Checking in on Amy

After a very long month I can finally announce that the surgery part of my cancer treatment is complete. Pathology results from the second surgery were good. There was no residual cancer in the breast tissue at all. My surgeon removed 31 more lymph nodes (wow!) and there were cancer cells in only 4 of them. These results are what we might have expected after the first surgery. I think I would have been annoyed if they didn't find any other cancer in the lymph nodes; it would have left me wondering whether the more invasive procedure was necessary at all.  My recovery from surgery continues to go well. My surgeon removed the steri-strips yesterday and all of the incisions are healing well. My armpit incision isn't as pretty as it was after the first surgery; since more tissue has been removed the incision looks more prominent than before. All of my incisions are still a little tender and very sensitive. I am finding that by the end of the day even the softest and most comfortabl...

***UPDATE*** Original post below. Due to a covid cancelation my surgery will be tomorrow (Sept 30). *** Yesterday I met with radiation oncologist and had a follow-up appointment with my surgeon. Rick and I had both been feeling nervous about the pathology results. Unfortunately the results were not what we had hoped.  In the tissue removed from my original tumour site there was a small tumour remaining, which was expected. There were also some cancer cells in the surrounding tissue they removed, and in one spot those cells extended all the way to the edge of the tissue. (Imagine a scoop of vanilla ice cream with a tiny bit of chocolate ripple peeking out in one spot. We were hoping to NOT see anything peeking!) Since the cancer cells were present right up to the edge we can't be sure that there isn't still some cancer remaining, so I will have a 'revision' surgery to remove more tissue. Even though I knew this was a possibility, it SUCKS to be told this news. On the bri...

  So, it's official...I've got cancer. I wasn't surprised to hear those words. Sometimes you just have a feeling. We are still waiting for some results from pathology that will provide us with more details about the type of cancer. This information will be important for deciding on the sequence of treatment. The initial report shows that I have cancer in my breast and also in the axillary lymph node they biopsied. Based on our conversation with the doctor today, we are fairly certain that both chemotherapy and surgery will be required. On Monday I have an appointment with a surgeon and hopefully by then we will have most/all of the information we need to figure out what happens next. A good piece of news is that my bone scan was clear! I was very happy to hear this, because when you think you might have cancer you have the tendency to over-analyze little aches and pains. I'm glad my hips only ache because of 'old age.' ;) I am in very good hands. We are so thank...