November 26, 2013 - Status Update

My appointment with the medical oncologist Dr. Rupa Subramanian on 11/15 went well – she even remarked over how well the incisions were healing.  Now that the immediate cancer concern has been taken care of by surgery, there are a slew of tests to make sure there is no cancer elsewhere in the body.  If there is, I’ll have to have chemotherapy (whole body) before the radiation (localized to breast).  So now I’ve got the following appointments:

12/2/13 CT scan (chest, abdomen, pelvis)

12/4/13 MRI of abdomen

12/6/13 oncologist appointment

12/9/13 meet with doctor in charge of radiation

12/17/13 dermatology appointment to check for skin cancer

And a bone scan that can’t be scheduled until I get approval from the insurance company.

Speaking to a woman who’s just finished her cancer treatment, she said she was having difficulty getting back into something that resembled a normal routine.  For the past year, everything has revolved around her cancer treatment and all the attendant appointments.  I get it.  We’re already experiencing some of that.  She’s done and finding it hard to do her life without all the appointments and the constant focus on cancer – it’s been the foreground to everything else for such a long time.

Given my current slate of appointments and the upcoming holidays, I’m guessing that I won’t be starting radiation until January.  Once that treatment starts, it’s every day, five days a week, for 4 to 6 weeks.  I’m looking forward to it, but only because it’s the next milestone to being done with all this.

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November 9, 2013 - Guided Imagery

I would say that I’ve been lucky enough to bounce back incredibly fast from all of this, except that Jess and I both believe in stacking the deck in our favor, so to speak.  For years, we’ve both used guided meditation CDs to enhance health and mood, and are positive that it really paid off this time too. 

I listened to Belleruth Naparstek’s Meditations to Promote Successful Surgery starting about 10 days before the surgery, and have listened to it every day since.  It contains healing imagery to use before the surgery to “anticipate a successful surgery experience, surrounded by protection and support, the body slowing down blood flow and speeding up its mending capacity,” and affirmations to help speed the recovery process after surgery.  We brought it with us to the hospital, intending to ask the anesthesiologist if I could use it during surgery.  But by the time he finally stopped by, I was already so mentally/emotionally prepped and completely relaxed, I never brought it up because it felt so unnecessary.

If you’ve not used guided imagery before, there is a link to a free download from her website on stress relief (you can always opt out of their email list after you've listened): 

I've tried a dozen times to cut and paste the link here, but it hasn't worked; so I'm just going to tell you to go to health journeys dot com -- NOW the system should allow me to post this!

It’s not the one I actually used, but it’s a good sample of what her work is about.  It’s surprising how effective the Successful Surgery CD was in helping me feel safe and surrounded by good intentions, including yours.  I am so grateful!

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November 7, 2013 – Post Op Appointment

I am thrilled (and relieved) to report that the lab analysis is in, and that my margins and lymph nodes are clear and clean!

 

Clear and clean margins and lymph nodes means the cancer was restricted to just that area and has not spread to any other organs.  One tumor was 7 millimeters and the second was 11 millimeters.  That’s less than 2 centimeters in total, which keeps me in the stage one cancer classification.  And that’s good… it was small (still too small to feel by touch), we caught it early, and it’s the easiest stage to treat.

Both incisions are healing nicely, even though I foolishly tried to remove the Steri-Strips before the appointment, thinking the doctor would want to see the actual wounds.  Even though I was being so careful because it was painful to peel the edge off, I ended up stressing the stitches before I gave up and figured if this follow-up exam needed the Steri-Strips off, they’d have a better way to remove them.  Something along the lines of gorilla glue remover.  At any rate, doc said they looked good and leave the strips on for at least another week.

Much of the swelling has gone down, although my underarm is a bit swollen and tender to the touch… that incision has all along bothered me more than the one on the right side of my breast.  They’ve told me that’s normal because the lymph node is tucked into the shoulder and arm muscles, as opposed to the breast tissue.  Most of the iodine, blue marker dye, and black marking pen used to map nodes has faded away.  My doctor did a beautiful job of the surgery, while doing the least amount of damage to my breast, for which I thanked her.  Looking in the mirror, both breasts look much as they did before.  The right is a little smaller than the left, but that’s normal for most women anyway.  Looking down at them, the right side no longer mirrors the rounded curve of the left, but I’m the only one who’d ever be likely to notice from that angle.  It’s not going to change the way my clothes fit, or even my bra size.

So at this point, my surgical oncologist, Dr. Blair, will see me again with a fresh mammogram in about six months.  Aside from that, now my care gets turned over to the medical oncologist who will oversee my treatment from here on.  I have the rest of this month to recover from the surgery and will start radiation in December to make sure there are no loose cancer cells still in the area that might have been missed by the surgery.

While I still need two naps a day, I’m healing rapidly, and there’s obvious improvement every day.  And I am so grateful for your wonderful healing prayers and good energies – thank you!

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