Surgery Results

8 days post surgery - Woo Hoo! Moving on and moving forward. . . Today was my first follow-up appointment with my surgeon. I found out that they actually took 11 lymph nodes during sugery and only 3 were found to be positive. During surgery there were more lymph nodes that felt enlarged that were concerning, but couldn't be reached at that time. These results alleviated that concern. Cancerous nodes follow one after another and with 8 negative ones in a row past the 3 positive ones, it is clear that those enlarged ones are nothing to worry about. Sigh. The tumor found ended up being 2.5 cm. The scattered microcalcifications were found to all be cancerous as well. But, it is the kind that is still in very early stages and is not spreading. My hormone receptors for estrogen and progesterone were found to be positive. This is a good thing because it means that my body will respond to certain additional forms of chemo-therapy that it otherwise wouldn't. Her2Neu receptor was found to be negative, which isn't particularly good or bad. Everything was successfully removed during surgery, but because of the type of cancer I have further treatment is still necessary to try and wipe out the possibility of a future occurrence. Cancer is graded by 3 things, T-tumor size, N-number of positive nodes, and M-metastasis (whether it has spread to other parts of the body). At this point my cancer is graded as a T2, N1. I am scheduled for a bone scan on Thursday and a CT scan on Friday of this week. Those results will grade the M of the cancer, which is either a yes or no rather than a number. Results for those things are not due back until the following Thursday, 6/8.

The fluid continued to collect in my chest area and by my appt. time today it was actually slightly larger than my breast had ever been. The pain has certainly been mounting with the added pressure too. I teased the Dr. when he came in and told him that my boob grew back. He said he gets that a lot from his patients. And I thought I was so original. Ha! So, he assured me that this was a normal part of the process, which was a relief. I really began to trip out at what was happening. During my visit today he was able to drain it all which relieved a lot of pain and pressure thank goodness. Initially when he pulled out the huge needle he was going to use I cringed at the thought of more pain, but luckily I didn't feel a thing. Yay for nerve damage! There is still quite a bit of numbness on my chest and under my arm which may or may not go away. Only time will tell. Anyway, he expects that it will fill up again at least one more time so I will go in next Monday to drain again. You know, I can't help but wonder if this is just too much information. Maybe so? Oh well, here it is anyway.
(As if the description wasn't enough. . . now you've got a picture too. I just think its so wierd that I had to share. Can you tell which one is fake?)

My mom left to go home last night so this was my first day alone. Left to my own devices I instantly did something stupid. I decided that today was the day I didn't want/need the heavy pain medicine anymore, so I just didn't take it. Stupid. This is after a solid week of taking it and needing it every 4-5 hours. So, after 13 hours of no medicine I was miserable. Mike came home for lunch and basically just said, "you're not a junkie. . . you need it. . . take it. . . " So, I did and eventually I found my status quo again. Even then, I'm still far from feeling great, but it is absolutely bearable and I can move about and function. My Dr. also assured me today the people stay on pain meds typically for 2-3 weeks. So, I'm going to stop feeling bad about being drugged up and I'm just going to accept what I need and do it. Sometimes I guess we just need to hit a wall before we really get it.

Weather has been perfect. Mid to high 70's, breezy, blue skies, shining sun. I'm so thankful for that gift in the midst of all of this.

Mom, I'm so happy that you were able to be here with me. I had no idea how much I really needed you. You helped me like nobody else could and I appreciate it so much. Thank you thank you thank you. . .


Sweet dreams!