The Surgery Day

I am very happy to have yesterday over and done with.  The day ended up going more quickly than I thought it would even though both the MRI and surgery were both a bit delayed.

The MRI was a bit of an adventure.  The purpose of it was to find the smaller lump and mark it so the surgeon knew what to remove. They had to keep pulling me in and out of the machine to move the marker around, a few millimeters here and there.  The radiologist who had done the ultrasound and biopsy was the doctor there for the MRI. They finally figured out the right spot and we went off to wait for my surgery time. 

The surgery went well.  My surgeon was quite impressed with my original mastectomy work.  She said there was absolutely no breast tissue left.  (Im not sure how I got breast cancer again in a place with no breast tissue...  I guess that is a question for my oncologist!).  The bigger of the 2 spots had become attached to the capsule around the implant.  I had not previously known this but after you get implants, your body forms a capsule of fibrous scar tissue as part of the healing process. In removing the tumor, the surgeon had to take part of the capsule.  I guess it will rejuvenate over time. Luckily, she did not damage the implant itself although I guess there is still a chance it could somehow rupture.  

The surgeon will call me with the final pathology next week and we will use that to decide on chemo.  I guess the cancer crew (oncologists, surgeons, etc) at the hospital met last week to discuss my case and based on preliminary pathology, they are all in agreement on no chemo but we need to make sure the pathology of the biopsied tissue is the same as the full tissue. Emily seems very concerned about whether or not I will have chemo so I am looking forward to having the final decision.  

I hung out in recovery for a while and ate the best PB&J sandwich EVER!  I have to leave the dressing on until tomorrow so no shower until then. I was pretty sore last night so I took a Percocet. I had trouble getting comfortable so I didn't sleep well but I am not in too much pain today.  I am just going to rest on the couch and get caught up on television.  I haven't done that in ages!!!

Everyone at the hospital was so great. I had the A team in the OR as a friends works in the hospital and made a call to the OR nurse manager.  It's nice to have connected friends!

Thanks so much to everyone for the emails, Facebook messages, blog comments and texts yesterday and today.  I am a luckily girls to be surrounded by so much love.  

Oh and I am VERY HAPPY to be CANCER FREE again!   I hope I stay this way for much longer than 3.5 years this time!   And I want all of you to be healthy too so please, see your doctor every year.  Get a mammogram if you are 40 or over.  Get to know your body and do something about it if you notice something unusual.