December 29th Update: Treatment #5

Treatment #5.

They moved up her final TCHP treatment to January 15th instead of January 19th. So we are grateful to finish the first six rounds sooner than expected.

Surgery is scheduled for February 5th in Dallas.

She’s opted for the more simple surgery since the tumor has dissipated, with no node involvement (it didn’t spread). For surgery, they will take out a little of the scar tissue around the area where the tumor was so it doesn’t come back, and so they can test the tissue to make sure the chemo achieved pCR (complete pathological response) — meaning there is no microscopic cancer remaining.

And then it should be three or four weeks of rest before the start of radiation.

And then it’s a continuation of HP treatment every three weeks until a year is complete — September 2026.

Maybe that’s when it is over?

Or maybe it’s never really over.

As the famous Katy Perry once said:

Guess it’s never really over.

And that’s ok.

These scars and seasons make us who we become and allow us to help others who may experience the same.

The holistic nurse practitioner in Boise, who we saw a few days into diagnosis, asked Erin the question:

“If you had to go through this in order to save the life of someone else who might get breast cancer as well, would you do it?”

“For sure.”

And that’s why we don’t wish it away.