Central Park today, courtesy of my phone.
Okay, so really, I am posting these pretty pretty pictures as a distraction from my cancer update (which actually is positive, but still freaks me out a bit, nonetheless).
My engineer went with me today to Sloan-Kettering to meet my surgeon, the very pleasant Dr. Cody, who is their principal investigator for sentinel lymph node biopsies. (In fact, he teaches this procedure to other surgeons -- yay!) We had our initial consultation during which the word "favorable" was used several times, as in "the outcome looks very favorable" and other such positive statements. I have officially been diagnosed with stage 1 invasive breast cancer, which generally has a very favorable outlook/ survival rate/ prognosis, etc. (See? There's that word again.)
The tumor itself is 7mm, which when asked to self-describe it by the doctor (as in "can you feel it? how large does it feel to you?" which I suppose you can also translate to mean, "are you in complete denial?") I compared to the size of an M&M candy. It is spiculated which sort of means "spiky-looking".
After reviewing all of my tests, slides, x-rays, and examining me, we agreed that I would have a lumpectomy, and not a mastectomy, since the outcomes are generally identical, and hey, there's much less surgery involved, and to me, less is more. (One of the nurses seemed surprised during my pre-screening that I had managed to avoid any surgery whatsoever during my 41 years on this planet.) Putting aside the whole psychological aspect, let's face it: it is desirable to avoid major surgery if at all possible.
If all goes well, I will be having outpatient surgery (most likely next Thursday or Friday, the 30th/31st), and if things turn out to be more serious, then it will be an overnight stay. (I am skipping past all of the pre-surgery testing, and MRI for next week.) Dr. Cody will first remove the 3 lymph nodes closest to the tumor during the surgery (during which I will be under local/IV-anesthesia, not general), and then the tumor. While he is removing the tumor, the lab will be examining the 3 lymph nodes to see if the cancer has spread.
If the cancer has gone out and partied like an overactive frat boy, then he will proceed to remove all of the lymph nodes in area. If not, then not. The extra surgery would result in an overnight stay at MSKCC. If no extra surgery is needed, then I would be released that afternoon.
The immediate aftermath: my sister will be waiting for me, and probably drive me off to my mom's, who will be waiting with homemade soup and fussin'. My engineer's mom says he will want to be there anyway, and I'm thinking at least that way he and my sister can chat, since I will be off somewhere else, unconscious.
The longer term aftermath: 5 minutes of radiation daily, 5 days/week, for 5 weeks. (What's with the 5s? Did they speak to Cantonese patients who explained that FOUR is a homonym in Chinese for DEATH?!) And tamoxifen for 5 years, which thankfully looks NOT horse-pill, multivitamin size.
And now, back to pretty pictures from my cellphone: a tree this morning, outside of the Newport Center Mall's parking lot (yes, in lovely Jersey City).
And the final photo of the day from my phone: the playground across the street from my engineer's apartment, in Hamilton Park.
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