Cancer-free after 16 months of treatment!!!!

I don't post on this particular forum very often, but I wanted to spread some happiness.  I had a PET/CT scan yesterday and I got the call this morning - NED!!!!!!!!!  

I was first diagnosed in June 2010 with a Stage 1, clear sentinel nodes, 1.7 cm tumor.  I was slightly ER+ and I didn't do chemo.  I had a lumpectomy in mid-July followed by Mammosite radiation, then went on Femara.  In March of this year, I was diagnosed with a recurrence (or leftover cancer, more likely) in the area of the biopsy hematomas near my lumpectomy scar.  I had developed a large seroma in that area and a biopsy showed a 4.6 cm lesion.  A PET showed extension to the skin, 3 axillary nodes and 3 or 4 internal mammary nodes. 

I had a BMX with TE's in April along with full axillary dissection.  Nothing could be done at the time about the internal mammary nodes.  The oncologist said that they would be used to tell if chemo was working.

I did DD AC/T starting June 15th and finished on 9/28. I'm no spring chicken at 61 and I am diabetic, but I tolerated chemo a whole lot better than anyone, including myself, expected.

And now, I am cancer-free!

I am meeting with the head of Radiation Oncology at Dana Farber on Friday. I have a complicated radiation situation because I already had Mammosite just last year. And I have underfilled tissue expanders (in anticipation of DIEP reconstruction rather than implants).   So I will have one of the best minds in the country to help figure this out.

I am living proof that there is hope and that all the crap we go through can pay off.  I have decided that 9/28/2011 will be my "cancerversary."  There are lots of ideas about what date to use; for me, the day I finished chemo is the day I became cancer-free.  And that is a day to track and celebrate!

Michelle