The Results
May 16, 2018
I woke up early, I was having a hard time sleeping. Today we see the surgeon for the post surgery follow up and pathology results. I was doing okay but I was so tired of waiting. Russ was going with me to the doctor and he had some errands to run so we went and did his errands, that took up some of the wait time. The appointment wasn’t until 2:15 pm.
We parked in the hospital parking lot, then I felt like crying. I was getting nervous. I didn’t want to cry. We went into the doctor’s office and it was just a few minutes before we were taken back to the room. Another very, very large blue hospital gown was provided and it seemed even bigger than the last one.
The Surgeon entered the room. He said everything was very good! There were no cancer cells outside the margin, so no additional surgery would be necessary. There was no cancer spread into the lymph nodes! Amazing! Now, I think I can breathe!
He said the tumor was “hormone positive” which meant it would respond to pills that keep the tumor from growing back. He said I would be referred to an Oncologist and they would do more testing of the tumor cells to determine if any other treatment (chemo and radiation) would be added to the treatment plan. I asked about the stage, he said it was Stage 2 based on the size of the tumor which as about 1 inch. We caught it early! That made all the difference.
He then removed all the staples in my incisions (23 of them!) and “glued” the incisions and put tape over them. I had told him that there had been a large amount of fluid come from the breast during the night. He said that was very normal.
I am now able to drive, I’m going to go back to work for ½ day tomorrow and a full day on Friday. I won’t be able to do any heavy lifting for another month. I return to the surgeon for follow up on May 30th.
On my way home, I received a call from the Oncologist office. They made my appointment for Wednesday, May 31st. And now, we wait again. I am so grateful for all the prayers! God is good! I know He has a plan for this, I will just try to maintain my calmness while He shows me the way.
Love,
Tammie Barker Taggart