Things Known and Unknown

Each day I am getting a little stronger. I'm off the pain meds and just using tylonal p.m. It's still a little swollen and painful where they took the lymph nodes, but hopefully that will get better soon. I still get a little tired, but am finding it hard to try to pamper myself. I feel like I should be getting back to business as usual. :) David says I have been acting like I just had a tooth pulled. It will be nice to go out Monday, even if it is just to have the stitches removed!

We know a lot more now that the surgery is over and the pathology report is back. There are, however, still a few unknowns for us.

1. The genetic testing - The surgeon is pretty sure that she is going to have me do the test to see if I am a carrier of the genetically mutated cancer gene. There is only a 7% likelyhood that I would be positive, but if so, that would change a lot of things. If positive, I would have an 85% chance of having cancer again, and my kids would have a 50% chance of being carriers as well. This would also mean more preventive type surgeries for me. So, our prayer is that my test will be negative!

2. Treatment - I visit with my oncologist for the first time on February 2nd. That meeting should determine exactly which medications I will be taking and for how long. I do know that I will have to take Herceptin which will be an infusion every 3 weeks for 1 year. Since my veins would not hold up to an I.V. every 3 weeks, I will have to have another day surgery when my treatments begin. This will allow them to insert a porta cath into my chest and all the infusions will be done that way. Although it means another surgery, my friend who has gone through breast cancer before me says that treatment is much less painful when done that way! I am all for whatever is less painful! Our prayer here is that I don't get sick on the chemo. The doc says it could go either way. :)

3. Reconstructive surgery - People keep asking me about the reconstructive surgery part. That will all come later and I guess will be totally up to me. I'm sure I will have it done, but will have to decide if I will have the other side removed and do reconstruction there at the same time. My initial thinking is "yes." I think it would be better to just not have to worry about the cancer ever coming back. I may change my mind, we'll see. I won't have to make that decision till my chemo is over and right now I don't know when that will be. The positive is that the reconstruction is an option!

So, we wait till the unknowns are revealed, one day at a time!