Oct. 23, 2009

I went to my new surgeon today to schedule my surgery. He is a very nice doctor and speaks softly. With me is my Mother - Reba, her sister, Sally Kate, and my best friend - Lisa Gail. We find the place to go and park my car. We go into the building and find an elevator and go to the third floor. We find the right suite and register with the receptionist. Then I go back to talk about surgery. I tell Dr. Brown that I want to do the lumpectomy. He says that is the best way to go but he can't influence me. During the surgery my doctor explains to me that they will take out the affected area and all normal tissue around it. They will also take out the surrounding lymph nodes. The pathologist will study the lymph nodes and if cancer is found there they will take out the rest of my lymph nodes. My surgery is scheduled for Wednesday Oct. 28th around 2:00 pm. The day before, Tuesday, I am to go in for pre-testing, blood tests and the like. On Wednesday I am to go to the breast center at 9:15 am, and get a wire put into my breast so the surgeon will know where to take out my parts. Then I will go over to the hospital and get nuclear dye put into my breast to see where cancer would likely travel. Then they will put anesthetic into my breast after that. Then if I have time my family can come and see me before my scheduled 2:00pm surgery. The surgery will take 1 1/2 hours. Recovery will take 1 1/2 hours. They will watch me for about an hour and if I'm feeling fine they will let me go home. Sounds good to me. I just want it over as soon as possible. Recovery time 7 - 10 days Then after that I have six weeks of radiation everyday M-F.