Finally, I really feel like I'm moving forward - the day of surgery is tomorrow!
I'm hoping it will be fairly anti-climactic - it's a short day surgery, with just conscious sedation and not general anesthesia. Hopefully I'll be home by mid-afternoon. It's kind of a goofy arrangement: I show up to surgery at the hospital at 6:30am, after which I'm sent over to the breast clinic in the Masonic Building next door (they're connected - at least I don't have to walk outside in a hospital gown. But still...) where imaging (I'm assuming ultrasound but didn't think to ask) will guide a radiologist who'll place a wire through the (former) tumor site. After this, I'll go back to the hospital and be prepped for surgery. The surgeon will use the wire to help guide him to the correct spot. How he'll know exactly what to take I need to ask before surgery (you'd think I would have thought of this when I met with him and he explained the procedure a couple weeks ago). So anyway, I get to walk around with a wire sticking out of my chest, probably in a hospital gown. You'd think they could have made the logistics a little simpler, considering how many lumpectomies are done at the U of MN!
When I met with the surgeon, I was told that in cases like mine, where the tumor no longer is apparent via imaging, about 40% of cases show no sign of cancer cells after surgery and pathology examination. So keep your fingers crossed for this best case scenario! By the way, I had another breast MRI last week, which continued to show no sign of the tumor. I didn't ask the surgeon about whether those 40% had a negative MRI at the halfway mark in addition to after finishing all their rounds of chemo. (:
A few people have asked me how I'm feeling going into surgery. I'm not nervous. I'm just so ready to get this done and move on! I'm so happy to be beyond chemo and moving into the next phase of treatment. I've still got a long way to go, as I won't finish radiation until early June, but at least I'll be getting my hair back (I hope!).
This will be my sixth surgery in the last year (three arm, one abdominal, one for port placement and lymph node biopsy, then tomorrow lumpectomy and port removal) - think that maybe also contributes to my lack of nerves? Oh, and there are also the two arm surgeries to repair my broken elbow and wrist in 2009 and to remove the plate in 2010...
Other updates, finally seeing a bit of improvement with the lymphedema, but that continues to be my greatest frustration (besides baldness) right now. The lymphedema needs its own blog post, hopefully that will appear soon. A blood clot was discovered in my right common femoral vein (right groin) so I get to give myself lovenox (blood thinner) shots for the next six months. And I found a personal trainer who works with cancer patients, especially those suffering from lymphedema. Hopefully that will also be covered in another blog post soon as well...
Time for dinner - my last meal for a while! I will try to provide on update on my surgery in the next day or two.
