Everythings a go for surgery

Updates from this week's round of doctors: Jackie Rayburn- just stop reading now! (note to others: my sister is VERY freaked out by my surgery - she is a bit of a hypochondriac)

It's been a busy doctor visit week - I have so many doctors! And still one more to see - my plastic surgeon on Tuesday.

Everything is a go for surgery.
My white cell counts are high enough to have surgery. This was tested at Pluta. Dr. Yurinec said they are low for a normal person not having received chemo - but high enough to have been treated with chemo and high enough for surgery. And that was the count 1 week before surgery. The reason the surgeon waits 4-6 weeks after the last chemo treatment to do surgery is to ensure the white cell counts are high enough to fight off infection if I get one.

The nurse practitioner at Pluta cannot even tell the difference from one breast to the next as far as my lump goes. No kidding - I don't know if anything is even there anymore. She even asked me if I could feel it? I said no.

I have my next appointment with Dr. Yurinec on Dec 21 once the pathology reports come back from surgery. The pathology reports will help determine if I need to have radiation after surgery. This would happened if they find cancer cells that are too close to the chest wall (where it become difficult to guarantee that they got all cancer cells removed during surgery). So, radiation will kill the rest of those cells if there are any. I am hoping for no radiation, but if they recommend it, I will do it! We will also discuss when I go on Tamoxofin (the chemo pill that estrogen positive breast cancer patients take for 5 years).

I also saw the nurse practitioner, Vicki Nugent, at my surgeons office this week. She, too, was so impressed with how well the chemo worked for me! She could not feel any lump or any difference in either breast. She said - that is a real testament that the chemo killed my cancer. She also said that not everyone gets that kind of response from the chemo. And that the reason that there is not 100% cure of breast Cancer with chemo is that chemo does not work for everyone. It obviously worked for me! I am so glad - and it does work for 90% of the people with breast cancer (thank God!).

I have a follow-up with them on January 5.

I will call Highland on Tuesday to find out my surgery time on Wednesday. The surgery will take about 4 hours. I will be in the hospital for approx 2-3 days depending on how I am feeling. I don't know the total recovery time (time out of work). The plastic surgeon will be the one caring for me post-surgery so she will give my my post-surgery instructions.

That's all the surgery update that I have.