This week I tried to work as much as possible and get everything organized so that I could take a few weeks off. It was another week of bomb-dropping my bad news to various people at work and then inevitably watching them feel sorry for me. I hate it! But I try to practice what I preach, and as a behavior analyst, that means having a positive attitude. So, I'm trying my best (insert smile here).
On Thursday (July 24), I had a pre-op appointment with Dr. A. The nurse took baseline measurements of my arms, to monitor any future occurrence of lymphedema (swelling of the arm). If a lot of lymph nodes are removed during surgery, you have an increased risk of developing lymphedema in that arm, which is a chronic condition. Sounds annoying, but I'd much rather live with a giant swollen arm instead of cancer, so...whatever.
The doctor explained details of the surgery. She'll be removing the entire breast and an as-yet undecided amount of lymph nodes. She will also be inserting a port near my collarbone, which is a device implanted under the skin and used to administer chemotherapy drugs (instead of through an IV, for example). The procedure should take 3-4 hours and I'll stay overnight. We discussed why she isn't opting to do a double mastectomy: basically, it'd just result in an increased risk of complication for me and the baby and right now we should just focus on "fixing what's broken." Also, reconstruction is an option down the road, but not right now because, again, the focus is on limiting the risk of complications as much as possible.
On Friday (July 25), Jeremy and I met with the perinatologist, Dr. R. First, we had a detailed ultrasound and after the tech heard our story (cue the crying, goosebumps, etc.) we found out we are having a BABY BOY!! She said it was "really obvious" which of course made Jeremy beam with pride, lol. So far, our sweet baby boy looks perfectly healthy and we even watched him have the hiccups (adorable). We also learned that the tech went to the elementary school Jeremy teaches at and her twin sister once went to prom with Channing Tatum. Fun facts all around!
The tech left and while we waited for the doctor, Jeremy revealed that he had a surprise. We already knew what kind of crib we wanted, and his mom found it online and bought it for us. As soon as he told me this, helloooo waterworks! Of course, he immediately thought I was upset about it, but quickly realized I was just being an emotional crazy lady again. At that moment, the tech popped back in again so I had to explain why I was crying which in turn made her cry again. Oy vey!
Dr. R. came in and talked a bit about our situation and any potential impact on the baby. I was happy to hear that she completed her residency at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore and has worked with several pregnant cancer patients (yay!) and all of them went on to have healthy babies (double yay!) She'll be in contact with Dr. A. with a few specific recommendations regarding the surgery. All of my doctors have exchanged their personal cell numbers with each other, which I thought was pretty cool. Dr. R. already consulted with the oncologist (Dr. M.) and they started to plan out a chemo schedule to try and find the optimal time for me to deliver the baby. Because blood levels change drastically at certain points during chemo, they're trying to aim for the time when my blood levels should be normal. Based on their calculations, it looks like I might be delivering around 36 weeks (late November). That's the plan for now, but I'll be getting more details after surgery when I meet with the oncologist again.
Later that night we invited my parents and mother-in-law over to let them know they're having a grandson. :)
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