Things are continuing to improve. Frank has been helping drain my vessels. My body is continuously producing liquid inside from the surgery. I am swollen and tender from up near the top of my left breast near my collar bone and all the way to the center of my chest- on both sides. Left side they removed a couple centinnel lymph nodes to check for cancer- they were negative.
Frank has been vigilant writing down the times I have take the pain killers, antibiotics, and drainage fluid levels. This is very important to do. It allows me a written record to reference since i am not all with it because of the pain killers. We stripped both tubes of the drains by slightly compressing the tubes clearing build up blockage. What a relief! I could feel the fluid building up in my chest to drain and by doing this it allowed the flow to move clearly, much relief! I am very sore in my groin area for some reason and hoping for somerelief. Doing my deep breathing exercises to keep my lungs clear. I was able to do a sponge bath on my lower body but really need to wash my hair-yuck!Once I wash my hair I know everything will be much better.
So looking down on myself there is swelling but my chest is flat-weird. The dr. warned me, don't be upset by what you see. There are still a number of appts ahead of me. He seems very pleased with his work-almost amusing listening to him complimenting himself on what great boobs he is creating! I would rather have a guy who boosts about how great his work is then some guy who is indifferent.
So still thinking positive as the body heals. Truly incredible
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Keep me company as I travel thru my journey facing breast cancer again.
Why would anyone want to read about someone else's problem when you have plenty of your own? Maybe one day a loved one, a friend, or you will be diagnosed with breast cancer. My blog might offer insite into cancer resources, thoughts, questions to ask, or guidance in helping you deal with this disease. These are my experiences and suggestions. Every breast cancer is different. If you are touched by breast cancer, be sure to consult your Dr. for direction in treatment.
I equate my blog to the emergency evacuation instruction the flight attendants do before you take off on an airplane. Nobody pays attention to them but when your plane is about to crash you think, "sh*t, why didn't I pay more attention to them? Which color cord do I pull first again?" We have so many things going on in our lives that one more thing to dwell on that doesn't apply to us right now may not be important but when it does, we wish we would have paid attention.
My blog is something you might read a couple times or maybe follow. Hopefully you gain some knowledge about breast cancer, in particular, Invasive Lobular Carcinoma (ILC). It is the 2nd most common type of invasive breast cancer however it only accounts for approx. 10% of all invasive breast cancers. It is the silent breast cancer. It is generally not detected with a mammo but rather an ultrasound. Invasive Lobular Carcinoma (ILC) is what I have been diagnosed with. My suggestion to every woman who is of mammo age insist on an ultrasound with your mammos.
UPDATE 3/2011
I have had my bilaterial mastectomy and I am recovering. ILC is a sneaky cancer as I said above. My various Dr.'s here and at UCSF confirmed the size of my tumor should be between 2.5cm-3.5cm with possibilty but not most likely, 7cm. After my surgery, my tumor was confirmed to be 11cm. My Dr.'s are very knowledgeable and are on top of things. This is simply the truth about ILC. I had mammos every 6 months, ultra sounds, and MRI's. With all of these, it was not picked up until 1/2011. The good news, if you can call it that, only 1 sentinel node out of 2 has micromastic findings and 5 aux. nodes were negative.
Be sure to start my adventure from the blog history on the right. I have tried to bold points to make it easier to extract the important information. If there is anything you get out of this blog, refer to my Dr.'s listed below if you know someone who has been diagnosed with breast cancer in the East Bay. These Dr.'s; Dr. Gottlieb, Dr. Wotowic, and Dr. Sherman are my 3 musketeers....all for 1 and 1 for all!
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