One vey long day!!!

The day started around 6:30 as I got up to check on Ryleigh as she had a little knee injury last night during gymnastics (fell on her knee on the beam doing her cartwheel - OUCH!!!)  Decision was made for her to stay home from school to keep it iced and rest it as she has her District Championship meet this week.  Needless to say I had a mental breakdown on my hands befoe bed last night.  Lucikly, she comes from a long line of tough women and she was feeling better, but not well enough to be walking around on it all day.  My mom drove her to Baytown to stay with her sister as mom had an appointment of her own and Keith was going to be chaufering me to my doctor appointments.

It was my first morning to take a shower, dry/ fix my hair and put make up on all in one day...LOL (Don't get me wrong, I have showered and bathed and washed my hair, just not all in one day and definitely not within an hour).  It actually felt good...made me feel a little normal (whatever that means)?!?!  Keith and I  headed out the door once we got Rance off to school. I drank my yummy smoothie on the way and made sure to take ALL my meds prior to arriving at my first appointment.

First stop:  Dr. Jo Pollack's office the breast surgeon.  We were provided with very good news!! Surgery went as planned with new technology (it's totally amazing what they can do).  I uderwent a bilateral skin and nipple sparing mastectomy with implant reconstruction.  Originally, my options were to have a lumpectomy with radiation or a unilateral mastectomy (both equal to the other).  I informed them from the beginning that I was not opposed to having a bilateral mastectomy.  I can't personally imagine doing a unilateral mastectomy and not a bilateral mastectomy (What's the point??).  For whatever reason and with lots of prayer I felt at peace with chosing to do a bilateral mastectomy.  My biggest concern was that the three masses that I FOUND only 3 1/2  months after a routine mammogram were not detected by that procedure.  My thought was: What if there is something else that hadn't been detected and that I hadnn't found??  What if there was something in my right breast that had not been detected and I had not felt or found???  And if for some reason I chose to do a lumpectomy, would I be so lucky to find or detect something as soon as I did this go round should someting return.  Well, today I KNOW that I made the right choic!!!  There was, in fact, a 4th cancerous mass found in the same breast (great news was that all four masses were individual mases and not linked in any way by microscopic cells which considers each mass as State 1 caner).  It was in the same vacinity as the other three, but not as close together as the others.  I specifically asked Dr. Pollack if had I chose to do a lumpectomy instead of a mastecomy would she have seen/ noticed and been able to remove the 4th mass.  Her reply: I don't know.  God guided my heart in making this decision and He deserves all the praise and all the glory!!!

Next stop:  Dr. Shagufta Naqvi's office the ocologist.  She was thrilled with the pathology reults.  So positive, which is so encouraging.  She's so knowledgable and so thorough in explaining everything.  Although we went there thinking we were going to leave with a treatment plan, we still have three more weeks to wait on those results.  The reason being is had the lymph nodes that were removed (3 total) during surgery been positive for cancer, chemotherapy would not have been an option - it would have been a necessity!!  Due to the lymph nodes beng negative (Thank you, Lord), she now has to submit that pathology to the insurance compamy to request the oncotype test to determine whether or not my type of cancer would benefit from chemotherapy.  This type of cancer has basically a 90/10% chance split.  Ninety percent of the cases will not benefit and only ten percent of them will.  We pray that I fall within that 90 percentile.  We will get these results back on November 6.

Had a little break to re-energize and get some lunch with my husband and my sister.  Also needed to remedicate myself before my last appointment with Dr. Boutros the plastic surgeon.  So I have now had two doses of all my meds and no nap...I'm starting to crash, but feeling pretty relaxed.  That's a good thing/ considering the idea is I'm going to the plastic surgeon's office to have my drain tubes removed.  Especially, since I almost passed out on them last week.  Well, we did make some progress, but in a very small way.  Thngs are looking good and I did get one drainage tube out of the right breast; but I had to trade it for a second drainage tube for the left breast.  Yep, I now have two drains on the left side.  It just doesn't seem to be draining as well and is holding fluid pockets toward the bottom of the breast.  He did, in fact, extract a small amount of fluid from the right breast with a syringe and removed the original drainage tube.  But he placed another tube in the lower part of the left breast, which automatically drained about 30cc of fluid immediately - YUCKKKK!!!!  I am definitely irritated, but i am willing to see this through.  Infection is definitely NOT welcome.  If for some reason infection were to set in, the implant comes out.  Please be in prayer for no infection.  I'm scheduled to return back there next Tuesday and the plan is to for sure remove the original drain on that side and determine a game plan on the new drain. 

I realize some of this may be TMI for some of you and I hope you can understand that this blog is not just for me and not just for you, but for others that might be fighting this same fight.  I read many blogs durng the weeks while I was waiting and undergoing testing.  I know the internet is definitely not always the best place to go when you've been diagnosed with someting because so many people are different, diagnoses are different and body's react so differently to treatments.  I just want others to know they are not in this alone and they're Faith has to be bigger than their fear in this journey!!  If any one thing I post can help someone have a better understanding of the journey they face or help to give them the courage to make a very difficult decision a little easier than I have done the job I set out to do with this blog.

I would almost bet that each and everyone of us have been somehow directly affected by this. disease so I would enourage each of you to defintely schedule your yearly exams/ mammograms, but even more importantly, KNOW YOUR BODY!!!  Do self examinations and trust your instincts.  I have had two cases of skin cancer and now this. I have detected all three at a very, very early stage.  I would even go so far as to say they were detected by God's hand as I was led to them so early.  Both skin cancers that I had checked out by the doctors felt at the time they were not going to be anything.  Please, please, please do not ignore your instincts!!!

Love you all and thank you for your continued prayers and throughts!!  The cards, flowers, dinners, desserts and personal messages have been so overwhelming and heart-felt!!!

Love and Belief!!

Dana