Just to be clear

I probably need to back up a bit for those not intimately familiar with my situation.

I have Stage 2 invasive ductal carcinoma (i.e., breast cancer.) 1 in 8 women get breast cancer. Most of them (75%) have a hormone receptive cancer. Many of them have the her-2-neu gene. I have a triple negative cancer meaning its neither hormone receptive nor connected with any gene. It's a particularly aggressive cancer.

The good news is at the time of surgery it was determined that I'm "node negative" meaning the cancer doesn't appear to be in my lymph system. That's good.

Many people have asked why I need to have chemotherapy. Truth is, I could decline treatment, stick with the lumpectomy + radiation and go on my merry way. Odds are, I'd have a 70% chance of making it another 10 years. I don't like these odds.

It is widely agreed (and I consulted with three oncologists on this) that this cancer is very responsive to chemotherapy. With eight treatments over 16 weeks, my odds of 10 year survival increase to 85%. I like these odds a lot better. In fact, it seems to me that most people have an 85% chance of surviving the next 10 years, cancer or no. We could all get run over by a bus tomorrow.

Naturally this all totally sucks. Especially the treatment. This really has been the worst year on record (more on that in my memoirs which will not be written for another thirty years.) But as it happens, and as freaked out as I am by what's happening, I've never once thought that this thing would kill me.

So please don't worry about that.

But here are two very important words, ladies: SELF EXAM. This thing didn't show up on mammogram. Not even on the day of biopsy.