Whew! I’m so glad to have the surgery part over. It is such a relief to hear that the sentinel node was negative. I feel like a great weight has been lifted off my shoulders. The initial pathology that happens while you are on the table is considered about 90% accurate and they conduct a more thorough pathology exam on the node and the removed tissue once surgery is complete. There’s a chance that the full pathology exam could identify some cancerous cells – but the chances are slim.
The sentinel node procedure is way cool – and way painful! I had to have four injections into my areola! Four needle sticks without any numbing agent or any pain killers! And it burns and stings like a mother tucker – YEOW! You know it’s bad when the doctor looks you in the eye and says, “This is going to hurt. I’m sorry. Feel free to scream, cuss, or call me names.” The only thing I can say is that the doctor was VERY quick and the burning went away within a few seconds. And of course the temporary pain was worth it considering the procedure may prevent you from having a large incision under your arm and the unnecessary removal of clean lymph nodes (as it did for me).
About 10 – 15 minutes before they take you into the operating room, you get a nice “cocktail” to help you relax. At that point, you don’t care what they do to you! (Some of you have seen the picture my husband dared to take of me in this goofy state! I will not be posting it here!) All my memories are a little fuzzy after that. I remember rolling into the operating room and having the oxygen mask put to my face. Then lights out!
Waking up is just as fuzzy. I remember asking about the node… several times... and being happy that it was negative. I started to have some nausea and they quickly gave me some phenergin which promptly knocked me out again for about 2 hours. When I awoke – the nausea was completely gone and they said I could go home instead of staying at the hospital. More good news!
The incision on my breast is not the same orientation we had discussed and I don’t like it. But I am happy to say there doesn’t appear to be any noticeable change in the shape or size of my breast. I don’t even have any swelling. The pain is tolerable and I think I will be okay in 4 or 5 days. My breast and underarm are covered with steri-strips so it will be a few weeks before I can actually “meet” the scar that will be a part of my life now.
Stop the presses! Just got a call from the doctor. The path report came back clean! The two nodes they took were clean and the margins around the tumor were clean. Yee ha! Feeling lucky. Think I‘ll take the advice of my friend Jane and go buy a lottery ticket! This is the best news yet!
Gonna relax the rest of this week and the weekend. I’ll probably go back to work Monday or Tuesday. As I said before, the pain is pretty tolerable, I just feel like I want to sleep all the time. I think I only need the pain killers for night time now, which means I will have a lot left over. Hey - if you’re real nice to me I might share:)
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3 comments:
Sherri Jo,
You are not only lucky, you are blessed. I am so glad things are going well with this situation! I will pray that the chemo will be not too miserable. I guess we will all be wearing pink ribbons and runnin/walking in the Race in October!!
Love, Cathy
Fantastic! What great news, making the next steps a bit more bareable. I must say, that picture before suregery was quite a treat; a little hog calling and the whole surgery theater would have come unglued. Remember to do those range of motion exercises, and give yourself the time you need to heal. You go girl!
Glad to hear that surgery went well. We are sending positive vibes your way!!!!!! Let us know when you need troop re-enforcements. Monica
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