Round Two
Yesterday was my follow up appointment after my lumpectomy and sentinel node op.
Going in we were aware of two lumps, one 5mm and one 4mm both invasive mucinous carcinoma grade 1 &2.
I was feeling pretty good after my operation with Panadol managing the discomfort easily. The 3 sentinel nodes were all clear and I was expecting the follow up to be straight forward.
Unfortunately this was not the case! Firstly as well as the two known lumps there were 4 others that didn’t show up on any of the scans. That was a pretty big shock. The main lump was also dramatically larger than what was expected measuring 25mm at its widest point (it was easter egg shaped) with the others in a ‘nest’ around it.
Clear margins were dramatic on 3 sides but not the 4th with just 0.1mm clearance which is not enough. My surgeon likes to feel around the cavity after doing a lumpectomy and felt something that didn’t seem right so she took a sample outside the area they test for margins. The result for this sample is DCIS which has been explained to me as pre-cancer tissue. I am so SO grateful to have such an awesome surgeon who thought to do this extra little test. It does mean I am booked in for another surgery this Thursday but more than happy to have this bad stuff removed! At this stage I still have plenty of boob to work with and a mastectomy is not on the cards yet but if the margins are not met again it may well be.
That is another thing I am feeling grateful for – reading other ladies experiences here I knew that a second or third surgery is quite common so it wasn’t too much of a shock even though I wasn’t expecting it.
Getting better at not letting myself get overwhelmed with info which can be hard but making sure I do some mindless fun things to break the day up. I am a total rock geek and have crystals and random gemstones so have dragged them out for viewing pleasure :)
Now have surgery booked, the follow up appointment, an oncologist appointment, a fertility specialist appointment and a wound check appointment all booked in. Busy busy!