Treatment & Care: Surgery

Day 56: Had my mastectomy. I’m back at home now, healing and staying hopeful.

Well, I had my mastectomy three days ago. It went well, and I’m at home now (I was discharged the day after surgery). 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 – but I’ll try to share a little about my experience anyway.

One of my tumors was pretty far back in my chest, so my surgeon had to go in deep…ouch. The mastectomy experience can differ from woman to woman, and mine was/is on the higher end of the pain scale. My breathing slowed during surgery, but my doctors and nurses took good care of me – they skillfully got it under control and gave me breathing treatments later in recovery to prevent my lungs from filling up. I stayed at LMH overnight – they kept me comfortable and got me everything I needed – including some very good news:

Early indications suggest no signs of cancer in my lymph nodes!

In other words, I’m very fortunate that my breast cancer was caught early with no time to spread. On that note I want to quickly re-emphasize the importance of breast self-exams. Who knows how long it might have been if I hadn’t been doing those every month? Breast exams are an absolute must-do if you want to protect yourself and your breast health – take it from someone who knows. Here’s more info: performing a breast self-examination.

I’m getting drowsy and foggy again – honestly I’m stunned I managed to eek out this much detail. Before I sign off, I just want to say…I have the best family in the world. I cannot thank my mom, my dad or my sweet, sweet son enough for being so helpful and loving through this. I love my family and friends so, so much, and I’d go through this 100 times over if I had to, just to stick around and spend my time with them.

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