Another Doctor's Appointment and Pathology Results

Well, considering everything that's happened in the last few weeks, I think today's doctor's appointment went well. He said that the lumpectomy was successful in removing the tumor and that they got clean margins...yay, no more work on my little boob! The lymph nodes though are another story. I will go in tomorrow at 9:15 AM (Gwinnett Medical Center - Day surgery) for a Right Axillary Node Dissection. He'll remove as many nodes as he needs to (he said it all depends on the patient, how the nodes appear, etc) and this time they will put in drains. They may keep me overnight at the hospital, it just depends on how I'm doing after the procedure. I'll have the drains in until my follow up which will be March 19th (the day after Dave's surgery)...so 10 Days with the drains. This may be a little uncomfortable, but I'll get by.

I do get an official diagnosis for the type of cancer I have: Infiltrating Ductal Carcinoma. Apparently, this is the most popular type of breast cancer out there, I've seen statistics saying it's anywhere from 52% - 70%...so, I've finally made it to an "in crowd", not really the one I was hoping for, but at least I'm confident in the fact that a LOT of research has been done and there are many proven treatment methods. I was also told it's Stage II, could be better, could be worse, but that's what it is.

He did say that radiation will be the way they'll treat my breast cancer, for which I am thankful. I really wasn't too excited about getting chemo, especially after seeing everything Dave went through, although I know mine isn't anywhere as bad as his was. So, suffice it to say, I'm thankful the lumpectomy is over and done with and I'll be glad to get tomorrow's procedure behind me as well. We don't know about the treatment plan yet, again, just taking one day at a time here...

I can't tell you enough how much we appreciate everyone's support, encouragement and prayers during this time. Yes, it's overwhelming, but with the support of so many, the experience is much more tolerable. We're blessed with many friends and family members who make this whole experience more bearable.

Lumpectomy Day

Well, Dave and I are up and out the door and off to the Women's Pavilion where they'll inject radioactive dye into my right breast. They do this first (at 7:30 AM) and then I'm transported over to the hospital for the lumpectomy and sentinel node removal. Dave is right with me, wearing the caregiver shoes now, and he's doing a great job. He does try really hard to be funny and sometimes it works and other times I just have to tell him, "Still not funny." But, he's there with me before I go into surgery and is trying to keep things "light" with all the nurses and staff. I find out that instead of the day surgery, I'll be having my procedure done in the main surgery area of the hospital (at Gwinnett Medical Center), and I'm not being put under with a twilight anesthetic, nope, they are knocking me out, all the way...o.k. by me, I'd rather not know what's going on to be honest.

During the lumpectomy, the doctor tells me that not only will I have the radioactive dye in there (I'm assuming to find the cancer), but they also put in a blue dye right before the surgery...like it'll give my skin a blue hue...I'm very fair skinned, so, great, now tomorrow I'll look like a Smurf? We shall see....

The procedure takes about an hour and a half and while I'm in the post-op room, I have some kind of allergic reaction. The nurses think it's because they had to give me some morphine to kill some of the pain right after surgery, or maybe it had something to do with the anesthesia...they don't know for sure. I'm already allergic to penicillin and sulfa drugs, so I guess I may have something else to add to my list.

So, after some Benadryl and sips of Sprite and a few crackers, I'm given the green light to go home. A nice lady came in to give me a pillow to put between my arm and my breast and to give me a "Breast Cancer Package", which has a very informative manual that explains EVERYTHING you'd ever want to know...Dave was jealous he didn't get any of this kind of special treatment when he was going through his horrible chemo and radiation treatments. I told him I just got lucky and got the right kind of cancer.

Now, it's in the early afternoon and we're on our way home. My mom and sister were at the hospital and came to the house for a while. My niece, Sarah, came to spend a few days/nights with us (she had done this too in the past with Dave's chemo rounds) and we appreciate the help so much. Our boys take a lot of energy and they love having their cousin there to be with them. So, we're at the house for a while, I'm in a little pain, but taking the Lortab on schedule and resting...so far, so good.