Th month has flown past and so much has happened. I have been bound up for most of the month now. It has been a bit irritating but really not bad. However, despite all my best efforts I have had a continual slow fluid build up that has settled in at about 24-30 cc day. That doesn't sound like alot but it is more than I should have. Actually it should have stopped a couple of weks ago. So, last monday the 17th i had another drain put in. It worked wonders!!! It was in a little different spot thatn the first and really did a great job and pretty much did the job. We were told that there will most likely be a bit more fluid just because sometimes it never completely stops. So on friday they took the drain out and I was thrilled to be wrap and drain free. However, this morning, (Sunday) I am sloshing around again AGHGHGHG.....I'll be wrapping myself again today because it takes the pressure off the area. I really am healing well though. The incision is healed and the top part off my chest wall is flat and tight like it should be. Because they did a skin sparing mastectomy and there is a roll of skin at the bottom of where the breast was, that is where the fluid builds up. It feels heavy and starts hurting after a while. That is why the wraps help because it pushes the extra skin up close to the chest wall and I don't feel the weight of the fluid pulling down on the excess skin. Does that make sense? Oh well, we'll see how it goes the next day or so. i may have to go back and have them drin me with a needle again. That's really not as bad as it sounds either because the skin around the incision is still numb so I don't feel the needle.
Enough of that. On Tuesday the 11th we met with the oncologist to see what the plan of attack would be after I got clearance form the Surgeon. He explained again all of the pathology results which have all been very good. He then said he was going to order one more test called the Oncotype DX. This test is done at a lab in California and is the only lab in the world that does it. The test basically goes into your cancer cells and figures out how they work. They can tell how aggressive or not the cancer is etc. This test will tell them your probability of reoccurance. From these results they place you on a scale from 1-100. If you are on the high end then chemo and radiation etc is definately part of your plan. If you are on the low end then probably not. So, his belief is that I will be on the low end based on all of my other pathology results. If that is the case I will not have to have chemo. They have found the test to be very good so if a person has a very low risk of reoccurance then there is no need to put them through chemo. Instead they will put you on a pill form of an anti estrigen drug to take once a day for 5 years and call it good. If you land in the middle of the chart then they will tailor your treatment to you. We are scheduled to meet again on Feb. 3rd unless the results come in before that. It takes 2-3 weeks for the results to come back. We are all praying for a LOW number.
I can deal with an annoying fluid thing which will eventually stop. I can deal with the mastectomy. I have learned that I can deal with so many things because through this adventure so far, I have met and heard of so many others who have and are going through this adventure too and I consider myself extremely blessed. The small things I am dealing with are very small in comparrison to what others are facing and dealing with. I really have nothing to complain about!!!!!! So I can get frustrated with a roll of sloshy skin, but I'm grateful to have it because it will make reconstruction so much better when that time comes. I'm grateful to have had my eyes opened to this whole new world that is around us all but unless we are forced into it we can empathise with others but really don't have a clue about it. I can't thank our Heavenly Father enough for the blessings that he has poured out on us directly but most through others. I can't and won't begin to list them because there are too many. The best thing I can do is to keep being grateful and doing my best to live worthy of the things I have been blessed with. We continue to feel the peace and comfort that we prayed so hard for the first day. He continues to guide us in the decisions that need to be made. I feel that it is my duty now to do whatever I can to stay focused on my recovery, to learn as much as I can and to share that knowledge with others. I feel that there is something out there that I'm supposed to be doing and I need to be quiet and listen to the direction that is given me. I have been taught some very personal lessons through this and one of those is to act. Act upon the promptings, feelings & randoms thoughts that pop in your head. Don't ignore them, they are there for a reason.
Enough for today. I pray for a LOW number. Every day is a good day.
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