WE HIT A BUMP!

“You may not control all the events that happen to you,

but you can decide not to be reduced by them.”

- Maya Angelou -

Wednesday, February 1, 2023

Three weeks post-op. Recovery is going really well. Still experiencing a bit of weird loss-of sensation (totally normal) under my left arm and along the incisions. Some discomfort in my left boob from time to time but totally ok. My energy levels are getting much better and I'm not needing as many naps. Steady progress. 👍🏼 And then there was yesterday...

Tuesday, January 31, 2023

Sooo... post-op appointment didn't exactly go as I had hoped. I was holding the vision that Dr. Escallon would relate to me the all-clear margin pathology report, and then tell me when my radiation would start and that would be it . ERRR...Slam on the brakes. Not so fast bucko!

I didn't get the all-clear. F@@K! That wasn't part of MY plan.

On the very good side...

A total of three lymph nodes were removed. All are negative for malignancy! No cancer spread. No chemo. Woohoo! Awesome.

The type of breast cancer I have is DCIS - Ductal Carcinoma In Situ: abnormal cells inside the milk ducts of my left boob. The earliest form of breast cancer - Stage 0. Typically non-invasive and treated by surgical removal, followed by radiation treatment. Yeah for early detection.

PSA REMINDER: LADIES GET YOUR BOOBS CHECKED!!!

On the not-so-great side…

I have a subtype of DCIS: Comedo carcinoma in situ. Lucky me the most aggressive of intraductal carcinomas. And since my cancer cells are high achievers, they take top marks: high-grade DCIS (Nuclear Grade III). These are fast-growing cells (which would explain how in 3 years I went from a teeny-tiny pin-dot to a wide-spread 9.1 cm galaxy of cancerous cells. No tumor). With the cells having a higher chance of becoming invasive breast cancer in the future, out-out they must go.

On January 11, there was significant tissue removal (11.4 cm x 5.4 cm) - the area containing the DCIS plus additional surrounding tissue to catch all the naughty cells. The hope was that they would catch it all. After testing the tissue's perimeter, cancer cells were still present. My margins were NOT clear. OOOF.

When I told my breast cancer-surviving friend of this, she said, "Clear margins is what we are after and we don’t want to leave one of these f@@kers behind to start a rave where uninvited!" Too right. Too right!

So...it's back to the surgical cutting board for me. I have two areas that need additional removal. Dr. E will use the same incision line so there won't be any additional scars. I'll take that as a win. Surgery date is unknown as of yet.

I will also start hormone therapy too as my lovely high-achieving cancer cells need to be kept in check to keep the recurrence rate down to 2-3%.

Radiation will follow, as that was always part of the plan. We just need clear margins first.

How I am doing...

I am feeling disappointed for sure. A few F-bombs exploded yesterday. There were lots of tears. I polished off a couple of Haagen-Dasz ice cream tubs (only partially full lol) while lying in bed last night - emotional eating at its best!

And yesterday's resistance to the unexpected news has mellowed out a bit after a mind-whirling restless sleep.

I've gone through the surgery once, I can do it again. I know what recovery will be like - not as painful as I had feared. I am surrounded by the most incredibly supportive and beautiful Love-Humans! Nurse David will be back to full-time duty (might need to get him a cute nurse's outfit haha). FULL OF GRATITUDE!

And hey, I’m still here... Warrior Woman! Taking on each challenge to prove I am Strong AF!!!