Good News, I think!

Results are in and it is good news.  The spot on my right side is not cancer!  That means that right now this is confined to the left breast.  There is a good chance I will still lose the right breast but the genetic studies will play a big part in that so we will wait to see.  As for the left the news is a  mixed bag.  The area on the top that they biopsied is not cancer at all.  But the area on the bottom is.  The good news is it is DCIS.  Ductal Carcinoma In Situ is cancer that has not spread beyond the ducts of the breast.  It is very common (finally) and because it is non invasive- (wait for it)  NO CHEMO!!!  If they were going to try to save my breast I would need radiation but the area is huge and she says a mastectomy is the only option.  I am sad but relieved but grateful but worried....
I am so grateful to escape without chemo, I think it would have been too hard on the kids to see.  But there are still unknowns, will they take one or both, what will it be like, will I ever feel normal again.  Before  I got sick I used to think women should be grateful and a mastectomy was not a big deal (they can reconstruct).  But I was wrong, it is overwhelming and very scary and hard.  Besides being major surgery and no matter how many women you talk to who have had one, you just don't know what it will be like. 
Ok, dates.  I go next to a plastic surgeon who can discuss reconstruction and will give me an idea about how long this will take to complete and put behind me.  They will call next week and make an appointment quickly.  The genetic studies have a latest date for results of March 4.  And then I meet with the surgeon again and set a date for surgery.  Probably Mid March.  I will be glad to get this out of me.  How long recovery will take, it is too soon to say.  We still need to make decisions that will affect that timeline.
I think I am lucky. (Gordon would say blessed and he is right)  I found this very early and it has not become invasive yet.  I have felt Heavenly Father's hand in this that it did not progress and we can still manage it and get rid of it.  I am grateful that I am living where there are such good doctors, not just to diagnose but to care about me.  She called late yesterday and I know she could have been home with her family but she stayed to make the call, it meant a lot.  The support from so many friends and family is overwhelming and I can not say I am grateful enough.  I hate that cancer is in my life again, I hate this monster, but this time I can beat it.  Keep praying, we still have decisions and hard days ahead but today was a good day and I will take it.