Lumpectomy Complete!

My day started at 5:30 a.m. on June 5^th checking into the hospital for my lumpectomy and lymph node biopsy at MD Anderson. My mom, dad, and Brian were with me. The doctors had informed me the day before that the surgery would take approximately four hours. It actually took the surgeons and their teams six hours to complete everything.

On the 4^th two radioactive seeds were implanted into my breast. One was placed in the middle of my tumor, and the other was placed on clip that marked where the initial biopsies had been taken back in November. The clip was now distant from the actual tumor. When the surgeon went in to remove the tumor, the radioactive seed gave off a vibe to the doctor informing them when they were close to the tumor in order to prevent them from cutting into it and risking spreading the cancer throughout my body. What an awesome, advanced technology, which very few hospitals are using! The surgeon was very optimistic that the entire tumor had been successfully removed.

The surgery ended up taking two additional hours as they could not seem to locate the biopsy clip. When the radioactive seed had been placed in my breast the prior day on it, I knew it was 0.5 cm from my skin. The surgeon informed us that they searched and searched for it, and finally had to call in an x-ray team to try and locate it. They were still unable to find it, so they believe it feel out when the initial incision was made.

Also during the procedure, a blue dye was inserted into my body to help the surgeon determine if my lymph nodes were positive and needed to be removed. The surgeon confirmed that the first two lymph nodes absorbed the blue dye and showed some sign of destruction, so with that they opted to remove the first three nodes to hopefully be on the safe side.

Once these procedures were complete, a reconstructive surgeon immediately began their working. I went from a DD to a D cup size, and got one heck of a lift job on that breast. I will be undergoing another reconstructive procedure in 9 – 12 months in order to get the other breast the same lift and reduction as the new one. The surgeons advised me to wait several months as the radiation can cause the breast to shrink some, and stress that it is best to do surgery on the other one once everything is settled.   

After undergoing 6 hours of surgery that day, I spent roughly 1.5 hours in recovery, then they loaded me up in a wheelchair, and Brian wheeled me across the sky bridge to our hotel room. I slept fairly comfortable, and really haven’t been in too much pain since. The most painful part is the incision where they removed my lymph nodes. My breast incision is definitely not little though, as they cut an entire circle around the nipple, cut directly straight down through the whole bottom portion of the breast, and then made a curvature “J”. There are no sutures, no drains. I am highly impressed with the level of skill that the surgeons possess at MD Anderson! There really is no place like getting treated at MD Anderson.

Brian and I flew back to Lubbock on Saturday, and I went back to work on Tuesday. I have appointments next week at MD Anderson. My tumor and lymph nodes have been sent to pathology and we will learn the results of these tests then. We are also scheduled to meet with the radiation doctor and breast oncologists. I am anticipating starting radiation within 3 – 6 weeks following my surgery. We will no more after the appointments next week. I have reserved a RV spot at a really nice RV park that is about 5 miles from MD Anderson. So if you are in the Houston area this Summer make sure to give me shout!

Thank you everyone for your prayers, checking on me, and continuing to follow my progress!! This has been one heck of a journey, but I have completed another huge step of the process.