MRI'm So Happy!

I am a fan of clinical trials. In fact, I would (and have) sign up for every one I could, as long as my doctor approves. I'm in two right now, but will let you in on the next one as soon as that starts ... after surgery. Until then, I have Really Good News.

Perhaps I've mentioned this trial in previous posts: it's the MRI trial. With a very long and complicated name that I can't recall. Essentially, though, the purpose of the trial is to complete several MRIs through the course of treatment to see if, ultimately, women going through breast cancer treatment receive better information, response, and if the data gained from the frequent MRIs ultimately affect their results.

People often ask me why I didn't have my surgery first, and there are two answers. First, I was originally considering a lumpectomy, as opposed to a mastectomy. The surgeon strongly recommended chemotherapy before surgery to shrink the tumor first. So I started chemo. Then, they found a second very small tumor in the same breast when they did my MRI. Thus ended my hopes for a lumpectomy. However, I probably still would have done chemo first so I could be a part of this study. My long discussions with my doctor assured me that the survival rates for neo-adjuvant and adjuvant therapy (surgery first or chemo first) are exactly the same).

And now, for the Really Good News. My latest MRI, which was actually in November (I know. I'm very slow.) revealed that the cancer is gone. People, the radiologist couldn't even find either tumor, even though he could still see the little metal markers that were placed in the tumor at the beginning of all this.

Naturally, this is a huge relief to me and, I think, a giant advantage to doing chemo first. I know the chemo is working. I hope that if I am unfortunate enough to have little cancer cells anywhere else in my body that are too small to see, that the chemo is working on those, too. It has made me hate chemo less to know that it is wiping out the wicked bad dudes even as it has been killing my own healthy cells.

On this journey, any good news is welcome, and this news made me exceptionally happy!