Can we get rid of the asterisks, please?!?!
I am done with asterisks. You know, those asterisks that are next to good news, that really denote the bad news lying under the surface. I'm just really done with those pesky little stars next to the good news.
It was my intent to post a recap of everything that has happened in the last 10 days, but day 11 has thrown me for a loop. A "seriously, could my mom catch a break" loop that has me pretty damn angry and upset.
To summarize: my mom had a double mastectomy on May 1 to remove a breast cancer in each breast and a pre-cancerous area in each breast. In addition to the breast tissue, the doctors took what are called sentinel nodes from under each arm. These nodes are detected by using a Geiger counter to detect the highest presence of radioactive dye injected prior to surgery that has moved from near the location of the tumors to the lymph nodes via the lymphatic system. These nodes are most likely the ones that drain fluid, blood, etc. from the area around the tumor, and thus, are more likely to have cancer cells in them if the cancer has decided to move.
On my mom's right side they removed 7 nodes; on her left side they removed 5 nodes. While they are in surgery, a pathologist looks at these nodes for any presence of cancer. If cancer is found, they then remove additional nodes for review. Removal of your lymph nodes can lead to what is called lymphademia in your arms (because fluid doesn't drain as well from those areas if the nodes are gone). After a careful look a week ago, Friday, they did see any cancer, so no more nodes were removed. That felt like the biggest sigh of relief because that meant the cancer almost certainly hadn't moved from her breast to other parts of her body. It was this declaration by her fantastic surgeon that made me cry tears of joy after her 4 hour surgery.
Well, today we went to see her surgeon for my mom's first post-op follow-up. It turns out upon more detailed inspection of the seven lymph nodes on her right side, one had a small metastatic cancer in it. So now my mom has to decide whether or not she wants the surgeon to go back in and take additional lymph nodes for analysis and to make sure none of them have cancer in them. This also means there's a high probability that my mom will need to undergo chemotherapy. The doctor didn't have a recommendation one way or the other (she even brought it up in her meeting with the cancer team and they couldn't come up with an argument one way or the other that she should or shouldn't have additional nodes taken out). Her chances of having a recurrence of cancer go up only a few percentage points of she doesn't have the nodes taken out.
My mom said she feels a bit like she keeps getting hit upside the head every time she goes in for an appointment and I can't say that I blame her. The surgery she had was pretty traumatic and well, the recovery process is going to be long between her reconstruction, the emotional healing, etc. So now to hear that chemo and yet another surgery could be in her future, well, I can understand her feeling beat up.
I'm mad. I'm sad. I just want the news to be good for my mom with NO asterisks. Know what I mean?
It was my intent to post a recap of everything that has happened in the last 10 days, but day 11 has thrown me for a loop. A "seriously, could my mom catch a break" loop that has me pretty damn angry and upset.
To summarize: my mom had a double mastectomy on May 1 to remove a breast cancer in each breast and a pre-cancerous area in each breast. In addition to the breast tissue, the doctors took what are called sentinel nodes from under each arm. These nodes are detected by using a Geiger counter to detect the highest presence of radioactive dye injected prior to surgery that has moved from near the location of the tumors to the lymph nodes via the lymphatic system. These nodes are most likely the ones that drain fluid, blood, etc. from the area around the tumor, and thus, are more likely to have cancer cells in them if the cancer has decided to move.
On my mom's right side they removed 7 nodes; on her left side they removed 5 nodes. While they are in surgery, a pathologist looks at these nodes for any presence of cancer. If cancer is found, they then remove additional nodes for review. Removal of your lymph nodes can lead to what is called lymphademia in your arms (because fluid doesn't drain as well from those areas if the nodes are gone). After a careful look a week ago, Friday, they did see any cancer, so no more nodes were removed. That felt like the biggest sigh of relief because that meant the cancer almost certainly hadn't moved from her breast to other parts of her body. It was this declaration by her fantastic surgeon that made me cry tears of joy after her 4 hour surgery.
Well, today we went to see her surgeon for my mom's first post-op follow-up. It turns out upon more detailed inspection of the seven lymph nodes on her right side, one had a small metastatic cancer in it. So now my mom has to decide whether or not she wants the surgeon to go back in and take additional lymph nodes for analysis and to make sure none of them have cancer in them. This also means there's a high probability that my mom will need to undergo chemotherapy. The doctor didn't have a recommendation one way or the other (she even brought it up in her meeting with the cancer team and they couldn't come up with an argument one way or the other that she should or shouldn't have additional nodes taken out). Her chances of having a recurrence of cancer go up only a few percentage points of she doesn't have the nodes taken out.
My mom said she feels a bit like she keeps getting hit upside the head every time she goes in for an appointment and I can't say that I blame her. The surgery she had was pretty traumatic and well, the recovery process is going to be long between her reconstruction, the emotional healing, etc. So now to hear that chemo and yet another surgery could be in her future, well, I can understand her feeling beat up.
I'm mad. I'm sad. I just want the news to be good for my mom with NO asterisks. Know what I mean?
I'm sorry it's been so stressful. :( We are continuing to send good thoughts your way.
ReplyDeleteUgh. Thanks for letting us know, and please continue the updates. We are praying for you and your mom, and we'll add "wisdom for what to do" to that list!
ReplyDeleteHow dissapointing. What an emotional and exhausting journey for you both. I hope that you get some good new soon!
ReplyDeleteWait!
ReplyDeleteyour mom has cancer?!??!?