CT of my neck came back clear, yet that is where the tumor is located; the CT couldn’t find the tumor that I can feel, crazy! My other CT came back clear, so the cancer is isolated to my neck. I will have to go through radiation, so I have an appointment with my radiation oncologist next Tuesday. She will determine how much radiation I need and if I will need surgery after radiation.
After radiation, I will be put on a new inhibitor because the one I have been on for the last two years didn’t work other than possibly keeping the new cancer from spreading. I will also be going through chemotherapy again, but this time, it will be in pill form, not by infusion, and for at least two years. But the good news is that I will not lose my hair while on the chemotherapy drug.
As far as my diagnosis, I have the same cancer I had before, invasive ductal carcinoma, breast cancer stage 3c. Because the tumor is nearby where the cancer was in 2019/2020, in the lymph nodes in my neck, and it has not spread to my organs, it is still considered breast cancer. Oddly enough, the tumor is on the same side of my body this time as well.
All in all, I am very relieved! I will update you after my next appointment.