Cause for Celebration

My breast surgeon called yesterday with very good news - my sentinel nodes are clear of cancerous cells. This confirms that it is unlikely the cancer has spread beyond the original tumor, which is very encouraging.

Given the tumor's size, there is still a chance that renegade cells have broken off and are somewhere in my bloodstream, which is why my doctors are still recommending an aggressive course of chemotherapy to kill the cells in the tumor and those that might be somewhere else in my body. However, the immediate risk of further spread is minimal, so this news has helped us decide to delay starting chemo for 2-3 weeks until I complete one more round of IVF. Although things can always change, I have updated the schedule post, below, and will try to keep that current.

Several of my girlfriends had already planned a "Pre-Chemo-Cocktail Cocktail Party" for last night since my first session was originally scheduled for today, so we went ahead and turned it into a "Negative Node" celebration instead - it was lovely to see so many of you despite the rainy weather! Here's hoping for more celebrations of good news to come...