Last visit with the plastic surgeon

12/18/08 This day was my last visit to the plastic surgeon before my surgery. The purpose for this visit was to finalize all my questions and concerns that is related to my breast reconstruction. The cancer doctor and the plastic surgeon will work together during the entire surgery. My surgery is scheduled for January 7 at 1:00pm. The reason why the surgery time can vary between four and five hours because it depends if the doctor needs to remove any of my lymph nodes. The doctor will remove two or three lymph nodes from each side at the beginning of the surgery and send it to the pathologist. The results will come back during the surgery and then the doctor will know to remove more lymph nodes if they are positive for cancer or leave them alone if no cancer was detected. If I have positive lymph nodes for cancer of four or more in one arm pit then I will need radiation. If its three and under then I will not need to go through radiation unless its growing out of the cell. Wow, I was a little relieved because I assume if I had a positive lymph node then I would need radiation. This is a positive situation that I hope I fall under. If I do need radiation, it would be five times a week for five - six weeks. The doctor mentioned that 20% of her patients are positive in their lymph nodes and only 9% of them need radiation. Yes, I will be going down in size for those of you wondering. I know every body's dream is to be a larger size but I had my share and will be happy when I get rid of these bad ones! I will be at Bridgeport Hospital for two nights unless I need additional time. I will be on pain medication as well as an antibiotic for precaution for an infection. My mom and Gene will be with me at the hospital and the doctors will review all my medical conditions with them during my recovery. After the surgery, I will have two drain tubes on each side of the breast to help drain out any extra fluid in my body. After a week, I will have one tube removed from each side. Depending on much drainage is coming out is when I will get the last two removed. The worst scenario would be to have the tubes up to four weeks, lets pray its not. I will need to sleep in a recliner chair for two weeks after the surgery because it will be to hard for me to push myself up out of bed. Gene and I have been in the process of re-decorating our bedroom and we were planning to buy new furniture. This bump in our life made the decision a little faster. I can't wait to try the new chairs, I think Gene will sleeping in them as well. They are called the perfect chair. There will be no food restrictions after my surgery. I will have to be careful with showers because I can't get the tubes wet. I will be seeing both doctors one a weekly basis after the surgery for the follow-ups. The doctors are in the same building so that will make it convenient. She gave me my prescriptions so I can fill them before my surgery and have them ready at home. She gave me Percocet,Valium, and antibiotic. She will be on a mini vacation after Christmas but gave me her e-mail address if I have any other questions. That was real nice of her! I have already e-mailed her with a few questions. She mentioned that she performs from five to ten surgery's a week just for breast reconstruction within CT and NY. That is really scary because that shows us how common breast cancer is. Breath.... I spoke with the Genetic counselor and my results are still not back. She mentioned that there are five of us waiting and that the company had some issues approving insurance and then they are backed up with the process. Have a wondeful Holiday!!!