Big news, people: The CT and bone scans I got today revealed no evidence of cancer anywhere else in my body! My oncologist had said these were tests to rule out surprises. As comforting as that might sound, right after learning that cancer had turned up in six of my lymph nodes, I was guessing the results would be something along the lines of, "We've found a few spots we need to look at more closely. So let's get you scheduled for another round of biopsies, shall we?" So stinkin' glad I got the all clear instead! PHEW!!!

The next big step is chemo, which is tentatively scheduled to start August 27. I'll know for sure later this week after I meet with a second Group Health oncologist. He trained with my second opinion oncologist at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (a brilliant guy who is considered one of the best breast cancer docs at SCCA). The two know each other well and it sounds like they're in touch often enough that if anything went sideways during my treatment, they'd be able to connect easily and quickly to discuss my care. My current oncologist knows his stuff, too, and has been patient, compassionate and supportive, but my SCCA doc had a much harder time connecting with him during the couple weeks following my second opinion appointment. If there's any time to shop around a bit, it's now. I'll likely get eight chemo treatments total: one every two weeks for four months. Then comes daily radiation for six weeks. Then comes five years of hormone treatment to starve my cancer of estrogen (i.e., zero-to-sixty early onset menopause ... yippee kai yay!). Oy ... One challenge at a time.