12/1 - Wednesday
So I have this bump... at about 10 o'clock... on my left breast. I went my OB/GYN last today and she ordered an ultrasound and "possibly" a mammogram. I've heard about these mammogram things - pain, pinching, smooshing, squooshing - nothing about this mammogram thing sounds fun.
12/2 - Thursday
Ultrasound? Check. Looks like there were three spots the tech noticed that looked abnormal. THREE? But I thought there was just the one... ugh, great! And, sure as sugar (where does this saying come from? what is so sure about sugar?), they wanted to do a mammogram. I think the "mammographer" took an image of my boob from each angle 0, 45, 90, 180, looking down from the top, looking from the side, looking up from underneath... ouch. To her credit, she was quick and efficient. She let me know when to hold my breath, when to lean forward, etc. I am already grateful for the technology available to me. The machine that did all this stuff is pretty impressive.
Well, it looks like the results from the mammograms show I need to get a biopsy done in each of the three spots. I have the weekend for my boob to recover from the mammogram before they start poking around again. One of the spots they want to biopsy is in my arm pit. I don't know what that means, but it doesn't sound promising.
12/6 Monday
O.K. So the biopsies... The first one was a Stereotactic Needle Biopsy. I won't go into ALL the details, but... basically I had to lay face down on a table with an opening for my, well, you know. They used a mammogram type thing to immobilize the area so a computer could plot exactly where to take the biopsy. There were between two and four nurses/technicians in the room at any one time. Each time they had to do a mammogram reading they all ducked behind a heavy screen. Once the computer had all my coordinates planned, the doctor came in and did a bunch of biopsies. I found out later that these biopsies were done on calcifications that looked pre-cancerous.
The second and third set of biopsies were done using an ultrasound. These were worse because, unlike the first one where I was all smooshed up and uncomfortable before they injected the local anesthesia, I was NOT already uncomfortable, so the needles seemed to move more slowly and really, really hurt. The needles in the arm pit, ugh.
When I left I was told (by wonderful Dr. House) that she should have the biopsy results by Friday, and if they came in sooner she would call me. I kept hoping they would come back sooner, rather than later. I didn't have a good feeling about all of this.
12/6 Tuesday
Third period - P.E. - out on the back field... students playing soccer... Dr House called... with results.
The suspected pre-cancerous cells? Pre-cancerous cells.
The suspected cancer (in the lump I felt)? Cancer.
The bump in my arm pit? No cancer.
So I planned to attend the "Breast Cancer Orientation" clinic on Wednesday.
Shared the news with mom, dad, and Jennifer right after I found out. Shared the news with Kari, after school.
Dinner with mom & dad. Planned on meeting mom at the orientation.
12/7 Wednesday
2:30 Video Introduction. There is one other woman, named Bernadette, there with her husband.
3:30 Met with the oncologist... My tests show I have INVASIVE DUCTAL CARCINOMA (a tumor the size of a Jolly Rancher) in my breast and IN SITU or NONINVASIVE CANCER (precancerous cells) in that second location.
4:15 Met with the surgeon... She needs to remove the tumor and the precancerous cells. The total amount of tissue she needs to remove is about the size of an orange.
5:00 Met with the radiologist.
5:45 Met with Breast Care Coordinator.
6:15 Met with oncologist again... Another test has come in. I will definitely need chemotherapy AND hormone therapy. She told me that I'll need to take a hormone blocker called TAMOXIFEN because my cancer is "sensitive" to my natural hormones.
6:30 Met with surgeon again and scheduled a LUMPECTOMY and a SENTINAL LYMPH NODE BIOPSY (I think she also called it an AXILLARY NODE DISSECTION) for December 23rd. If the pathologist finds cancer cells in the sample lymph nodes, then the surgeon will go ahead and remove all of the lymph nodes in my arm pit as a part of the surgery.
7:30 Home... and straight to bed.
12/8 Thursday
3:30 Met with plastic surgeon... Although he is really motivated and enthusiastic and positive about reconstructive surgery, he confuses the hell out of me. He said he could try to arrange things so he could be in the operating room to do the reconstruction the same day as the lumpectomy. This is all so much so fast. How am I supposed to decide now about what I want to do with my boob? It's been 48... maybe 50 hours since I've known my diagnosis and all I know for sure is I want this crap out of my body - now.
5:00 My oncologist is still at the hospital, so I go and talk with her about what the plastic surgeon has told me. She tells me about a clinical trial I can take part in, but it would mean doing chemo first and then surgery in about 4 months. It is designed for patients with my specific (hormone therapy needed) cancer. Like I decided yesterday, I want this junk out of me NOW.
My mom and I leave the hospital at 7:00 with a tentative plan...
Lumpectomy on 12/23, five rounds of chemotherapy and possible radiation therapy, then reconstructive surgery last.
12/9 - Friday
Meet with Dr House. Lots of questions. Am I, for sure, scheduled for surgery on 12/23? Should I try and do the reconstructive surgery the same day as the lumpectomy? If the amount of tissue that needs to be removed is the size of an orange already, then should I do the mastectomy instead? Etc.
Met with surgery scheduler. Yes, I am all set for 12/23. I am scheduled for a lumpectomy, but if I change my mind and want to do the mastectomy instead, I can still have that done... The mastectomy actually takes less time.
The surgery scheduler finds my surgeon and has her come in and answer my questions about lump- versus mast-ectomies. She gives me enough information for me to stay with my lumpectomy decision. She is awesome. I already love her.
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