After an excruciatingly long wait, we finally have a date. On November 1, we will bid a sad farewell to my poor boobies.
Thinking back to my teens, I thought my boobies were just fashionably late and hoped they would be worth the wait. But alas, it turns out that they are actually big party poopers as they not only arrived late to the party, but they will also be leaving far too early.
Nonetheless, they were worth the wait (so long as you subscribe to good things and small packages!) My plastic surgeon said they were perfect; high praise from someone who sees many, many breasts!
The past several weeks have been a roller coaster. I usually like rides, but this is one I wish I hadn’t got on. When I look back on it now, I’m so glad each week is done and the wait is nearly over.
There have been some highs – like when I was able to change my surgical oncologist. The first one I met with, while experienced, didn’t seem to appreciate my many questions. I want someone who’s willing to work with me. It’s my body, my decisions. My new surgeon is a rockstar in her field. She has no problem answering lots of questions and I feel very comfortable with her. Studies have shown that the experience of your surgeon does impact your prognosis, so I’m very grateful and relieved to be her patient/groupie.
Tip #1: You will be assigned doctors throughout the cancer treatment process. If any of them don’t work for you, ask to see someone else. You always have a choice.
There have also been some downs. A big one was getting the MRI results back. From the MRI report, we learned that the cancer, while still showing no signs of invasion (Yay!), was spread over a larger area than we had thought. In fact, it appears to abut the chest wall (Boo! Bad cancer!) This was scary stuff and a very bad day. Compounding the already bad day was the news that the MRI spotted a small mass with benign features in the “good” boob. This little bit of news translated into more ultrasounds and a biopsy of the right breast. We’re still waiting on the results of this, although the radiologist is confident that it’s just a lymph node (fingers crossed).
In hindsight, I really wasn’t prepared for the MRI report. I didn’t know that mammograms and biopsies typically underestimate the spread of the cancer and that the MRI is much more accurate. I also didn’t know that MRIs pick up every little thing that isn’t absolutely perfect (e.g., a lymph node in your right breast) and that these little imperfections can be false positives, but still need to be checked to rule out cancer.
Tip #2: Mammograms and ultrasounds are useful imaging tools, but can underestimate cancer spread and even miss it entirely. If you need details, MRIs are the bee’s knees.
Another challenge over the last two weeks that has been creating a lot of downs is that I have been having pain in my armpit and chest wall on the left (cancer) side. I’ve talked to my nurse navigator and there’s nothing that can be done before my surgery. So, we wait and hope that it’s just stress. Physically, the pain is not a big deal - just a slight bother. Mentally, it’s almost unbearable.
However, today it seemed a bit better. Now that’s a GREAT BIG UP!
