Radiation?

So, after being told by my oncologist that radiation was mandatory for my treatment plan, despite my best efforts to argue the side effects outweighing the benefits, I met with my radiation oncologist today at City of Hope. I got a full consultation from the oncology nurses and we went over all the details of my case, treatment thus far, etc. Then the doctor came in and sat down.

He said, "So...you may not need radiation."

Whaaaaa???? Really!?! I have been arguing for weeks about how the side effects, which include lung damage (shortness of breath) and surgical complications with the mastectomy site, would outweigh the small percentage of risk it lowers for recurrence.

Apparently we won't know until after my surgery, because the decision will be based on the pathology results, which take about five days to come in. Once they get them (first week of October), the tumor board will sit down and conemplate the findings. Basically, if there are still any cancer cells found, they will need to radiate me and/or if they see scars from the tumors extending passed four lymph nodes. As of now, they only know that the cancer covered the first two lymph nodes under my arm.

So, we'll see. Would be awesome if this surgery was the last part of my cancer treatment!