Posted on GiveForward
Good morning! The day I have been so excited about has finally arrived. It’s not often we share such intimate details about what we are about to endure during a surgical procedure. To bring you all closer to what I am going to experience today, I thought it would be helpful to share this with you.
I am going to back up for a second. Let’s first talk about what we are dealing with here. Cancer is like a cake, there are many layers to it: the stage, the grade, the type and the kind. I have two types of cancer. Invasive Ductal Carcinoma and Ductal Carcinoma IS. IDC means the cancer has spread to the surrounding breast tissue. .DCIS is the presence of abnormal cells inside the milk ducts in the breast. My cancer is ER+(Estrogen Receptor), PR+(Progesterone Receptor) and HER2-. The production of hormones promoted the growth of my cancer. A little hard to get away from when you are a girl ;-) Today, the surgical team will be performing a bi-lateral (double) mastectomy. There are two things we don’t know about my cancer, if it has made it’s way into my lymph nodes and what the actual mass and extent is of the cancer.
In order to find out if the cancer has spread into my lymph nodes, the surgical team will be removing 3-4 lymph nodes to test for cancer. I’ll begin this surgical journey in Nuclear Medicine where they will inject a radioactive blue dye into my breast. The dye goes into the lymph nodes, and will begin to fill up the first lymph node where cancer would be. There is a two hour waiting period between the time the dye has been injected and the time I go into surgery. During surgery they will remove the lymph node(s) which have the most dye in them. After they have removed the lymph nodes they will perform a cold or fast freeze on the lymph node to determine if there is cancer in them. It’s important to know that not all lymph nodes could be impacted with cancer. We are really hoping that none of them are!!!!
If the coast is clear and there is no presence of cancer in the lymph nodes, they will then remove all the breast tissue from both breasts. The reconstructive surgeon will be working closely with the breast surgeon. Once the breasts have been removed, the reconstructive surgeon will insert an expander behind the pectoral muscle. The tissue expander stretches the breast skin and muscle over a period of 3-6 months. Once the skin and muscle are fully expanded a second operation will be performed to insert the implants. A friend of mine shared a great picture of a t-shirt a woman was wearing that said “yes, they’re fake…the real ones tried to kill me”. Well said!
If they find the cancer has moved into the lymph nodes, the reconstructive surgeon will abort her part of the surgery and the expanders will be inserted in March of 2014. This gives the breast time to heal and the body time to adjust to radiation and chemo.
The treatment I will have after my surgery is unknown at this time. Unfortunately, it’s not that black and white. The treatment my Oncologist prescribes will be dependent on cancer being present in the lymph nodes and the mass of the cancer in my breasts. This is yet another waiting period, as both the lymph nodes and tumors will be further examined and tested. The final results will be known within 10 days of my surgery. Whatever treatment I endure, it will start in 4 weeks.
I can feel the swell of the nerves starting to let me know they are lurking in my body. I’m quite tired as I have not been able to sleep but 3-4 hours each nite over the last week. That is very natural given the amount of anxiety we have when going through something like this. I will have a few friends and my mom with me at the hospital to make me smile and keep my mind distracted as I head into the O.R. I am looking forward to going to sleep during my surgery…I have some catching up to do.
The cancer can’t hurt me because I have not given it permission. This little solider is ready for battle!
Thank you all for your continued love, support and prayers. I’ll see you on the other side.
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