As promised, I survived another one. Sorry for the novel but I haven't time to edit it.

Hospital report as promised. Had to report at 7:00 am for a surgery at 3pm which seemed ridiculous at the time but the procedures that were supposed to take an hour in the am took 3 hours and 20 minutes leaving poor Charlie waiting in the waiting room with no info on the delay wondering what was up.

I was to have an MRI on the left and a wire probe inserted to mark place for dr to do biopsy. They had to do the MRI TWICE and then she missed with the probe the first time and had to that again also. Then off to get a mammogram of the left. That took 4 takes before they got it right.

Then off for another mammogram on right and two probes for surgery. They must have taken 10-15 shots before they called in another woman to try to do the mammogram. Took her a half dozen shots before she got it right. So now we place the needles and take more pictures. I�m still on plavix and aspirin per my cardiologist orders so now I�m standing there with blood dripping on the floor while they try to get these pictures. B neg mind ya so don�t waste any of it. Finally get bandaged up and sent back upstairs to wait for surgery.

Surgeon arrives around 2:30 and first words out of his mouth were: �The radiologist who did the left says she doesn�t think the probe is in the right spot, but don�t worry, I�ll work off the MRI�. I said WHAT? AFTER TWO attempts she still got it WRONG? Unbelievable and I�m at one of the top CCC in the country.

So surgeon draws pictures on my breasts as to where he will cut. I�m not happy with his plan, but time will tell, Anesthesiologist arrives and I have never been so happy to see that man in my life. He has a lot of white hair and looks and acts like a friendly grandfather. I was so afraid I would get a freshly minted one, I could have cried at my good luck. This guy actually understood what a neck breather is and all the complications it might present. I went to sleep peacefully and awoke 2 hours later in no pain and only slightly sore. They fed me apple juice and threw me out 45 minutes later. No shower for 48 hours and wear bra for 72.

I had hoped to go to the shore for 4 days to recover but that didn�t happen. The night of the surgery, my heart pounding in my ears at a normal rhythm awoke me at 2am and kept me awake most of the night. Hospital called at 10:30 to check on me and said to go to GP for heart problem. By the time I saw him at 2:00 pm problem had stopped but I was bushed. Hospital now says it was a reaction to anesthesia.

Went to the shore on Sat but had land breeze during day all weekend so it was miserable with no air conditioning. Came back Monday am and went to work in frustration. At this point, still swollen and sore but no pain. Won�t get pathology for at least 10 days from surgery. Follow up appt on 28th at 4pm. I�ll let you know when I find out.

Thanks for the good vibes and prayers, they apparently worked.

Take care,
Eileen

Hope your next trip to the shore is a "real breeze"! You have had a tough fight there, Eileen, with lots of battles in the war, but you can do it because of a knack for a positive spin and a sense of humor, even during the set-backs. Prayers from one animal lover to another. Hope each day finds you in less pain and more energy and good news!

Hi Guys,

Pathology report was good news and some not so good news. No cancer in left breast. Right one is ductal in situ with NO invasive tissue (YEAH) however the margins on two of the 6 sides are only .15 cm rather than .2 that is recommended. Dr wants to do another lumpectomy to get margins of 2.0 cm if I don�t do radiation or I could do 7 weeks of radiation. I don�t think so if I can avoid it. I am to have a mammogram in 8 weeks and then he will decide whether to do the surgery depending on whether any calcifications still show on the mammogram. I made an appt with radiologist who did my previous radiation to discuss this and see if she thinks that the cause of this cancer might be scatter rads from the 1997 radiation. I'm too tired for all this.

We head to Saratoga for horse racing Tuesday Aug 3-11 so will be off the board. Thanks again for all your support.

Take care,
Eileen

Eileen. Congrats on the good news. Im hoping you can have another surgery to take care of getting bigger margins. Good luck with your radiation appointment. Dont be surprised if your rad doc wont give you a clear answer. I would be amazed if they would tell you that your cancer was due to something they did. A cause isnt something that will help with the final outcome anyway. Wishing all goes well with everything.

Have a great trip to the races

Hi Eileen, just had a chance to check in here and read what you have been going through. It sucks that you have to deal with this. But I was so impressed with your attitude and your strength in advocating for yourself.

Hi Guys,

I promised you an update after I saw the RO so here goes.

Went to see the RO that did my rads for the oral cancer unknown primary in 1997 and she said that there is less than a 1% chance that this breast cancer was caused by scatter radiation. She was less than delighted to hear that I have been having a yearly, and sometimes more often, CT scan of the chest and thorax and suggested that the pulmonary doctor use chest xrays unless CT absolutely necessary. She said that the government is going to issue new guidelines on CT scans.

As far as the breast cancer and needing radiation, there are 3 guidelines, size, grade and I think margins. I flunk both size and grade. Mine was 2cm and they want .5 cm or less. Mine was also high nuclear grade which is not good. However, she said that since mine does show up on mammograms and I get mine regularly, that she feels I can skip radiation this time and will use if I have a reoccurrence. Chance of reoccurrence without rads is 16%, with rads 8% and then you can�t have radiation again. So as long as mammo on the 8th is clear and he gets clean margins of 2cm on the other 2 sides when he does next lumpectomy, I am going to skip rads this time and hope for the best.

Take care,
Eileen

Mammo on the 8th was clear so will do another surgery on the 16th to get clear margins on the other two sides. If the path comes back clear, then no need for radiation. I am Stage 0.

I keep reading horrible things about Triple negative breast cancer and most articles said you need chemo but they don't give staging or type so I asked the surgeon. He says chemo is only needed for invasive breast cancer, not ductal in situ. Phew. missed that bullet. He also said to ignore all the horrible stuff I'm reading about 3N breast cancer as it does not apply to ductal in situ. Apparently 3N ductal in situ is a very rare, less than 5% are 3N. Kinda like my unknown primary the first time round.

So next Thursday I climb on the table and then hopefully go to the shore Friday thru Monday eve. I should be back to work and on the board on Tuesday.

Take care,
Eileen

That's great news!!

Eileen,
You deserve a break after all you have been through. Fantastic news from the Mammo and all the very best wishes for the surgery on the 16th to get those clear margins.
Always great to have something to look forward to so hope you make it to the shore to recuperate an relax a little..