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Drain-free, tape-free
I finally had the last drain removed last week. This was so monumental. The drains were causing so much discomfort with movement. I have a high-threshold for pain, but something about having devices under my skin is apparently not acceptable to my body. Of course the drains were in for a longer period than anticipated and I have my suspicions of why that was. Now that I am tube and tape free, it is time to move forward with actually healing, I don’t know if I have general weakness from lack of movement for all of these weeks or if…
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“How are you doing?”
I guess it is time for an update. Surgically, the incisions appear to be healing without complication. The drains are doing their thing and are likely to be out next week. Pathology officially came back AND MY SENTINEL NODES WERE CLEAR! Yes, my oncologist is going to take a big sigh when I tell her that I don’t want to do chemo (AC) and I’m not entirely sure exactly how we proceed from there. Could there be a cell leftover? Yes? Do I want to do a course of gnarly chemo that will give me permanent peripheral neuropathy, unending nausea/vomiting…
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Mastectomy done
Phase 1 of Operation: Killer Tiddies is complete. I celebrated my brother’s birthday by having him sit in the waiting room for however many hours (sorry Al) while my murderous mammies were severed from my torso. The preliminary news is that there wasn’t any sign of lymph node involvement which hopefully means that the cancer didn’t get a chance to spread. I will still wait for the final pathology report before I’ll decide if I’ll do chemo or not. Phase 2 is healing. Mastectomies are extremely invasive surgeries. I expect I’ll be napping heavily for the next few days as…
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Ignored
I don’t even really know how to write this post. I don’t really know if it will even matter since it doesn’t seem that many people pay attention. I specifically asked on social media that my birthday roll by unrecognized. Not because I’m vain and refuse to accept the aging process, not because I’m secretly wanting more attention, but because I’m facing a gruesome and disfiguring surgery in a few days and it is weighing heavily on me. I unequivocally asked to let the day be no different than any other. But what happened instead? A barrage of “I…
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Surgical Update
Surgery will be July 19 for a double mastectomy and sentinel lymph nodes without reconstruction. Estimated downtime is 5-6 weeks provided I have no complications. After I heal up and see how I like (or don’t like) living the life of no boobs, I can revisit the plastic surgeon in 6 months and discuss either fixing up any deformity of the flat closure or move forward with major reconstruction. Chemotherapy will be dependent on if I have positive sentinel nodes. If I don’t, I’ll resume scans. If I do, I’ll start the nastiest of chemotherapy cocktails. So if you ask…
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A past due post. A lame post
Repost from Facebook -June 18 The universe decided to hand me a shit sandwich for my upcoming 50th birthday, and with the swirl of emotions that goes with it. Fortunately, the most predominant is “fuck this bullshit and fuck pink ribbons too. I’ve got breast cancer again I’m told only a few people so far, but I’m very sorry to all of my dear close friends that I couldn’t muster the energy to call or text you individually. It’s one thing to tell someone, it’s another to watch them process the news. It’s an awful feeling and very draining. I’ll…
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