Good news

I got some really good news today. I don't have to have chemotherapy! Woohoo!!!

I agreed to have a test done on the tissue they removed during surgery that gives a good prediction of whether your cancer will come back at some point. The test results are on a scale of 1 to 100. If your result is 25 or above, they suggest you get chemo. Lower than that, radiation should be enough.

My only fear about the test was getting a result of, like, 23. Something that was right at the breaking point.

But luckily, my result was a 5. It was the first time I was glad to have scored a 5 out of 100 on a test.

This whole process has flowed so smoothly so far, but there was a bit of a hiccup on getting the results on this test.

They told me I'd hear in 10 days. So I counted up 10 days and waited for results. Then I realized that it said 10 "business" days. So I counted those days up and waited for results. That should've meant that I got results yesterday. But I didn't.

I can honestly say I haven't been stressed out about getting the results. I've been more impatient than anything. I just want to get on with whatever treatment is required.

But when today dawned and I still hadn't heard from anyone, I started to get a little antsy. And I realized that since it's a holiday weekend, that would probably mean hearing nothing until Tuesday.

I have the direct phone numbers for two nurses at the cancer center, so I called one of them today and left a message. I told her about how yesterday was 10 business days and just wondered if the results ever came back later or if she knew who I should call to check on it.

She called me back within an hour with the result.

I answered the phone, and this perky voice on the other end confirmed it was me, then said, "I have some good news for you."

She told me the result, and I felt my shoulders move down away from my ears, and I exhaled a big breath I didn't realize I had been holding.

This is really good news. 

I went through my Big Binder of Cancer Resources and marked through the pages that weren't applicable to me. And today, I got to cross off a very important one!