More Good News!

So far all of the pathology test results have been quite favorable.  So many blessings and reasons to be grateful:
1)  My tumor was caught early and is very small (just 13 mm).  Alleluia!
2)  All three lymph nodes removed during surgery showed no sign of metastatic carcinoma and we have clear margins from the initial surgery ...the cancer hasn't spread.  Alleluia! 
3)  Hormone Receptor-Positive Breast Cancer - This means that my cancer cells grow in response to both estrogen and progesterone and likely to respond to hormonal therapies.  This means I am a good candidate for hormone therapy (just a pill a day for 5 years - not bad) Alleluia!  
4) HER 2/neu Status - Negative:  A positive HER 2 indicates a more aggressive form of cancer cells.. So my non-positive result is an indication that my cancer is not aggressive - Alleluia!  
5)  Stage 1 - these results all ads up to low staging of my cancer - my prognosis is very good - Alleluia!  

One more came into today... My BRCA has come back negative!    According to the National Cancer Institute, A woman's risk of developing breast and/or ovarian cancer is greatly increased if she inherits a harmful BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation. Men with these mutations also have an increased risk of breast cancer.  Both men and women who have harmful BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations may be at increased risk of other cancers. 
According to estimates of lifetime risk, about 12.0 percent of women (120 out of 1,000) in the general population will develop breast cancer sometime during their lives compared with about 60 percent of women (600 out of 1,000) who have inherited a harmful mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2.  In other words, a woman who has inherited a harmful mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2 is about five times more likely to develop breast cancer than a woman who does not have such a mutation. 

So...in simple terms... my cancer is not putting my kids at a higher risk for developing cancer themselves-  Praise God!  

The final test has been ordered which will help our oncologist determine the likelihood of reoccurrence.  It is this test that will help guide our decision about chemotherapy. 

We have much to be grateful for.  I am recovering well from the surgery and am getting stronger each day.  We give the glory to God for the blessings that he continues to bestow on us and are truly humbled by the outpouring of prayer on our behalf!  Please keep the prayers coming that this last test will continue to confirm our favorable outlook and that we can avoid chemotherapy in this journey.