We were all counting on good pathology because I had a mammogram, 2 magnified mammograms, an ultrasound, a clip placement, a "scout" to travel to the clip and a soft mammogram to determine the area to be excised. And in the end, the margins were not clean. The lymph nodes (4) were all good and that is the very best news.
So back to decisions and odds. Another lumpectomy would be 90% certain, a mastectomy would be 100% effective (though they will tell you breast cells can remain much like ovary and prostate cancer cells). I did not want to roll the dice and set myself up for a possible third surgery or the mental weight of "did they really get it all?" so I chose the mastectomy. Surgery will be 2/8.
In the meantime Kara has been running the ship here at home. We have been eating well and not doing much of anything but run to doctors. I visited the dermatologist because two different nurses saw something on my back and said it should be looked at. Dr. K said I have lots of "stuff" but none of it is in need of coming off except for appearance. Good! Then we saw the cardiologist for an EKG, prescription of Lovinox to allow me to forego my Eliquis before surgery and discuss the medicines I will receive during my treatment and their potential to cause heart issues. She agrees the benefits of Herceptin far outweigh the risks so that is good to know.
We also went to Pappasitos as a guest of my niece who called the restaurant and told them she wanted to host our dinner and gave them her credit card number. What a tremendous, uplifting thing. Right now a good margarita helped!
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