bowties
It ended up working really well to keep my mom and dad so busy before the surgeons appt. and me too probably.
we met maggie there as she was the nursing team representative that day. The breast health centre across from st.b is super fancy, super organized and full of spectacularly pleasant health care professionals. In fact probably the reason that they are so crabby, and unhelpful (sorry hcp friends i don't mean you of course!)everywhere else is that they have more than their fair share of good ones at the bhc.
anyway. after the surgeon poked at me a bit we had a meeting where he explained what my cancer is and what the surgical options are. He got on my good side right away by looking at me and introducing himself before he looked at my chart- with eye contact and everything. and never once did he have to google anything! it also helped that he was attractive and wearing a bow tie. i have since decided that it would be nearly impossible to hate someone who is wearing a bowtie. i've asked jane to research if they teach surgeons to wear bowties and if not they should.
so he explained that i'll be having a lumpectomy which means they will be removing the lump and the area around the lump. this is where it is helpfull that i have big knockers cuz i can lose a healthy portion without it being that big of a deal. also the location (right side right where the breast meets the armpit) is also helpful. I'll also be having a sentinel node biopsy before they start the surgery to determine how much the cancer had invaded my lymph nodes. if there is little sign of cancer in the lymph nodes then he will just remove a few nodes. if there are more signs then he will do a complete axillary dissection where he "scoops" out a big chunk of lymph nodes. this is undesirable because it leads to lymphodema (swelling of the arm). For more details google it- no really. The surgery will only take about an hour or two, and i will leave the hospital the same day. which is good cuz i hear they are filthy, germy, horrible places. then i will be off work from 2-4 weeks. chemo comes about 2 months after that, then radiation, then hormone therapy. sounds bad but after all that i will most likely not have cancer any more. more details later right now i'm sleepy.
we met maggie there as she was the nursing team representative that day. The breast health centre across from st.b is super fancy, super organized and full of spectacularly pleasant health care professionals. In fact probably the reason that they are so crabby, and unhelpful (sorry hcp friends i don't mean you of course!)everywhere else is that they have more than their fair share of good ones at the bhc.
anyway. after the surgeon poked at me a bit we had a meeting where he explained what my cancer is and what the surgical options are. He got on my good side right away by looking at me and introducing himself before he looked at my chart- with eye contact and everything. and never once did he have to google anything! it also helped that he was attractive and wearing a bow tie. i have since decided that it would be nearly impossible to hate someone who is wearing a bowtie. i've asked jane to research if they teach surgeons to wear bowties and if not they should.
so he explained that i'll be having a lumpectomy which means they will be removing the lump and the area around the lump. this is where it is helpfull that i have big knockers cuz i can lose a healthy portion without it being that big of a deal. also the location (right side right where the breast meets the armpit) is also helpful. I'll also be having a sentinel node biopsy before they start the surgery to determine how much the cancer had invaded my lymph nodes. if there is little sign of cancer in the lymph nodes then he will just remove a few nodes. if there are more signs then he will do a complete axillary dissection where he "scoops" out a big chunk of lymph nodes. this is undesirable because it leads to lymphodema (swelling of the arm). For more details google it- no really. The surgery will only take about an hour or two, and i will leave the hospital the same day. which is good cuz i hear they are filthy, germy, horrible places. then i will be off work from 2-4 weeks. chemo comes about 2 months after that, then radiation, then hormone therapy. sounds bad but after all that i will most likely not have cancer any more. more details later right now i'm sleepy.