Yay!!! Yesterday was my last chemotherapy treatment. 16 rounds down. I can’t believe I made it through. It felt like time was moving so slowly, just endless days stretching out with nothing to fill them but pain and worry. I’m nowhere close to the end of treatment, but for now I’m going to celebrate that this portion is done. I did it.

Ariel, Mikal Jade, Echo and Mike were able to come and watch me ring the bell. Everyone else was either in school, working or out of town. Still, the amount of love I felt was amazing. I am grateful to have such a supportive and caring family. I know not everyone on this journey is as lucky, so I am very blessed.

Yesterday I also met with my oncologist about my treatment plan moving forward. There were a few minor changes.

Originally, I was going to take a 4-6 week break to recover from chemo before surgery and another 6 weeks of recovery after – followed by six months of Keytruda. Now, my oncologist doesn’t feel it is wise to take a break so is scheduling my first dose of standalone Keytruda for June 18. She also increased the length of treatment from six months to one year. Yikes.

A couple weeks ago I got the appointment for my follow up breast MRI for June 25. The oncologist said they were booked and that was the earliest appointment I could get. When I called the facility, they said that they didn’t keep a waiting list for cancelations but that I could call back every morning to check for open slots. So, that’s what I’ve been doing. When I met with my surgeon this morning, she said that wait was unacceptable. After just a few minutes her assistant had me scheduled for the MRI tomorrow morning! And my surgery (double mastectomy) is scheduled for June 20.

Deep breath.

So, what I am still waiting on? So far, I haven’t had any issues with my lymph nodes and am expecting that to continue. However, if anything looks suspicious on the MRI I will go in to have a biopsy before surgery. If they need to be removed, it will be less invasive to do everything at once. I really want to avoid a second surgery if possible. After surgery, they will send the tissue off to get tested. We are hoping for pCR (pathological complete response). If I achieve that, it will mean that the cancer is gone and my long term success is more likely. If any cancer remains, we will have to discuss the possibility of more chemo.

I am excited to move on to the next step but still feeling some anxiety about the unknown.