I wasn't 100% certain that basically electing to have the left breast removed was a good idea...until today when I received the post-surgery pathology report. According to my surgeon, the left breast had/was full of invasive ductal carcinoma in situ. In other words, the left breast was also full of cancer; just not as active as that in the right. It would have only been a matter of time before I would have had to have the second mastectomy. In addition, 37 out of 38 biopsied lymph nodes tested positive for cancer, and in another spot, 8 out of 9 tested positive. My cancer has been staged at IIIA or IIIB, both of which are curable.
I definitely over-did things yesterday, getting up at 5:00 a.m. and not going to sleep until after midnight. I was very tired, and very sore today. I ended up taking 4 pain pills, and 4 extra strength tylenol (total of 2000 mg) in order to get any relief. I also took a nap for about 3 hours, and later on dozed on the couch. I did take a bath and wash my hair, and wore real clothes (not jammies) for the first time since I had surgery. My choice of clothing is actually very comforting for a number of reasons. Firstly, the capris I am wearing are a bit large, but were too tight when I bought them four years ago. Second, I chose to wear a cardian inside-out so that I could just slip the drains inside the pockets. They're much more secure that way, they're off to the sides a bit, and I don't feel so misshapen while wearing it. The best thing about the cardigan? It used to belong to my Grandma Woelfel who passed away a few years ago. Way back when, and on this blog, I made a post about this particular sweater, and how whenever I wore it, I would be getting one of my grandma's amazing hugs. I love you, Grandma! Thank you for the hugs :-) Blessings!
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