He didn't even wait to sit down or close the door.
"The results are good. I just got them now. Lymph nodes clear. Margins clear..."
I started to tear up.
I wasn't even there for the results. I was afraid that my incision was infected and I called him the day before. I tried to see my GP but she wasn't there so Daniel suggested calling him.
"I can see you at 5pm tomorrow". That was a little late but I couldn't reach the GP the next day either... and I think I was hoping he'd know by then...
Bad timing as far as picking up the kids but Daniel was quickly recruited to the task.
I was non-functional all day, as my previous post attests.
I walked in and told them that I probably didn't have an appointment but that he had instructed me to come, to take a look. Odd, they said. He's operating today. She called the OR and no one answered. She tried somewhere else and was able to leave a message that I was there. Just take a place, as they put it in French...
I waited about 45 minutes and then heard his familiar voice. He was still in his scrubs. I had probably been to the bathroom 3 times since I arrived and had to go again... Then I sat in his uncomfortable chair for quite awhile before he came in.
I forgot the ask about the size, since there was conflicting information. The only "bad" news was that the second thing was indeed, the same cancer. It's called a "bifocal tumor" that grows in two places at once. It made me feel even more like I had slipped by danger. It's out and the margins were clean. No second surgery for me and that means that the cancer had not progressed beyond that area.
I'm in theory, cancer-free since the surgery.
Now, I go straight to radiation, no chemo necessary. He made me pick between Sainte Anne and the Paul Strauss Cancer Center and I went with Strauss. He was clear that there was no difference medically but Sainte Anne was more "human". Fine, but it's also a lot further away from home. No, I felt better in an actual cancer center next to the Civil Hospital (where I was hospitalized in 2009). I have to go there every day so I might as well make it as easy as possible.
He looked at my wound and changed the dressings. He even did an ultrasound with this very tiny machine in his office, to make sure there was no trapped liquid. There wasn't any. I hadn't had a drain, post-op, which is often the case with lumpectomy. The threads are dissolvable so no need to have them removed. I'll need physical therapy, if only to prevent any problems with that arm.
I did ask for a second opinion on the lab work. He looked at me in shock so I had to say it. "Don't tell me no one else asks this??"
"No one asks this," he confirmed "No one at all!"
Oh boy. This might be a tough one. Then he starts explaining that three pathologists, he's worked with for a long time, did it and he trusts them immensely.
"You are going to drive yourself crazy with all this."
"No I'm not. You remember how I was during the pregnancy. I need to know. I do better when I know what's going on."
I didn't need a battle that evening. I was just a little overwhelmed with it all and eager to get on the phone and let everyone know...
I need a pre-radiation appointment but he's seeing me before then.
I called Daniel, my mother, sister, in that order and then came home and put it on Facebook. I also sent a text to a nurse friend here. Now, I'm out to get the word out.
I'm now officially a poster-child (adult?) for early detection. This is a whole different experience than it would have been two years from now. I'm so slobbingly grateful, I don't know where to start!!!!
"The results are good. I just got them now. Lymph nodes clear. Margins clear..."
I started to tear up.
I wasn't even there for the results. I was afraid that my incision was infected and I called him the day before. I tried to see my GP but she wasn't there so Daniel suggested calling him.
"I can see you at 5pm tomorrow". That was a little late but I couldn't reach the GP the next day either... and I think I was hoping he'd know by then...
Bad timing as far as picking up the kids but Daniel was quickly recruited to the task.
I was non-functional all day, as my previous post attests.
I walked in and told them that I probably didn't have an appointment but that he had instructed me to come, to take a look. Odd, they said. He's operating today. She called the OR and no one answered. She tried somewhere else and was able to leave a message that I was there. Just take a place, as they put it in French...
I waited about 45 minutes and then heard his familiar voice. He was still in his scrubs. I had probably been to the bathroom 3 times since I arrived and had to go again... Then I sat in his uncomfortable chair for quite awhile before he came in.
I forgot the ask about the size, since there was conflicting information. The only "bad" news was that the second thing was indeed, the same cancer. It's called a "bifocal tumor" that grows in two places at once. It made me feel even more like I had slipped by danger. It's out and the margins were clean. No second surgery for me and that means that the cancer had not progressed beyond that area.
I'm in theory, cancer-free since the surgery.
Now, I go straight to radiation, no chemo necessary. He made me pick between Sainte Anne and the Paul Strauss Cancer Center and I went with Strauss. He was clear that there was no difference medically but Sainte Anne was more "human". Fine, but it's also a lot further away from home. No, I felt better in an actual cancer center next to the Civil Hospital (where I was hospitalized in 2009). I have to go there every day so I might as well make it as easy as possible.
He looked at my wound and changed the dressings. He even did an ultrasound with this very tiny machine in his office, to make sure there was no trapped liquid. There wasn't any. I hadn't had a drain, post-op, which is often the case with lumpectomy. The threads are dissolvable so no need to have them removed. I'll need physical therapy, if only to prevent any problems with that arm.
I did ask for a second opinion on the lab work. He looked at me in shock so I had to say it. "Don't tell me no one else asks this??"
"No one asks this," he confirmed "No one at all!"
Oh boy. This might be a tough one. Then he starts explaining that three pathologists, he's worked with for a long time, did it and he trusts them immensely.
"You are going to drive yourself crazy with all this."
"No I'm not. You remember how I was during the pregnancy. I need to know. I do better when I know what's going on."
I didn't need a battle that evening. I was just a little overwhelmed with it all and eager to get on the phone and let everyone know...
I need a pre-radiation appointment but he's seeing me before then.
I called Daniel, my mother, sister, in that order and then came home and put it on Facebook. I also sent a text to a nurse friend here. Now, I'm out to get the word out.
I'm now officially a poster-child (adult?) for early detection. This is a whole different experience than it would have been two years from now. I'm so slobbingly grateful, I don't know where to start!!!!
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