PET Scan Results and Where we Go From Here.

I thought, perhaps, with all the pictures that I've been using that I should post one of myself.  This is the most recent picture I have, which was taken in July while I was still in Utah: pre-diagnosis, pre-enlightenment, pre-worries.  I'm happy in it and not feeling run down.  My Mom will probably kill me, but I think she looks wonderful.  We had a great day that day, taking all the littles to see Ice Age: Continental Drift.  They all did a great job and it was loads of fun.  I haven't had any pictures taken of myself since then.....so here you go.

I decided to be pro-active today, since I have lots of people holding their breath on how they can best help me.  I feel like my world has inhaled and we're all waiting for the results and treatment plans before we can exhale again.  I called Dr. B's office and had the opportunity to talk to a chipper, young lass who called over to the Casa Grande clinic (the stinkers) to get the films and test results.  They were supposed to have been sent last Thursday.  I'm rapidly becoming a believer in the squeaky wheel mentality.

Imagine my surprise when tonight at 5:45 pm. Dr. B called from his home phone to talk to me about the test results and what he was thinking, plan wise.  Turns out the dirty mass is 5 cm in diameter.  Cripes.  Also turns out that it does involve a small part of my vaginal area (I hate typing that word), and this changes my staging to Stage II.  I figured that was coming, and so there was no impact, emotionally, on my part.  Dr. B sat there for a minute and so I said, "Roger that.  What else do you have?"  He actually laughed a bit.  Then he said that the treatment plan wouldn't change.  We are a go for 6 weeks of radiation and a weekly dose of low-chemo. "Okey-dokey."  A chuckle.  Then he said what I think- he felt, was going to be the hammer drop, "Kami, you are going to go through menopause.  There's no way around it."

Because he was very up front in the beginning, I feel like I've already come to grips with this fact.  No more babies, no more tampons, no more PMSing (in the words of Coach).  However, bring on the night sweats, hot flashes, and uneven hormonal rampages (at least that's what I'm going to blame my instability on) for the next few months.  Either way, it's unavoidable.  I've prayed about it, and feel like this is the right path for me.

"And?" was my response.

"I wish all my patients were as level-headed as you have been."  He told me.  That made me smile, because I'm quite the redneck rampage machine when I don't fully understand what's going on. In this case, I already knew the outcome.  Except for the size of the darn thing, it's all old news.

He is referring to me to a doctor who will set up the radiation out here, closer to home.  I think Casa Grande will be decent, mostly because I won't be fighting traffic, ever.  I should hear from the new doctor in the next few days and then we're off.

Thanks for caring, for supporting me, and for giving me a kick in the pants when needed.  With friends like ya'll, who needs anything more? ~Kami

PS-Now, thanks to my Aunt K, and Friend M, I will have plenty of awesome shirts to be wearing to these appointments.  I have one that says, "Fight Like a Girl" and another that says, "Kami is a KNOCK OUT, Cervical Cancer." I'll be the best dressed cervical mass carrier/fighter in the State.  Thanks loads & bunches!!!