The Plan Takes Shape

I visited with my surgeon this morning and after gathering all the facts, I have chosen the option of a lumpectomy. The surgery will be Thursday, April 17th. I was at the hospital from 8:30 this morning until 2:30 this afternoon taking care of all the pre-op details (blood work, chest x-ray, ekg, consent forms, etc.)

The day of surgery will begin with the sentinel node procedure. They will inject a radioactive dye into the mass and then determine which lymph node it drains into first. That node will then be removed and examined. If it shows cancer, they will make a bigger incision and take all the nodes. If it is cancer free they will move on to the lumpectomy. The nodes are one of the best prognosticators of success. I hope they are cancer free.

The lumpectomy means they will remove the tumor and some of the surrounding tissue. It will leave me with a pretty big scar that I am still unhappy about :( - but it seems like the lesser of all the other "evils" to me. I will grow to embrace the scar... but it will take some time. I actually made the surgeon draw the incision lines on my breast with an ink pen so that I can begin to picture what it will be like. He was reluctant... but he did it! Sigh. It is larger than I had hoped... When did I become so vain? I will learn to embrace the scar. I will learn to embrace the scar...

I will stay one night in the hospital. Recovery should be fairly short. The Dr. says I will be able to drive within 3-4 days! I forgot to ask him what he thinks about me going to Seattle two weeks post surgery! Do you think that's crazy?

Looks like chemo will begin about 3-4 weeks post surgery. Then radiation after that. My goal is to have all treatment complete by Christmas. I think that is a reasonable goal.

It feels good to finally have the decision made and the date set. Onward!!