Decisions are made

My 2nd trip to Mayo Clinic started on Tuesday, July 10th. It was only one day appointment to meet a General Surgery, Oncologist and possibly plastic surgery. Bert and I packed 5 days clothes hoping we may get our surgery in. I can't wait to remove this tumor. It scares and bothers me!
My schedule was full, from 8 am to 4 pm, I was running non-stop with different nurses and doctors. We also had more ultrasound and blood tests. I learned more and more about the biology of my tumor. Besides its triple negative nature, it is also a fast growing one characterized by grade III and Ki-67 marker of more than 95%. Although my tumor is still considered small, 1.7cm, because its fast growing nature and triple negative, doctors are concerned that it may spreading fast.
So far all tests including head to toe bone scan, cat scan, breast MRI, lymph nodes ultrasound and biopsy, indicate that the tumor has not gone any where yet. This is not to say that micro/undetectable cells do not exist elsewhere in my body. Because cancer in the breast do not kill people but breast cancer found else in the body, especially in brain, bones and livers will be deadly, doctors have decided that the best course of action for me to have chemo first to kill all the micro and possible the main tumor in my body before surgery. This way, they can monitor if the chemo is the right one for my tumor by scans and biopsy. I volunteered to participate a clinical trail at Mayo Clinic where they will monitor my tumor closely with Molecular Breast Imaging and biopsy. They will also implant my tumor into mice and do new drug study. I may not benefit for the result of this study because the result will not be available for a while, however, I hope I can help to advance cancer research and help other sisters for a cure! This makes me very excited. As a benefit, I get free scans and monitors from the experts. The chemo process will take about 20 weeks before they can take the tumor out. It is a little scary to have the tumor in me for so long. As Toby put it, we are killing the soldiers first with chemical weapon while keeping the headquarter in capitative. We then send the artillary to destroy the headquarter.
My first chemo started on Friday July 13. Everything went well.