So far, so good.

Ok. forgive me--Jim thinks I am still "stoned" but I have just gotten home from the lumpectomy and want to scream NEGATIVE NODE!!!!! NEGATIVE NODE!! WAHOO!!!! The sentinel node was negative, and Dr. Nancy came out and told my family, with both thumbs up and a huge smile, that she thinks all that she took out was good, clean healthy tissue. She took out what was over the size of a baseball--this isn't the tumor size but what was around the area where the tumor was. (She said that empty area (from the biopsy) was about the size of a business card--so I guess it was a little hollow, so she cut all the way around it like a donut I am imagining.) Now, both the sentinel node and the tissue go to pathology for major testing and I should know the results on Friday. Rarely will the sentinel come back positive after the test in the OR, so I am choosing not to worry about THAT anymore, and if the tissue comes back with some cancer in it, then I will have to go back in for another "re-excision," which will be a major pain in the neck but certainly doable as long as they get that cancer out! I suppose I could worry that there is a different kind of cancer, but Dr. Nancy said everything looked and felt good...she actually feels the tissue and she said it all looked good and felt healthy.



Again, I was lauded and applauded for my big fat fatty boobs. For once fat is good! (ok, I know that doesn't make my poor heart happy--but for now I am at least "not lopsided")Makes for less noticeable changes, and although I do have some gauze on my incisions now I am wearing a regular shirt and you can't tell the difference at all. My nipple however is as blue as the sky from this dye they injected and of course, everything else that is coming out of me is blue--ok, maybe Jim is right. Perhaps I am still stoned if I am sharing that kind of info!



The surgery took about two hours, which was long for those waiting for me. We thought Dr. Nancy was going to come out and tell the results of the node biopsy and she didn't until the end, so that freaked out both Jim and my dad a bit--Jim figured they were taking out more nodes but as it turned out, all was good.



I am in no pain yet--the incision at my axillary line just feels like I have an annoying piece of tape on it, but the boob area is still pretty numb. All my stitches are internal, except for two butterfly stitches that Dr. Nancy will take out at my 10 day appointment.

More later--I am 6 hours post surgery and feel pretty darn good. Glad this part of the journey is over at least until Friday when I get the pathology reports. I have found taking these little victories to heart makes it so much more bearable.

Time to go pet my dog. : )