Shrinking...Violets

During radiation treatment, I would lay on the table and try to find something positive to wrap my head around. Often I thought of the tumor dying and dissolving, and yes, sometimes I even imagined it squealing 'I'm melting, I'm melting...' Wicked Witch style as it went. I tried to picture healthy tissue springing forth and blooming in its place, like a beautiful garden. As far as actual probability, I was told that the tumor will go away only about 20% of the time, with another 20% experiencing no measurable change. The majority, about 60% of people, fall somewhere in the middle.

I visited with my surgeon end of last week, and although formal downstaging cannot be done until after surgery and pathology, the tumor is gone! This does not mean I'm cancer-free (yet), and both surgery and post-operative chemo are still necessary because treatment is based on the initial stage III diagnosis - but this simplifies surgery a bit and long term survival rates are positively impacted by significant downstaging.

I'm proceeding with cautious optimism until we do have pathology, but this is a great boost as we prepare for surgery on May 3rd!