Treatment & Care: Surgery

Day 52: Gearing up for my mastectomy tomorrow at LMH. Is it normal to grieve when you lose a part of your body?
Tomorrow’s the day – the day of my mastectomy. I’m going to LMH Surgery at 9am for Dr. Kolkman to remove my left breast, along with two sentinel lymph nodes…

Day 56: Had my mastectomy. I’m back at home now, healing and staying hopeful.
I’m still in a fog from all the meds, but today I feel up to a little writing. I’m in no state to be eloquent – not sure I can even hold a thought long enough to get it typed out without falling asleep…

Day 57: Chemo or no chemo? That is the question.
Well, this is no easy decision. I met with my oncologist yesterday to discuss the results of my Oncotype DX test, which is used to determine whether or not I’ll benefit from chemotherapy. I should have guessed that I would fall in the intermediate risk category...

Day 60: I’ve decided to do chemotherapy. How could I not? I’ll do whatever it takes to avoid getting cancer again.
Remember those commercials, "This is your brain on drugs" with the egg in the frying pan? What a brilliant marketing campaign that was because, man, ain’t that the truth!

Day 62: Here we go again! More surgery soon – this time to put in a port for my upcoming chemotherapy.
I have so much to report on today. For starters, Dr. Kolkman reviewed my pathology report and confirmed that I am now 100% cancer free, and the cancer did not spread to my lymph nodes!!!