Part Forty-Four: Complete Response

            Today (November 22) is another landmark day, a pre-Thanksgiving Tuesday I will celebrate for years to come.  It is the day I received the two best words a breast cancer patient can receive from her surgeon:  complete response.

            Complete response means that the pathology report from last week’s lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy was negative.  In other words, I am cancer-free!  All that remains is radiation.

“Wait a minute,” you say.  “Why do radiation when you are cancer-free?”  That has been my question for months.  I was sure that if I was declared cancer-free I would never consent to radiation.  Today, I asked Dr. Smith what would happen if I did not do radiation.  She knelt down beside me and said, “Without radiation, the risk for cancer recurrence in your breast is thirty percent.  With radiation, the risk for recurrence is fifteen percent.  Why stop treatment now when you have all the hardest parts behind you?”  Her facts, the solemnity of her tone, and the look of compassion and concern on her face sealed the subject for me.  Besides being a highly skilled surgeon, she is an incredibly compassionate woman who is invested in the well-being of her patients.  She wants the best for me, and she has the knowledge and experience that give her words great weight.

            Thus, I am saying yes instead of no.