Update!

So last Thursday I had a sort of follow-up appointment with my primary oncologist, just to go over how the first week after chemo went, and what we can do differently this week. I got some OK news and some not so OK news. The OK news is that I am officially Stage II-A-X. The "II" means all cancer is either above or below the diaphragm (above in my case) and it hasn't spread to any other systems, which is a good thing. The "A" means that I have no secondary symptoms, which is also good. The "X", however, means that mine is classified as "bulky," meaning that at least one of the masses is at least 10 cm long. In my case, there are three that are "bulky": the one in my neck that made me go to the doctor in the first place, one in the upper mediastinum and one in the mid-mediastinum. Studies on how the "bulky" designation affect overall survival rates vary; some suggest that it doesn't impact the five year survival rate (which is between 85 and 95% for stage 2 non bulky, a very very good survival rate!), and some suggest it lowers it by 5-10%. Most importantly, it means I will probably have to get another month or two of chemo, and will almost certainly have to get radiation therapy which makes me unhappy :(

In other news, I have a new haircut! It's short, and kind of alarming to me sometimes, but I am told it looks decent. I'm going in on Thursday for Round #1, Treatment #2 of chemo, so we'll see if that affects my hair status at all!