Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Well, Well, Well........Leave Demi, and come punk me Ashton! Yea, I'm waiting for the camera's...again. Why...well got off of the phone with my doctor, my oncologist to get my results for my MRI. The MRI I had last week. Ok, now so when you have a mastectomy, they actually take your breast tissue out right? Isn't that what a mastectomy is? Let's look it up on Wiki....(dontcha love wiki)different mastectomy's according to Wiki.
Modified radical mastectomy: The entire breast tissue is removed along with the axillary contents (fatty tissue and lymph nodes). In contrast to a radical mastectomy, the pectoral muscles are spared. NOPE NOT ME
Radical mastectomy (or "Halsted mastectomy"): First performed in 1882, this procedure involves removing the entire breast, the axillary lymph nodes, and the pectoralis major and minor muscles behind the breast. This procedure is more disfiguring than a modified radical mastectomy and provides no survival benefit for most tumors. This operation is now reserved for tumors involving the pectoralis major muscle or recurrent breast cancer involving the chest wall. NOPE NOT ME
Skin-sparing mastectomy: In this surgery, the breast tissue is removed through a conservative incision made around the areola (the dark part surrounding the nipple). The increased amount of skin preserved as compared to traditional mastectomy resections serves to facilitate breast reconstruction procedures. Patients with cancers that involve the skin, such as inflammatory cancer, are not candidates for skin-sparing mastectomy. YEP ME!
Subcutaneous mastectomy: Breast tissue is removed, but the nipple-areola complex is preserved. This procedure was historically done only prophylactically or with mastectomy for benign disease over fear of increased cancer development in retained areolar ductal tissue. Recent series suggest that it may be an oncologically sound procedure for tumors not in the subareolar position. YEP ME!
Simple mastectomy (or "total mastectomy"): In this procedure, the entire breast tissue is removed, but axillary contents are undisturbed. Sometimes the "sentinel lymph node"--that is, the first axillary lymph node that the would be expected to drain into--is removed. This surgery is sometimes done bilaterally (on both breasts) on patients who wish to undergo mastectomy as a cancer-preventative measure. Patients who undergo simple mastectomy can usually leave the hospital after a brief stay. Frequently, a drainage tube is inserted during surgery in their chest and attached to a small suction device to remove subcutaneous fluid. These are usually removed several days after surgery as drainage decrease to less than 20-30 ml per day. YEP ME, but not bilateral.
So I had a Simple, Subcutaneous, Skin-Sparing Mastectomy. Well in this process, they remove all of the breast tissue right, then in reconstruction they put in an implant, and Presto! a new boobie. Well, in talking with my Oncologist this evening, and by the way I am in a hotel room, 3000 miles away from home, of course, and he told me that there was something that showed up on the MRI. Something "suspicious". NICE---WONDERFUL---In the same breast that had the Simple, Subcutaneous, Skin-Sparing Mastectomy. How is that possible? I pondered this out loud, while I screamed inside?
He told me it is probably scar tissue, but I have to make an appointment with my Breast Surgeon, Anabella B. M.D. tomorrow. So I have my BFF getting up and calling NVCI to get my MRI films printed up, then she is calling Dr. B to make my appointment
to schedule which will be my .......hmmmm let me see the 5th surgery. Well we will take it one step at a time, and take a deep breath and let it all go.
Because this is my life, this is my reality, and once again I will be ok...
You sure I'm not getting punk'd? For those of you who don't know what Punk'd is: (Again thank you Wikipedia)
Punk'd was an American hidden camera practical joke television series on MTV, produced and hosted by Ashton Kutcher, which first aired in 2003. It bears a strong resemblance to both the classic hidden camera show Candid Camera, and to TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes, which also featured pranks on celebrities. Being "Punk'd" refers to having such a prank played on oneself, and to "punk someone" refers to making someone else the victim of the show's style of prank itself.
Ok so I'm going to bed, I have to get up in 4 hours to go to the airport, and fly home...
This is day 237.......
Love to all...Stacy
