Per the biopsy three weeks prior, I already knew the mass was small and that all indications said no lymph node involvement. The surgeon added more details I hadn’t seen on the original pathology report. My cancer is Estrogen positive. Progesterone positive. HER2 positive. It’s called triple positive breast cancer. HER2+ is an aggressive form of cancer. Thankfully HER2+ has specific drugs that target those over-active HER2 cells — Herceptin is one of those drugs. My surgeon also estimated the Stage at stage1, although confirmation of stage comes after surgery and subsequent pathology.
Since the size of my cancer mass was small, she (my surgeon) gave me the surgical choice of mastectomy + zero radiation or lumpectomy + radiation. I had to think this one over. If during surgery they discovered ANY lymph node involvement while performing the sentinel node biopsy, then radiation would still be recommended – even if I chose to have a mastectomy. Therefore, choosing a mastectomy just to avoid radiation seemed short-sighted. I’m glad I chose to have a lumpectomy.
The team quickly got me scheduled for the 4/9 surgery.
“Sometimes your only available transportation is a leap of faith.” Margaret Shepard
My Next Steps 