A Sense of Peace........

11/28/12--Wednesday--Day 46--T-Minus 2 Days--Calm, Collected, and Confident

So here we are, 36 hours before surgery and I couldn't feel more calm.  Funny, I thought I would be completely anxious, nervous, and pacing the floor, but I'm not.  I'm ready.  I'm at peace and ready for whatever the result may be.  Of course I am hoping this is a small hill I'm about to climb rather than a large mountain, but I've climbed both before, and I know I can climb either again.

We went to the pre-op appointment on Monday morning.  I love my doctor!  She's totally calm.  She came into the room, sat down in the chair by me--actually slouched down like we all sometimes do on Monday mornings that come way too early--and told me she felt really good about the surgery and my case.  "I haven't worried even a little bit about you since I first saw you," she said.  "You have the right attitude.  You're going to be fine and I'm confident this is going to be a simple procedure."  That was a great way to start my week and prepare me for surgery!

Like always, we asked all kinds of questions.  I did find out they don't usually take a lymphoid with DCIS, but she wants to because my biopsy pathology report is "suspicious for micro invasion".  That's what we are hoping is NOT the case, but if it is, she would have to go back in to take a lymphoid for testing so she would rather do it when we do the surgery.  I also found out about the seed localization procedure she will be using.  MD Anderson Cancer Center is one of only about three places in the country that use this procedure.  The "normal" procedure before surgery has the radiologist use ultrasound to place a wire as close to the cancer spot as possible.  The wire would stick out of the breast until the surgery, which means it could be bumped or moved.  The surgeon would make the incision and follow the wire to the end to find the tumor.  In this new nuclear seed localization approach, the radiologist uses a needle similar to the biopsy needle, to place a radioactive seed about the size of a grain of rice exactly where the cancer shows on the ultrasound.  The surgeon then uses a gamma probe to locate exactly where to cut.  There are several YouTube videos that explain the procedure.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZXUttnSR04.  It is supposed to result in a much smaller incision and a much better result of getting the entire tumor.  It's a little scary that a nuclear waste team comes to the OR to remove the seed once it's cut out, but what the heck.  I'm about to fill my body with radiation anyways :)  No, really, there is not supposed to be any health risk to using the seed.

I did get a blood test last week to test if I was protein S deficient.  Blood clots run in both sides of my family and some have tested protein S deficient.  My test came back with a lower than normal count, so the doctor decided to give me Lovenox before surgery just to be cautious and because we have such a long drive home.  She also wants me to get out and walk every 50 minutes on the drive home.

The doctor also said recovery should be pretty easy.  There will really be just some tape over the incision and I can shower the next day--no hot tub for two weeks though.  I can go back to work whenever I feel like it.  She said to take it a day at a time, but since the pathology report will take three to five days to get back, I might go back to work just to keep my mind off the wait.  So that's it.  We walked out feeling pretty good about the whole thing.

My 99 year old grandma finished her last radiation treatment last week.  I told her she set the bar high.  She hardly missed a beat during her treatments.  Said she was a little tired, but never really had many of the side effects.  That's a great sign for me!  Sierra, my dog, had surgery today to remove some skin warts around her ears and get her teeth cleaned.  She sailed through it like a pro and was walking around like nothing happened by tonight.  So Friday it's my turn.  I plan to sail through it like a pro, be walking around like nothing happened by evening, and have no side effects.  I'm definitely calm, collected, and confident!