Busy Appointment Week

Coming back from holidays nice and relaxed and with more dr appointments and tests.

I have been busy seeing the plastic surgeon to work out the final plan for reconstruction. Now I don't think I'm that vain, ok maybe a little in taking pride in my appearance, but I would have just been happy with 2 nicely shaped mounds for my clothes and swimmers to look normal. The cancer is the priority and dealing with that. But it seems the breast surgeon is being dictated to by the plastic surgeon, but she seems onboard.

The plastics guy, Damien, showed me pictures of his handy work. He even creates new nipples, do I want to save my other nipple?, he makes them look exactly the same...etc. so I think I am going to be easily pleased by what this guy does - he's a perfectionist and going the extra mile that I hadn't even considered. So the big question take both nipples, create new ones or save one and create one on the cancer side?? what to do.....

There are some treatment benefits by using his methods and the new order. The public system won't use this method yet but it will be the new normal in the future. It means less operations and no need for temporary spacers while radiotherapy is being administered. Spacers can move, get infected on the wounds etc So radiotherapy starts 1st or 2nd week of December. I was kind of hoping that I would have a break over Christmas but it's every day for 6 weeks, but at least I'll be finished with it all sooner.

Normal order: mastectomy insert spacers, radio, reconstruction 1, recon 2
My order: radio, mastectomy/recon at same time (no spacers), recon 2

2 recon ops because they need to flip me over back and forth for my bum and breast recon at the same time. It's too long an operation to do both. I wonder if I'll wake with more bruises than normal.

We also met with Michael chao, the radiology oncologist. I liked him a lot. Although the way he was supporting Damien I started to wonder if it was a bit of a Boys Club. He went through the historical events with us, explained my initial mammogram and ultrasounds and the BIG question that all of the professionals ask me:

'If you have no cancer family history, no lumps or symptoms, you are under 50, what made you go for a mammogram? Was a dr keeping an eye things?' I reply, 'no just started listening to my body and some friends who were impacted'. It was a God Wink and I caught it - what can I say...I am very lucky. A bees fart away from secondary cancer.


A side effect of radiotherapy is it can give you breast cancer!!! Go figure! So the benefit of having surgery after radio is they remove all of the tissue when it's finished, so that risk is taken away. He also gave me his recurrence possibility stat, being 30% without radiotherapy, 10% with radiotherapy. I think this is a good stat and benchmark to be.

I'm off to have my bum ct scanned for good blood vessels for my bum boobs. Then we'll know what angle will be removed on my buttocks.....hah for my bum lift!!!! For someone who would have never considered plastic surgery, I will have had 3 procedures by the end of this.

Another MRI scheduled to see how the docetaxel is working on FF and his friends.

Chemo went well yesterday with my meditation cd, I didn't feel the cannula or needle go into my arm at all. Either that or the skill of the nurse. But I was relaxed. Mum, love her, fed me as I had my boxing gloves on and couldn't do much. John went to work to make up some time. So chemo will hit me Sunday night I presume, then 4-5 days down and back to work Friday. I'm reducing the steroids (dex) to try and reduce my fluidy fat and blistered face (it's not supposed to do that dex is supposed to reduce side effects including fluid retention!) Anyway, I'll give it a go and increase it back if I need to they said. Luckily, Johns photoshop skills meant he could slim down my face in our family portraits we ordered. He gave it back to the photographer to process for our big family portrait for the wall. (Yes ok maybe I am a little vain)..

1 more chemo and 4 weeks to go. Then part 2 of my journey.

Today I asked Andres did he want to see my hair growing but "nah Mum not if its' boy hair - only if it's girls hair". It has to be longer than his hair for me to take off my wig and show him :)