Friday meeting with the plastic surgeon

Bret and I met with the plastic surgeon on Friday afternoon. She explained the different types of reconstruction surgery that are used after mastectomies. After we did an exam she said that I was not a good candidate for the TRAM flap procedure which is where they use your fat and stomach muscles to build new breasts...she said that too many blood vessels were cut when I had gallbladder and appendix surgery and my C-section. She recommended that I go with implants. On the same day that the breasts would be removed by Dr. K she would follow up immediately with placing expanders (kind of like empty breast implants) under the muscles of the chest. Over a period of time the implants would be expanded with saline until we reached the desired size. Adding the saline would be done during a couple visits to her office. I guess it does cause some pain because you are actually forcing the chest muscles to expand to be able to accept the implants. Once the muscles have been expanded she would then do another surgery to remove the expanders and replace them with the implants. She has performed many of these procedures and felt that I would have no problem if I decided to go this route. She has worked with Dr. K several times and said that he is a good surgeon. She said the first few weeks after the initial surgery are pretty rough and that I should expect to be home at least 6 weeks.

All of this seemed fine to me. She seemed very competent and took time to explain everything and show us pictures of what to expect after surgery.

On Monday afternoon we will meet with a new Oncologist. I feel like I am very prepared for this meeting and I know what questions I will ask about the different drugs that are available and how they work with cancer that is ER+, PR+, HER2+. From what I have researched this is pretty rare. I am confident that we can take care of the cancer that is in the breast. I am more concerned about killing any remaining cells that may be somewhere else in my body which may cause a recurrence. I know that we can not waste our time worrying about tomorrow but the decisions that I make now about my treatment will have a dramatic impact on my chances of beating this for a long time. I am just ready to move on to the next stage of this battle...you all know that I am not the most patient person and the unknown is slowly starting to drive me nuts. I just pray that this new doctor will help me understand everything and that I will be able to make a decision this week.