Call from the Surgeon

A call from the surgeon's office asking me to come in the same day understandably makes me nervous. The first time this happened, I was told I had cancer, but it was very early stage "baby breast cancer". The second time this happened, I learned that it was not really "baby brast cancer" but invasive ductal carcinoma, at Stage 1c. So yesterday, the call gave me pause.

It actually turned out OK. Nothing has changed in my pathology or diagnosis, but she wanted to talk about the double mastectomy, what it would mean surgically, and to review my receptor tests again to see if I'd be a candidate for a Herceptin port (a little plug thing that is inserted just below the collar bone to receive the Herceptin drug. It is supposed to help especially with smaller arms and veins). she's now ordered what is called a FISH test that reviews the Her2Neu (gene) receptors again to getter a more detailed report. this will give a much better determination of whether I am a candidate for Herceptin and the port.

She also wanted to talk to me about how things will look after surgery. She said it will be dramatic and stark. I am pretty thin and tall and removing all the breast tissue will leave a long blank field. After talking with her, I expect to look like a big swizzle stick. She also mentioned depression. She said most mastectomy patients experience depression after the bandages come off, because the body and body image change are so radically altered. Maybe this is why so many women opt for reconstruction right away?

We talked about my decision to wait on reconstruction until I am done with treatment. She agreed with my reasoning. Quite simply, I am not up to interviewing plastic surgeons right now while I am still dealing with the cancer issues. I want to be able to interview a lot of them. Plastic surgery was never something I considered for any reason, except maybe in a weak "I hate my thighs" moment. If I am going to do plastic surgery, I want to be fully committed to what I'm doing. Right now, I'm just not.

The next step, barring any more calls from the surgeon, is to meet my oncologist on Friday to talk about the follow-up options. Then, next week Monday I do the pre-registration and bloodwork at the hospital and Tuesday I am going to the local prosthetics shop. I want to see what the prosthetics look like, check out wigs and buy this t-shirt for post-surgery that is supposed to be super soft and has a pocket for the drains that I'll have for the first week post-op. I promised my friend, Kathryn, that if she goes with me, I'll take her to radiation that day. We are certainly redefining the ladies day out!