Thank you.

I want to send out a big ol' THANK YOU to everyone who has sent out positive energy and prayers for me. Your efforts are paying off!

The very first day I met with my surgeon to discuss my cancer journey, he immediately recommended I move forward with Adjuvant Therapy (surgery prior to chemo) and get a mastectomy. To quote, "the size of the tumor is so big that to take it out would require a removal of over a 1/4 of your breast." He also went on to tell me that there's been an increase in the number of women choosing Neoadjuvant Therapy (shrinking the tumor through chemo prior to surgery.) But he also said that this is my decision and he wanted me to think about the course of action that I would feel most comfortable with.

I thought long and hard about it. The fact of the matter is that I would have had to do the same amount of chemo regardless of whether I decided to do it before or after surgery. I ultimately decided that if I didn't have to slice off the girls, then I wasn't going to do it - opting, obviously, for chemo first. While getting new boobs would be nice, I've kind of learned to love my all natural boobs just the way they are.... of course, a little lift wouldn't be too bad, though :)

Anyway- I met with the surgeon yesterday to talk about the surgery on Monday and go over the results of the MRI and PET/CT Scan and he said, "it's remarkable how well you responded to the chemo, I haven't seen a tumor shrink like this in a VERY long time." Yay! He now thinks that the lumpectomy will be very successful and that I may not even go down a half a cup size. I may not even have to have reconstructive surgery. (We won't know for sure until a couple months after the lumpectomy)

This just leads me to believe that the power of positive thinking and having an army of like-minded people on my side really does make a difference!

As my journey continues, I'm learning more and more about myself and the world around me. I've been reading a lot of books and articles on Buddhism. One thing that I read this morning really resonated: cancer can be the cause of happiness, because I can make this experience beneficial for all beings by using it to develop compassion, to achieve realizations and enlightenment. Why, yes.... yes it can.