Today I had an appointment with the surgeon. I was all ready to set a date for the double mastectomy, reconstruction and be on my way. But instead she told me if that’s the decision I was going to make then she was going to have to remove all the lymph nodes in the area which could cause lymphedema. That’s what people have when their arms/hands swell and they usually wear that flesh colored arm sock. Then she said if I do chemo first, the lymph nodes should be cancer free when it’s over. Then they should be able to do a lumpectomy and then just a breast lift. Which will be way easier on me in the end. Because all my scans came back ok and the genetic test was negative, there’s no reason to believe the cancer will ever come back on either side. Oh and also if they do the mastectomy first there’s no way to do reconstruction because they would want to remove most or all of the extra skin. She explained why but I don’t remember. She was very nice and stayed with me until all my questions were answered. She gave me a hug and promised if it were herself or her mother she would have done the same thing she’s advising me to do. As a matter of fact her best friend had just found out she was pregnant and then found out she had triple negative breast cancer. Because she was unable to do the chemo in her first trimester the cancer ended up metastasized to her spine. It only took 8 weeks for it to move and could have been really bad. She started chemo as soon as she could. Now they wait.
So as bad as I didn’t want to do chemo, I’m going to do chemo. Then half way through the treatment I’ll go in for another MRI and back to see the surgeon to see if it’s shrinking. If it is we keep going. If it’s not, then we do surgery. So please keep the prayers coming. It’s not going to be as cut (excuse the pun) and dry as I had hoped. But I’m trusting my doctors. They all come highly recommended and I will believe God has put me in the right hands.
So after my appointment, I drove to a wig shop to see what they had to offer. Well as much as I play with my hair, I’m going to be in real trouble. Wigs, especially synthetic, you comb it off your head, put it on and DON’T TOUCH IT! Yikes. I might be wearing a 🧢 a lot! If you ever want to know about chemo, go to a wig shop. I had 3 ladies tell me what to expect and all gave me well wishes and offered prayers.
I’ve been a little down in the dumps because my SBH family has been in Bowling Green KY at a 4th of July celebration given by our CEO. Then Jan, a team member, sent me a video from the CEO telling me I’m strong and that they have my back. That meant to mush to me!
Today they had a training and Jan sent me another video. It was everyone at the training sending me love and well wishes. Yes, I cried both times! If any of my SBH family is reading this, I thank you and love you with all of my heart! Thank you for standing by me!
Be blessed,
Diana
#standbyme
Cancer Sucks 