Here we go!

We know you are all on pins and needles what the heck is going on with Phyllis you say. Well on Thursday we saw our surgeon and she said I was not crazy, my lump has shrunk some. Yes it is a miracle but no I don't get out of this that easy. She is not against the miracle theory but she said it may also be that when she punctured the cyst around the tumor it collapsed. So I guess you could say Phyllis had a big zit and once that was gone it seemed smaller. So on we go...

Yesterday I had my first surgery ever in my life. For those of you who may not have heard I went in to have a sentinel node biopsy performed to see if the cancer has spread. In the past they would perform this as they were removing the tumor in a lumpectomy but our team has decided in this case we wanted to know before I began chemo. It will help the Oncologist decide which chemo drugs I should get. Our hopes are it has not spread but either way my treatment will be 8 weeks of chemo 1 time every two weeks beginning on 4/4 and hopefully ending on 5/16. Which means some hair back by end of July. The results we are praying for is my tumor will shrink so small the lumpectomy will be minor and if we are really lucky it might disappear completely. If it goes away I will still have to have some tissue removed where it was but it will not be as much.

It went way easier than I had worried about. I guess you could say I was a surgery virgin... at least I could still say I was a virgin at something. Great now I don't even have that to brag about. Oh well at least I waited until I was married for this one. (Sorry Dad if you are reading this). I feel as well as can be expected my left arm pit is soar and my throat hurts just a smidge but for the most part I am good to go. Oh I did forget to mention in honor of Easter my left boob looks like it was dipped in blue food coloring. That is from the blue die they used to find my lymph node. The nurses and doctors were FANTASTICS!!. In fact when I woke up from my surgery my small bunny my sister had given me was on my chest with a surgical hat on and a bandage on just like me. (see photo above)

Since I don't want to be one of those tacky women who win an Oscar and don't give the proper thanks to their families here is the first of many. My husband Tom and my sister Terri are my strength and my comfort. In fact they were so comfortable they both fell asleep while we were in my pre surgery room. If you know how small these rooms are you will know how tough they had to be to get comfy enough to sleep for a couple of hours. Tom snuggled right up next to me in my small bed and Terri slept in the chair while I hung half my ass off the bed and watched TV. If we were not laughing about how they wanted to know if I could find some place else to wait so they would be more comfortable or laughing at the notes Tom wrote on the nurses dry erase board then I was bitching I didn't have any room. Yep, just like home. Laughing and bitching made the six hours fly by. Thanks to all of you who are praying for me and keeping me in your happy thoughts. We love all of you and are proud you are our friends and family.

Make sure to keep spreading the word- Ladies get your mammograms and men check your ladies lumps as often as you can find the time. One last thing, you don't have to sign up to comment on my blog. Just send me an email or call.