Surgery, Thanksgiving and Pathology Results

Tuesday 11.26.13 - Surgery Day - I had to be at the hospital at 10:30 for my 1:30 surgery. I arrived at 10:30 filled out all the paperwork and then was taken to the outpatient surgery area. I spent the next few hours answering texts and talking and laughing with my sweet friend, Jana. My family and I have been so blessed by Jana and her family and I am so grateful to call her my friend. Thank you Jana, for taking time out of your busy day to come and spend it with me at the hospital. Then my pastor, Holly came and we had a special time of prayer before they took me away for my radioactive shot. Thank you Holly for your prayers! My surgery was scheduled for 1:30 but they didn't even get me back to radiology until 1:20 for my 4 radioactive shots. They had me lay on one of those very teeny tiny CAT scan tables and they gave me 4 radioactive shots in my right breast. I really did not think that the lidocaine cream that they had given to me had worked, until they gave me the shots. The tech asked me why I didn't put a ton on and I said I thought I had put a ton on and she said usually women come in with it on like "icing on a cake". Of course she tells me that before they gave me the shots, so I immediately go into anxiety freak out mode. But it wasn't so bad. Radiology took me back to my room in the outpatient surgery area and then they came and got me for surgery. They gave me some Versed and that is all I remember until I woke up and it was 6:00. The surgery was supposed to only last 1 1/2 hours and it lasted about 3 hours. Apparently the lymph node was large and hard to get out. The radioactive shots were given to me to locate the sentinel node which is the lymph node that the cancer would travel to first. Initial reports show that the cancer had not spread to the lymph nodes. The final pathology will be back next week. I don't remember much for the rest of the day other than there were some hot Chicken-N-Dumplings waiting for me at home, compliments of my sweet friend, Tracy. Thank you Tracy – you are a blessing! Oh and I wanted a glass of sweet tea that I proceeded to just drop because I was still drugged!

Wednesday, 11.27.13 -Stayed in bed all day and rested! Had a horrible headache all day. The kind that you feel like someone is banging a hammer in your head or that it even hurts to walk. Very sore! My mom came down and took the kids to Chick-Fil-A and brought me some nuggets and Dr. Pepper home. Had enchiladas for dinner, compliments of my sister-in-law, Tracy. Thank you Tracy!

Thursday, 11.28.13 -Still very sore - especially under my arm and still have a horrible headache. This was a hard day for me....last Thanksgiving was the last holiday we got to spend as a family with my dad before he passed away. We had lunch at Chuck's moms then picked up my mom and went my sister's house. I love all of my family, but my 2 nephews bring so much joy to our lives and I love them so much! Doesn't matter what is going on they will bring a smile to my face. My sister surprised me with a butterfly arrangement that I had seen while we were in Branson last weekend. I love them, thank you Pam! Now my dilemma of finding a spot to hang them - always a difficult task for me. I have loved butterflies since me and my sister caught them for the Benji movie that was filmed in McKinney back in 1976 and was paid .25 cents for each one of them. Every time I go to the cemetery to visit dad, there is a butterfly that flies up and lands on his tombstone and then follows me to the car and lands on the car and rides on the car until I leave the cemetery, so I always say that is dad!

Friday, 11.29.13 -Still sore and still have a horrible headache. Have tried everything to get rid of it with no luck. Got out for a couple of hours and went to Target and just walked around for a bit. Was good to get out!

Saturday, 11.30.13 -Still sore and still have a horrible headache. Went to McKinney and walked around the square for a little bit.

Sunday, 12.1.13 -Still sore and still have a horrible headache. Went to Chuck's dads and his wife's for Thanksgiving. He cooked the turkey on the grill and it was delicious.

Monday, 12.2.13 -Woke up not feeling well at all, so stayed home from work. I am sorer than I was yesterday and my headache is much worse than yesterday. I tried to get into my physical therapist but she was out today, so I went into the chiropractor and he worked on me for a while. He thinks that the way that I was positioned in surgery caused my neck muscles to start spasming again and has caused the headache. I got some relief for about an hour and then my head starting hurting again. Luke had his first basketball game tonight and he didn't want us to come because he said we would make him nervous. I promised him I wouldn't say his name once! Unfortunately he lost 50 to 12.

I got a call from my surgeon during Luke's basketball game and stepped outside to take the call. What I heard on the other end was not what I was expecting. I already had the rest of my treatment planned out. I thought I would start radiation right before Christmas and finish sometime in March and then I would be done. However, God has other plans for me. The surgeon told me that she did get all of the tumor, but there was another tumor connected to the original tumor, making the size 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch instead of 7mm. The margins were clear which is great news. The hospital just got in a new piece of equipment which helps the surgeon make sure they get all the cancer and that the margins are clear to reduce additional surgeries. I was only the 2nd person that the machine had ever been used on. The bad news is that the cancer had spread to the lymph node. So, that alone makes me a candidate for chemo. Next up is that the surgeon is going to order some additional tests on the tumor called Oncotypeand MammaPrint. These tests determine the chances of the cancer reoccurring and the type of drugs that would be most beneficial to treat the cancer. I also will meet with the medical oncologist to get the plan put together for my chemo and radiation. I meet with the surgeon on Thursday and she will let me know then if she is going to go back in and take more lymph nodes. If she does she will put the port for my chemo in at the same time. If she doesn't need to take more lymph nodes, then she will put the port in at some point before I start chemo, which is about 3 weeks after surgery (either my initial surgery or if I have to have more lymph nodes removed).

That is about all I know for now. Please continue to pray for me and my family. No matter what my story holds, I trust the Author who is writing it, like never before. I have learned that His plan is much better than my plan. While I know I have a long road ahead of me, I am ready to see what God has in store for me and this chapter of my life. As Beth Moore said during a lesson I was listening to the other day, "there is nothing that I can’t come back from and that is the power of the cross!"  

I wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. Psalm 62:5

Gloria