Have you ever been greeted with, “Hello, I am Dr. XXX, and the good news is that you are not going to die”?
Yeah, me neither—until the afternoon of May 8th, when I sat in Dr. Olimpiadi’s patient room for my consultation.
At first, I was taken aback. Had I missed something? At no point did I think I was actually going to die—at least, not unless this diagnosis got significantly worse or there was something I didn’t know. But now I found myself questioning whether I should have been thinking that all along. Had I not been taking this seriously enough?
Fortunately, my time with Dr. Olimpiadi ended up being great. She’s incredibly knowledgeable, kind, and exactly the person everyone in my Facebook support groups described her to be. No red flags here—just reassurance and a solid plan moving forward.
Checking Off the To-Do List
From a radiology standpoint, her recommendation was for an MRI and axillary ultrasound. You probably remember—I had both done that same day, so I was already ahead of the game.
One detail that did catch my attention? The tumor size had increased slightly. My initial ultrasound showed an 18x17x12mm tumor, but the MRI measured it at 23x17x16mm. The slight increase didn’t impact my treatment plan, but it did make me wonder—had it truly grown that much in just a few weeks, or do different imaging tools produce slightly different measurements? Probably a bit of both.
Genetic Testing: Go Big or Go Home
Dr. Olimpiadi encouraged me to meet with the genetics counselor to discuss testing and complete blood work to determine if I had a genetic mutation. Not doing the genetic testing never even crossed my mind. If I had a mutation, it could change my treatment trajectory, and beyond that, it was important for me to know if there were mutations I could have passed down to Reed or Layla.
On Monday, May 12th, I met with the genetics counselor virtually and let me tell you—she was amazing. The amount of information she provided was fascinating! Plus, I had options—like a full menu to choose from. If you know me, you know I love a good, expensive steakhouse, so naturally, I went all in and chose the Filet Mignon—testing 70 genes for mutations. My other options? The Chuck Steak (12 genes) or the Sirloin (40 genes). Let’s be real—I wasn’t about to go budget on this.
Waiting on the Results
I had been told it could take a couple of weeks for the results to come in, which made me nervous—especially knowing I had a meeting with the plastic surgeon on May 20th. If there were mutations, my treatment plan might need to change. But my genetics counselor was fantastic. She assured me that she would expedite the request and prioritize getting results for the first 12 genes—the most relevant to breast cancer—before my plastic surgery consult.
That afternoon, I headed to Mercy Hospital for my blood draw and officially joined the waiting game. The next big appointment? Meeting Dr. Cantwell, the plastic surgeon.
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