Farewell 2014

Happy New Year!  I can't decide how I feel about this new year.  Am I happy to see 2014 come to an end?  Possibly.  Am I looking forward to 2015?  Some of it.  I suppose in the end it will be a year like any other, with ups and downs and everything in between.  Even though some of it will be crappy, I don't expect that will diminish the good parts like my kiddos and the joy they bring to each day (except the moments when they make me feel a little crazy... may those moments be few and far between!).  I'm sure I will continue to be overwhelmed with gratitude for my family and friends.

The dates in my appointment book are starting to rapidly fill in again so here is an update for anyone interested...

Surgery is scheduled for January 8th.  At my consultation last week with Dr. Livingston she confirmed that I am still a good candidate for a breast conserving surgery, more commonly known as a lumpectomy at which time she will also do the sentinel node biopsy.  I didn't really have a lot of questions because it seemed pretty straight forward.  It will be an outpatient procedure so I shouldn't have to spend the night in the hospital or deal with drains or anything like that.  Dr. Livingston said to allow 1-2 weeks before returning to work.

So the hospitals (at least most the big ones I think) have this pretty cool new system called "My Charts" where you can access your medical records with that facility.  It keeps track of appointments, test results, medications, and you can use a message feature to communicate with your doctors.  It's really pretty cool.  My "My Chart" actually has information about blood tests I've had in the past when I had my emergency surgery in 2010.  Lucky for me that's the only other time I've done anything besides have a baby in a hospital!

Yesterday I got an email that I had new messages in my My Charts so I logged in.  Come to find out I actually have to go have something done on January 7th.  No one had really mentioned that... not that it really matters.

Apparently that is when they will inject my tumor (seriously, I have a tumor, I cannot get used to saying that!!) with a dye which is part of the sentinel node biopsy.  The dye will travel to the lymph system and that is how they identify the sentinel (first) node(s) which will be removed for biopsy.  I've since talked to my nurse who gave me that information, although I was in the process of getting in for an eye exam so I couldn't ask a lot of questions... she is sending me paperwork about all this and I'm sure I'll call her with some more questions when that gets here.

Then on the 8th prior to the surgery they will perform a "wire placement" (yet another thing no one had mentioned to me).  I googled what that might mean because it's not anything I've come across in reading or talking to people about this procedure.  Apparently they put a wire into your boob/tumor which then helps guide the surgeon to the right spot.

Today a friendly lady from MSTI called me to set up appointments with more doctors.  My surgeon had referrals sent over after the appoitment last week.  On January 16th I will meet my new medical oncologist Dr. Bridges and then on January 26th I will meet my radiation oncologist Dr. Kuhn.

Thanks to "My Chart" I also think I might have an appointment with someone on January 19th too, but it's not a doctor I have talked to or even heard of... if I don't get a call from a human about that one on Friday I guess I will ask my nurse navigator who/what that appointment is about.

It is good to feel like things are moving along and have a plan in place.  Even though I can't really forget for very long that this is all happening, all the waiting has made it seem less real the past few weeks.  Now it's starting to feel real again, or surreal might be a better word.