Day 20 Tuesday: Pathology Results!!

Yay, today I met with my Oncologist, Dr. Ann Stroh, who is located here in CR at Mercy. She is super down-to-earth, brilliant, informative, warm/touchy-feely, fun, and open! (Thank you, Sun, for recommending her!! I LOVE her, too!)

What is an Oncologist? BC (before cancer) I didn't realize there would be so many doctors you get to work with during this whole ordeal. So if you're unsure like I was, an Oncologist is who determines treatments for your cancer and basically someone you'll be with for years to come!

Appointment Outcome: Pathology came back with clear lymph nodes! It's truly official...no more cancer!!

Because of pathology results + the size of the tumor they removed (1.8mm), I do not need radiation or chemotherapy!

I have the option to be on Tamoxifen, a medication which would help "lengthen my life", as Dr. Stroh put it. Tamoxifen will put me into menopause , has been around for 50ish years + also known for some other not-so-fun side effects, however, I wanted to try it and leave no stone left unturned

Soooo, the other bad news with Tamoxifen is I will need to go on another form of an anti-depressant + anxiety medicine. Unfortunately, the medication, Fluoxetine, I've been on since 2017 would be counterproductive if taken with Tamoxifen. So, over the next 30 days, we are figuring out what other pill I can take to keep me in mental tip-top shape + cancer-free!

YES, you read that correctly. I take a daily pill to help my mental well-being, and while I could probably start a whole other FB Page on mental health, I'll leave this open to if you want to chat about it, let me know!! As you see, I'm totally transparent + agree there is unfortunately still some stigma out there when someone needs medicine to mentally make it through the day. (Just because there's not a "number", like high blood pressure or some type of visual "proof", doesn't mean anyone should be discounted for the need to regulate their brain. Ok, I'm preaching to the choir here , and again, that's a topic for another page.

Hugs, Trish