5. The One with the Results

Last time we left off with me having my biopsy (or as I like to think of it the day that nasty radiologist stuck a giant needle in my boob). 

 That was on a Wednesday.
 I expected a notification to pop up in my e-chart in the days that followed. Nothing, and finally six days later I heard from the surgical nurse. 

 As promised, she called to give me the results. 
I have no idea how she circumnativagated the direct to e-chart process because that was the only time an actual person gave me any results (oh just wait...) but she did. 

And the results were.... 

 Not very helpful. 


 Notes I took from that conversation: 

 9/7 
no cancer found but atypical cells
 don't know if sample caught it still want to remove the lump and test it for cancer 
will see if can perform BRACA blood test 
scheduled appt with surgeon 

 So let me break all of that down: 

Atypical cells - we are headed straight into Cancertown but not sure if we have crossed the border. Whatever they saw they didn't like it. 

Speculation is not something they do lightly,  but the conversation made it clear that they believed cancer was present.

  I was going to have a lumpectomy. This was a step up from the biopsy. There would be sedation, cutting and that little titanium marker would light the way ("just in case" my ass).

Regardless of whether cancer was present: they wanted it out. 
We briefly discussed what that would mean and who my doctor would be and what to expect.

 At this point I knew I was going to be in good hands. 
The doctor who performs surgery of this kind is located at MGH but travels to other facilities to perform surgery.

 MGH is my safe place. 
 My primary care for years and years was there. 
Even when I moved out of Charlestown, I would make the trip to Boston for appointments because she was amazing. 

 She was able to diagnose an issue with the ex that had gone on for way too long by the time he saw the primary. There were so many tests and symptoms up until that point, and in one conversation she hit the nail on the head. 
 And if she hadn't, the outcome would have been much worse that a pill once a week for a period of time. 

 When I found out I was pregnant with Josh (or for you longtime blog readers, the Mud Puddle) that primary recommended an OB in the adjacent practice. 

I assumed I would want a woman but because she recommended a male doctor, and I trusted her implicitly I went with her recommendation.

 The OB happened to specialize in high risk births (not an issue until the end) and was able to treat me and Josh when things got a little stressful. (head so large it didn't fit on an ultrasound image, guesstimated to weigh 11 lbs, the words "if you do this naturally it could kill you both" were uttered...)

 And once born and requiring two weeks in the NICU 
(that is a different blog entirely. Perhaps I should have spin-offs of all the shit I have lived through? Nah... I certainly don't want to write those and you certainly wouldn't want to read them) 
the medical staff was second to none. 
 We had so many specialists, nurses, doctors, etc that saw us and took care of us during that time.

I have much love for a ton of folks at MGH. 
 The best medical care I have received was at MGH and knowing my surgeon was based there brought much comfort to me. 

 I will get into all the wonderful people who took care of me through the rest of this journey (and I want a different word than journey, that sounds like something fun... not the dumpster fire of a cancer trip I experienced). 

 When I went to Dr Google to do research on the surgeon this was the first thing I read: 
Assistant Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and an Associate Visiting Surgeon at the Massachusetts General Hospital. 



Oh yes please. This is who I want digging around in my boob. (spoiler alert: she lived up to the hype).




BRACA - the infamous gene which shows whether someone is predisposed to cancers (breast and ovarian).
 And while this may seem like a leap to someone else, this was my immediate thought.
I want to know all information to fully appreciate what I was up against. 
If it was positive then lets just cut to the chase and get rid of everything.
 I left the appointment with a meeting on the books with the surgeon and an anticipated phone call from the genetics team at MGH. 

 I hesitate to share this next bit.

Not because it was unpleasant but because it was kind of.... sneaky.
  I had to decide whether or not to go through insurance for the test. 
If I did and it was positive, I could be denied coverage in the future. 

Wow, never thought in the midst of all of this I would need to consider how to hide a potential test outcome from the insurance overlords.

But here we were. 

I had a rather in depth conversation with the genetics contact. 

We talked through the pros and cons of having the test:
Genetic discrimination
Emotional impact
Impact on other family members

But the upside was I would have a better idea of where to go once we figured out what was going on with lefty (RIP to lefty).

I opted to have the test done out of pocket. $200 was a small price to pay for peace of mind.


I don't recall the last time I shared so much  family medical history. 
And walking through that generation by generation it reminded me of all the women who came before me and what they had endured. 

For a second I kind of mentally slapped myself around and thought, 
"Kristi Anne, think of all that those women you love and admire had to endure. 
They are with you and  gave you the tools you need to get through this.
 Stop being a little bitch." (I call myself 'bitch' a lot, I respond well to negative reinforcement).

And I did stop being a little bitch for a minute or two.

The genetics contact ran me through the potential outcomes:
Nothing
Something
Undetermined. 
(Does that sound familiar?)

And there was no guarantee about other cancers and that things might not change over time.
The tests looks at eight different genes but that isn't the exhaustive list of genes that might carry cancer markers. 

My immediate need could be met though and with that, I scheduled a blood draw and was told I would receive the results in two weeks in the mail.

And the wait began again.


Next Time on Kris vs. Cancer: The one with the surgeon and the BRACA results



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