Cancer Scared!!

I had a little scare last week. I had a bone scan done on Monday, June 16 b/c I have been experiencing rib pain. We did the bone scan to be on the safe side. I was not worried at all about this scan. I just figured the rib pain was from the radiation and was just something that will be chronic and no big deal. So I went into the scan feeling very confident that everything would come back normal. WRONG! It just goes to show me, that I should never be over confident. I got a call Tuesday evening from the doctor's office. She told me that they see something on my sternum and they don't know if it's related to breast cancer or if it's arthritis. She proceeds to tell me they want a PET scan done to rule out breast cancer. We ended the conversation with the plan to have the PET scan the following Monday or Tuesday. The very next morning(Wed. morning), the phone rang at 8:15am, waking me up. I didn't answer b/c I was sleeping and figured whoever it was they could leave a message. Of course it was the doctor's office informing me that my doctor would like me to have the PET Scan prior to my visit with her on Friday at 3:15. What visit?, I thought. This didn't sound good! Fairfax Radiology called and set up my appt. for Thursday at 1:30. So hear we go!!! This was my first ever PET scan, so a little nerve racking. Was this cancer? And oh great what if they see it all over my body. All the negative thoughts raced in my head. I had to assume it was cancer. No one understood that but I had to prepare myself for the worse case scenario! Alex stayed home Friday with the kids and my mom went with me to the doctor's. I did not want to hear the dreaded news by myself.

So Dr. W walks in and I'm sitting on the table with my gown on...she says why don't you have a seat first and let's talk. My heart dropped to my stomach! She had just gotten off the phone with the radiologist. He pulled up every scan that I have ever had and looked at all of them again. In retrospect, this spot that showed up on my sternum has always been there but was never a spot to cause suspicion before. The doctors theory is that the drug that I'm taking in the clinical trial has "highlighted" this spot. Meaning that there is something there, whether it's cancer or it's a crack in the bone. The drug, zometa is making it more dense, meaning it's doing it's job. She said she would love to say it's not cancer but she can't. She said we could do a biopsy but she didn't think that was necessary at this point. She said even it was cancer in the bone, the course of treatment would be the same. I would just continue to take the zometa. So the plan of action as of now is to monitor the spot and see what happens. I will have another PET scan in August and probably again 3 months after that. This was a huge relief and I felt reassured when my doctor looked me in my eyes and said "We're okay!" So, I'm okay! She is not worried about this spot at this time! Thank God!!! More good news is that the PET scan shows your entire body and my body was perfectly clear of cancer anywhere else!!! Go Me!!!!

I continue to pray that my body stays cancer free! And for now, I will continue to enjoy the Harman Summer Camp that I have planned for the kids!!