Arrive at Hopkins 1:oo appt. is 2:00pm. Check in, answer a questionnaire, & in 15 minutes they take us back, Its me, Mom, & Stephanie, Joe's going to wait a bit, he's hungry and going to eat something.
They weigh me, take my blood pressure and go to take my temperature,(I have a piece of gum in my mouth & take it out to hand to my mom but Steph says here, lucky mom See's its my gum & says NO Stephanie its her gum.) That would have been really bad for her. Here we are again laughing, Then the nurse says when he's done eating do you want me to bring your dad back too!OMG, no that's my fiancee, I do not look that young & he surely does not look that old. But to us we crack up & now they can't get us in the room fast enough.
Meet The Doctors.
First- Joni she is a resident, she asks all the same questions, did you find the lump, asks about my health, family history, do you mind if I take a look. Nope go right a head, they've all seen them.
Second- Dr.Tsingaris (the surgeon) comes in, he brings, Lilly(she is a 20 year survivor) & works for the breast center also wrote 2 books she gave me to read.) a student volunteer, (young kid felt bad for her I think she saw way more then she wanted. & Joni again.
So there are 8 of us in this tiny room.
Dr.T asks these same questions, but tells me my options. Long story short- He feels i do not need a mastectomy, they will do another MRI on Thursday, this is more of a surgery biopsy to take cells from the 2 lumps behind the big one they can't see them any other way but through MRI. His feeling no mastectomy at this time He thinks I have nice boobs, I say if i want it is it my choice, he say yes at the end of the day it is. But i have time to think on that.
I was inundated with info from him, but the bottom line is I have 1 lump that's definitely cancer but its small & 1 lymp node that is also cancer, the cancer is estrogen receptive which is apparently good they all kind of cheered when they heard that. and stage 2. Once they get the results from the MRI on Thursday and go in to remove more they will know more.
OK breath,
Lilly now gives a presentation on a double mastectomy with Reconstruction, ( we see her boobs) joe has to leave for this. and she explains alot, plus the books and more information to read. She was sooo nice,
Dr. #3- Dr. Adams Resident radiologist, Asks all the same questions, again.
Only funny part was he said alcohol- i said yes. What was that the wrong answer?
The he does an exam as well. Oh i should note the room only has 3 chairs moms, in one Joe's in one & the Dr's all sit in one so Steph gets to stand next to me and she can see my lovely boobs every time they remove the gown. Lucky her:).
Dr.#4- Dr. Zellers Adam's boss, They are radiology oncologist, they explain the options of mastectomy over lumpectomy with radiology etc.... again its a lot to take in. but either way i will have radiology & chemo due to the fact that it is in the nodes. its just the boob removal that's up in the air.
Dr.#5- Dr.Sack Plastic surgeon, & Laura his RN- again the questions, again he gets to cop a feel. But he has a different reason, here's the cool part, I can have new boobs by taking the fat from belly and placing into the breast being re-constructed and if we save the one he can fix it to look symmetrical. so now what to do? Boob job and tummy tuck all in one shot!
The only down fall is the incision for the tummy flap would go over my lizard tattoo and he would have to decapitate the lizards head. oh well, tummy tuck & new boobs wins.
Next step after MRI is gene testing. If i have the cancer gene both boobs need to go, I do not want to chance this ever coming back again.
So MRI, Gene test then answers. They are saying I have had this lump for about 3-5 years its slow mover. So i have a little time to figure things out. They say surgery could be in about 3-4 weeks.
Please post your thoughts i wanted to take a poll but Joe got upset with that idea. So just some input on lumpectomy or mastectomy?
Thanks again for all the prays thoughts & texts.
xoxox
2 comments:
Well girlie, it is much easier said than done, but the idea of new boobs (which I want to get in a few years anyway) AND a tummy tuck? Wow, good stuff. Also, you wouldn't have to wonder if it was ever going to come back. My mother in law says she is always waiting for the "other shoe to drop" and have to deal with it again. Who cares about the lizard....we can fix him later.
At the end of the day, you have to decide which you are more comfortable with. We are all here to support any decision that you make. Our friend Lucille has been all through this, and I know she would be glad to answer any of your questions. She's been through double mastectomy, reconstruction, and treatments.
I'm here for you which ever you decide:-)
xoxoxo
This was a post that a good friend of my Mothers tried to leave so she forwarded it to me & i am leaving it for her.
Please send this to Tonilyn. Anyway, it was like I was right there with you guys. Thank Tonilyn for blogging & I will be checking every day.
Hi Tonilyn, I'm Mommy's friend "Sis". I have known you for many years even if you haven't known me and as strange as this may sound "I love you". Would have wanted to have been there with you both if I could. Thank you for the blog. It makes us feel less helpless and so close to you. "What a Difference a Day Makes".
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