It’s been awhile, but as they say, no news is good news. We enjoyed a few weeks of our new normal before my double mastectomy and reconstruction on Thursday June 2nd.
Prior to the surgery, we knew chemo had done it’s job by significantly shrinking the tumor…we just didn’t know how much. The double mastectomy and reconstruction surgery took 6 hours on that Thursday. Before surgery, I went to nuclear medicine where they injected a dye that would light up any lymph nodes that potentially could be cancerous. The dye drained to 3 lymph nodes which “lit up” during surgery. These were removed and sent off to pathology for further testing and to determine if there were any signs of cancer cells. They also removed the lymph node that was biopsied back in December-there was a marker placed during biopsy to distinguish that specific node. So in addition to having all my breast tissue removed, 4 lymph nodes removed.
The first 48 hours after surgery focused on managing pain and nausea. The narcotics, aka the ‘good pain meds,’ were making me sick so I stopped taking those. I have had more pain on my left side, mainly due to the the lymph node removal.
My first post op appointment was with my plastic surgeon, Dr. Blanchet, on Monday the 6th. Dr. Blanchet was happy with the drainage slowing down and how everything was healing. We had to call her with the drainage amounts every morning. I went to see her again on Wednesday and she pulled the drains out. Definitely a STRANGE STRANGE feeling having drains pulled out. I will see her again in 2 weeks.
I also saw my breast surgeon, Dr Felsen, who did the mastectomies part of surgery, on Friday the 10th. She was also happy with how my incisions and everything are healing. She also gave us the results of the pathology report for the breast tissue and lymph nodes. Drum roll please….pathology shows there are NO—I repeat NO— signs of tumor or cancer cells in ANY of the breast tissue or lymph nodes 🙌🏼🙌🏼. •PRAISE•THE•LORD•
So so so very thankful for that good news. It makes dealing with the physical pain and inability to lift more than 10lbs for awhile bearable. The hardest part is not being able to lift my children, especially when they are upset or crying. My momma heart is having a harder time dealing with that.
What’s next: We will meet with my plastic surgeon again, my oncologist, Dr. goble, and my radiation oncologist, Dr Randolph jr. to come up with a plan on when to start my targeted therapy infusions and when to start radiation therapy. I m will also be going back to work towards the end of July.
Thank you to everyone who has been following this journey. Even though we have received amazing news, this journey is not yet over. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers, specifically for: pain/discomfort from surgery to ease quickly, smooth transitions back to working full time, remainder of my treatments and infusions continue to target the bad cells/areas and this cancer leaves my body for good
Love,
Alysa
Alysa's Army 