Great News from UVA!

My ultrasound was the first test yesterday morning, and they only did it under my arms and along the axial sides. After about 5 minutes of silent viewing under my left arm, the doctor sighed with relief and said, "Pam, this looks great," with a big smile. "I don't see any evidence of lymph node involvement here," she said. "That doesn't mean it's not there microscropically, but we can treat that with chemo or radiation. This is VERY good news." The same result was confirmed on the right side.

What incredible relief! I told Bill later that after all my reading, this was what I had feared the most today--not just losing a breast, or both breasts, but that I would lose arm function, muscle strength, resistence to infection, and ultimately my life, because the cancer had already moved into the lymphatic system and lodged somewhere else.

They let me go for lunch, and Bill and I walked on the campus, up to "The Corner," strolling along the sidewalk in the sunshine, reading the menus posted outside each little eatery. We chose "The White Spot Cafe" (later discovering that this is a UVA icon, one of Dr. Mark's favorite places when he feels the need for cholesterol-overload). Bill had a Gus-Burger, a massive, dripping, heart-attack-on-a-bun, complete with a fried egg on top. I had a gyro, with lamb, cucumber and yogurt sauce, lettuce, onions and tomatoes, wrapped in a puffy pita. I don't think I've ever tasted anything quite so vividly.

We walked back to where Bill was parked and decided to split up for a few hours so he could go back to the house and take care of Echo, and I would do my afternoon tests on my own, since they wouldn't let him be there during the procedures. I called Mom and the kids and told them the good morning news.

The afternoon was tougher, but the elation of the morning test results buoyed me throughout. They did stereotactic biopsies on both breasts, each lasting about an hour, with a half-hour break, complete with gingerale and crackers in between. Yes, quite painful, but the two techs, Angie and Lynette, were gentle, funny, loud and full of personality. They kept me calm, made me tell them stories, told me some of their own, kept me breathing, kept me still, talked me through it. I had 3 doctors also in the room--the female attending doc in charge, the one male resident she was training, who was observing and doing the procedure for the first time, and one female "Fellow," who had a little more experience . (I asked what a Fellow was, and was told by the attending physician that it is a doctor who has completed medical school, done a 5-year residency, and then does a year as a Fellow to specialize in a certain area, this one being Breast Radiology). That's the thing about a teaching hospital--there are always a million people in the room, and every patient is a learning experience for a couple of residents.

I learned that the involuntary, uncontrollable shaking I experienced at my first biopsy in Knoxville was due to the epinephrine they give to control the bleeding. This time, I got a "double dose" because they did both breasts. I was rattling away pretty good, but they were done with the "hold still" part by then. The other good news is that the epi took the swelling down on the spider bite I got on my thigh last week, and it doesn't itch this morning!

The techs packed me in ice afterwards, went and got Bill ("he's SO cute!" Lynette gushed in my ear) and sent us home around 4:30 with lectures on "Don't do ANYTHING!" and Tylenol.

They told me how brave I was, told Bill how brave I was (and showed him the 10-gauge needle they had used, hoping perhaps that he would faint and they would have to revive him?)! I got the "best patient" award of the week, and when I reminded them that it was Monday, so that wasn't saying much, we all had a laugh.

We spent a comfortable evening with Mark & Jo, eating Korean ribs, turkey & leftover steak, salads & chips, and watching Monday Night Football. I shared that Angie had asked me where we were staying, and when I told her about our friends, the Goldbergs, she asked "Dr. Mark Goldberg? I've never gone to him, but some of my friends do and patients we see, and everyone says he is absolutely WONDERFUL!" I assured her that he is. Bill showed me a newspaper article--Mark is going to be on a Discovery Channel special about rural health clinics and obesity, to be aired sometime this fall. I started fading as the Patriots were tromping the Bengals, and slept well until about 4, when I needed more Tylenol. I slept again until 7.

Life looks pretty good this morning. We'll head home after showers and dog walking, and come back next Sunday to hear "The Plan" on Monday from Dr. Brenin.