Gardening For The Soul

So, I finally have a date – July 10th. This is the day I least wanted that week as Victoria is off to some awful all day outdoor concert (the one I attended last year with her and my sub-standard ear plugs that didn’t work nearly as well as I would’ve liked) but luckily another parent is chaperoning this year. My preference would’ve been to be in the loving bosom (yes, pun intended) of my whole family but as I’ll be in surgery 6-8 hours then her being distracted is probably as good a move as any. Steve said to me the other day “you don’t expect me to stay there the whole time do you” and although I certainly would not want to myself, I secretly envisioned him pacing the halls, waiting for the latest word on my progress, thus showing his complete devotion!! Post-op, I will be in hospital at least one night.

Spoiler alert – here follows a rather detailed description of what will happen, so those of you I work with who would rather not know such intimate details, please feel free to move onto the latest e-mail from The Communicator at this point.

Both sides will take the last train for the coast. The one without the BC will get immediate reconstruction with a silicone implant and as the plastic surgeon stated, will be the same size but situated further north on my chest than the current version! The one with the BC will either get the same treatment or if they find it has spread in to my lymph nodes, they install a placeholder until post radiation when the silicone makes its way to its permanent residence. I was just SO excited to learn that I would leave with something as I was dreading having to find a ‘boob in a box’ from Lady Grace.

I will know immediately post surgery if it’s in my sentinel nodes (those connected to the breast), but if those show signs of cancer, then they take more nodes and send off for biopsy, which is a week wait for the results – that won’t be too stressful! Again, as I think I mentioned before, I have a 10-15% chance that it has spread, so the odds are in my favor ( although there was also only a 10% chance that my original biopsy would come back as cancer, so a tad suspicious of low odds) but would rather take those anytime over the alternative. The plastic surgeon was really cute and very positive, talking about riding the wave to a perky future and very bizarrely, I left feeling mildly excited. Perhaps too many happy pills today?!?!

So that’s the latest skinny. Work continues to go well – great distraction and amazing, wonderful support. Victoria has her 10th Grade semi tonight. This is her first dance going with a boyfriend. She’s wearing a peach/orange dress and he’s wearing a matching tie – how cute. And just as happy to report that in working from home today, my bird friend with his Mrs came to visit me. The hummingbirds should be along soon – they represent Joy and Strength in Native American culture, so I’ll have some of them, too please.

Love to all,
Amanda