Well hell, that wasn't good news

Thank you, everyone, for the good wishes and hugs.  I'm doing a little better now, getting used to the new reality.  

I had my second opinion and it was exactly the same as my first.  The doctor at Dana Farber also said they would have done exactly the same as my treatment at Lahey and while she didn't know my oncologist, she had great things to say about my radiation oncologist and plastic surgeon.  I guess that's neither here nor there at this point, but I think I always have it in the back of my mind to wonder if things would have been different if I had just done something different somehow and somewhere.  So it's good to at least have that put to rest in this one area.

Hugs back to all of you.  And here's hoping we all are able to post here in 2024 to talk about all the advances in treatment, and still in 2034, and in 2044...  

Thanks, everyone.  Yeah, cancer really does suck, big time, and I agree that at stage III there's always been a lot less ability not to worry about it anymore.  

But still, wishing you all excellent and cancer free health!

Thanks, Ziggy, Exbrxgrl, and Gitane.  

I agree about the stage IV posters and the examples of living life well and for years with mets.  I started reading there from time to time when I went through my first "let's just take a look to rule it out" MRI and I find it really helps to not just hear that it's possible but to see it in action.  And Caryn, your posts have absolutely been among the ones that have been helpful to me.

Gitane, thanks for the kind words about my blog (and the kind supportive words, too)!

Thanks, Caryn, hopefour, Shelly, it means a lot to me to have this support.

Thanks, Oceana, that's so kind of you!  I'm seeing my RO today to talk about doing something about the pain and I'm starting to adjust to the diagnosis and doing pretty well.

Thank you, Momine, Elizabeth1959, and Sbelizabeth.

Momine, it is amazing what we can adjust to and even thrive under.  Thank goodness for the resilience.

And Elizabeth1959, the pain is ok with meds, but I also saw my rad onc last week and we have a plan to start radiation therapy on the spots that are causing me pain.  She thinks it will make a big difference fairly quickly.  At first I thought I'd just wait till the med treatments started to help, but now I'm thinking about not thinking about my hip and I'm really looking forward to that!

Sbelizabeth, thank you for your kind words about my blog.  I've been reading your blog on and off since I found it from your sig line here.  It's great, plus a flight nurse and you met Joni Erikson Tada--very, very cool!