head bumps

saw the dermatologist yesterday and he suspects the bumps on my head may indeed be scalp mets. evidently skin mets are not unusual in breast cancer, although the only person i know with scalp mets has a completely different kind of cancer.

i managed to negotiate successfully NOT have a biopsy that moment but to wait for dr a and dr g to talk about next steps. my plate is overflowing with medical stuff right now and the last thing i wanted was the pain of lidocaine while he numbs my head, two punch biopsies, stitches in my scalp, a headache and maybe bleeding afterwards. dr a is a good doc; he listened carefully and since this isn't life-threatening, agreed to talk with dr g the oncologist.

the most likely scenario i can predict is that dr g will start me on chemo immediately upon his return. of course we will see what my latest tumor markers indicate, but chances are good that they have continued to climb, indicating that the current drug isn't working either. maybe i can negotiate a short reprieve while i recover from the dislocated elbow but that would be it.

you know i don't look forward to chemo (now that's an understatement) but my cancer has basically not been effectively treated for almost a year. it's been relatively quiet, but scalp mets void the bargain i made with my cancer 7+ years ago. if it was quiet i would give it room in my body. but if it gets out of hand, then we pull out the big guns.

chemo, here we come.