Sentinel Nodes Are Clear

Much love to my gatekeeping lymph nodes for a job well done. Pathology results aren't in yet, but Dr. Weinberg reports that the nodes looked clear, which leaves only a very small chance that pathology will find anything. Dr. Weinberg also said that the negative lymph nodes brings me thismuchcloser to not needing chemo! Woohoo!

The first step, Wednesday, was a visit to nuclear medicine for the radioactive portion of the exam. The radioactive isotopes were injected into my nipple, which while quite a visual, one I may not ever get out of my head, surprisingly didn't hurt. Matt, my technician, let me watch the screen as it picked up the injection site and then, a few minutes later, my sentinel node. He then drew on me with a radioactive crayon (think Crayola! Magic Wonder markers) so Dr. Weinberg could follow the path of the radioactive material.

I was prepped for anesthesia, which I didn't realize would include a breathing tube, and carted away for surgery. About 2 hours later, I woke up to some discomfort. The nurse in recovery gave me three pumps of Dilaudid, and the promise of Percosett once I could eat and drink. Apparently I am pretty goofy and lovey when I'm all doped up. I went home later that afternoon and have been trying to relax and heal since.

I have a 2-inch incision in my armpit. I can't lift my arm up beyond shoulder height, and even that is a stretch. The pain was pretty bad on Wednesday and Thursday night, but has been getting easier to handle every day. My breast looks like it went through battle. There are enormous deep red and purple bruises and it's very tender. I wasn't able to wash up or dress myself until Friday, so I had a lot of help from Doug and my parents. Finally got to take a shower (all by myself) this morning.

Now I'm in a holding/healing pattern until Wednesday when I'll meet with my oncologist. I'm hoping he says that chemo won't be necessary. Regardless of what he says, I'm anxious to know what's next.  I'll also have a post-op follow up with Dr. Weinberg on Thursday, so I'm hoping to go ahead and start scheduling the next steps.

Until then, friends...