2nd Doctor

Well, today tried my patience a bit. The dr. was quite late, I bumped heads with the receptionist and I felt like I was getting some mixed messages.

The dr did two aspirations thinking she felt something else but it turned out to be fine, it just hurt. A lot. There was someone in charge of "education" who was confusing me as well as interrupting me while trying to answer questions she asked. She made a point of mentioning that she was eager to leave before the rain started. As if I cared if she got her hair wet. Of course I am sensitive to everything at the moment but I needed her to be sensitive to that.

Anyway, the same thing... get the MRI and see if there are any areas that didn't show up on the mammo and sono. Then we'll determine stage of cancer and how to treat it. This dr. seemed on the fence about BRCA testing. I don't think they like to bad mouth other drs but it was something I definitely sensed; maybe it's just that I didn't seem like a likely candidate. She also felt I might want to lean towards getting a mastectomy b/c the lumpectomy plus radiation may distort things a bit. This was clearly from an aesthetic perspective b/c of course at this point we don't know what else may appear. It is something at this moment I am struggling with but with a more specific diagnosis I will be able to come to some sort of decision. I am also considering consulting with a plastic surgeon to discuss the various scenarios. In the meantime, I really appreciated her thoughts on the subject.

This dr also agreed with doing a sentinel node removal as the results thus far are favoring that the cancer is invasive (vs in situ which means it stays confined to the one area it started). They take two nodes out and sometimes more if necessary. There is a risk of hand and arm swelling so in the future would just be careful to get blood removed from my left arm, be careful of getting cuts and properly cleaning them, etc Another thing to look forward too.

I will say that despite a little chaos when I was there, they leave you with a lot of informational packets and tools that help keep you better organized and focused.

I've a good feeling about the dr I'm seeing at Sloan Kettering on Thurs.

Stay tuned.
Liz