Surgery is scheduled!

I was able to get a surgery date for my bilat mastectomy...it will be March 25th. It feels really good to have a date...I guess it just makes me feel like I am finally moving forward again. I am still nervous that they may find other cancer from this surgery but I have feared that all along and it's time to know the facts. Dr. B. and I spoke about the surgery and I asked him again about my MRI. After my lumpectomy all the docs told me it was my choice to have the mastectomy or stop with the lumpectomy and do radiation. Once Dr. B. ordered the MRI and the tumor board reviewed my case with him their advice was that I should definetely have a mastectomy on the right side because even though they removed the 4mm tumor and an area 9 x 8 cm that contained a lot of pre-cancerous calcifications the MRI showed that there were other areas left in the breast that also contained pre-cancerous calcifications. They felt that if I did not do the mastectomy I would probably have more lumpectomies over the years due to these suspicious areas. When I talked to Dr. B. last week I made him tell me again that they did not see anything that looked like a tumor on the MRI, just more calcifications... I still feel very comfortable with my decision to do the bilateral mastectomy. Knowing that the right breast contained so many pre-cancerous areas I would always think of the left breast as a ticking time bomb...anyway, until the final pathology comes back after the mastectomy there is always going to be that worry that they will find more cancer....I guess that's one of the things that really sucks about cancer. Even though you have the tumor removed for the rest of your life you have to find a way to move forward and not let every little ache or pain terrify you and make you worry that the cancer has returned...........

On Monday I will have my genetic testing done. Due to the fact that my Mom and Dad have 17 siblings between them it took a while to get all the facts straight about my family history. I only had one aunt on my Dad's side that had breast cancer. On my Mom's side it is just my Mom and I so I am very glad to see that we don't have a long family history of this disease. I am looking forward to learning more about the testing and what the results mean. If I do test positive it will be important for my sisters and Jillian to be followed more closely over the years. From what I have read it could also mean that I have a very high risk of developing uterine cancer in the future and will need to consider having a hysterectomy. I am not sure how long it takes to get the results from the test tomorrow. I have heard of some people getting their results in 2 weeks and others taking over a month.

For those of you that know me well you know how much I hate anything that has to do with a dentist beyond a six month cleaning. Well, on Friday I was having a late lunch that consisted of Corn Pops cereal and once I finished I realized that a big chunk had broken off of one of my teeth. Can you believe that this is the second time I have broken a tooth on cereal? The first time it was Captain Crunch...it's not like I eat cereal all the time but I seem to have a bad record. Anyway, I had to call Dr. B.s office to see what type of dental work I am allowed to have during chemo and once they called me back and told me I can do anything that is not "invasive" like a root canal or removing the tooth it was too late for me to see anyone. I tried to call other dentists on Saturday that advertise "emergency" appointments but none of them would see me. I have had a toothache since it happened but since I have the genetic appt. tomorrow I will probably see if I can get into the dentist on Tuesday. After three days of nonstop tooth pain I have kind of gotten used to it.

Bret and the kids went over to Indiana to go tubing on Saturday morning and they had a great time. On Saturday night I played Bunko...I surprised the girls by wearing one of Jillian's pink dress up wigs...I am beginning to think that all the meds I take are slowly driving me a little insane....a year ago I would have never even considered doing something like that but it was actually fun. I didn't win any big money but it was great to see everyone and get caught up.

Have a good week....