I had my 6-month diagnostic mammogram and oncology meeting yesterday at the U of M.

You may remember that I consulted with the Mayo Clinic in March, and they were thinking a total mastectomy would be best for me. That’s not off the table exactly, but it’s not likely to be needed right now, as the imaging yesterday showed that everything was stable, benign and there were no new areas of concern. No new microcalcifications and everything was rated BIRADS-2: Benign. 

Benign is a nice word, even though my oncologist cautioned me that there might be something in there they can't see. Always a qualification, never a full "all clear!" but I'll take it. 

Even with the diagnosis of "benign," there are a couple areas that are considered high-risk to develop into either DCIS or Invasive Carcinoma.  I will consult with my surgeon at the U and also with Mayo about the management of those. I do have an MRI scheduled in June at Mayo, which hopefully will also say that everything is benign. They may want to do surgery to remove those high-risk areas, but I'll wait to get a couple of opinions before proceeding. I see my oncologist again in July and will go from there. 

As far as the thryoid surgery, my voice is still not back to normal and that's very distressing to me. I'm trying to be patient and not think about it too much, as it upsets me to not have the power, timbre, range and flexibility I had prior to February's surgery. There is some improvement, but not enough. 

My 6-week-post-surgery thyroid hormone test showed slight elevation, which means the remaining half of my thyroid *might* be picking up the work of the missing half.  My endocrinologist decided to wait a bit longer and check it again when I see him on May 10th.  At this point, I don't need thyroid-replacement medication and I'm hoping to keep it that way.

Now, if I could just get rid of this sciatic pain. It started after the surgery in February and has gotten progressively worse. I think I've turned a corner on it, as I've been trying hard to rest, take my RX anti-inflammatories and ice/heat.

Again, thank you for all the prayers! Christ is risen!

Pari