A Second Surgery

So I finally got to visit with my surgeon last Friday and review my pathology report. It came back rather positive, in fact his words were, "it's a very good pathology report". The lymph nodes are clear of cancer which is a huge relief! The "surprise" was that there is a 2nd tumor. The surgeon called it, "a second cancer" which really scared me for a second until he said, "second tumor" which made me feel immediately calmer. The comment "second cancer" is a little scary because I immediately though there was another type of cancer that was discovered somehow, in the muscles of my chest wall or something like that! Phew! One good thing is that there is nothing in the lymph nodes. Praise God!

What happened was that he never saw it, the mammogram didn't pick it up and the only way it was spotted was in the lab under the microscope, that's how small it is! Amazing how medical experts can find these sorts of things with very little to go by - right down to the cellular level. The 2nd tumor is only 3 mm in diameter - that's so tiny!

So I'm just waiting for the surgeon's office to call me with a date. Then I'll go again - at least this time it'll be less involved and a quicker recovery. Then I'll wait for THAT pathology report. Then 6 weeks after surgery I should be able to start with treatments - what will it be? I have no idea until the 2nd surgery is over and pathology report in hand.

What a day! No more energy now.

Still Waiting

So it's been 2 weeks since my surgery and I'm still waiting to get the results of the pathology. I'm seeing the surgeon tomorrow at 2:00 so I'm hoping he has the report and can tell me what my summer will be like? Well, I suppose he's only going to tell me that I have to go to the cancer centre which, thankfully, is also now in Abbotsford in the new hospital.

I have to say that's a really nice hospital too. Brand new. Colours are friendly etc. The staff in day surgery etc. are just wonderful. Well, shall I go through the entire process step-by-step? Fine ... but more tomorrow. It's getting late and I'm tired. Suffice to say that I'm still sore under my arm and if I do too much it feels like sandpaper is rubbing against already-tender skin! Yikes! Every day a little better, though. I'll write more tomorrow. I returned to work yesterday for 3 hours, and today I worked for 6.5 hours. So next week I'll be back at full strength. At least that's my plan.

I have a headache now.

Signing off for today and more tomorrow.

Surgery Day

So tomorrow I go for my lumpectomy. Yay! Day surgery. Not looking forward to it and yet, I am because I know it'll be behind me then. I'll know for sure what's happening in there! I worry more about the treatment than I do about the surgery. I'm so happy that we found it early and that it will likely be very treatable. The pluses are that we have a brand new hospital, WITH a cancer center right there. Right here in town. It's nice. I don't have to drive to Surrey to get my treatments. So there are silver linings to every cloud, after all!

Mary is so sweet - she gave me a photocopy of the Bible text booklet that she uses all the time. I am taking it with me to read while there. I hope I remember to take it because it's only day surgery and they always come to check on stuff before you go in there anyway. They never leave you alone!!!

I've been through this 4 times before for other minor surgeries so I know what to expect but still I get apprehensive.

Hopefully tomorrow at this time I will be awake enough to type just a little. The surgeon is also removing a couple of lymph nodes and I'm not sure how sore my armpit/arm will be. I will have a drain for a few days. Sick!

No church again this week. Oh well! I am happy that I can stay home for a week to recuperate. Back to work on the 15th, if all goes well!

Weekend Away

I'm spending the weekend at Greg's place in Sorrento. So glad I came - the weather is absolutely PERFECT! Driving up was a delight to see all the green on the hills - it's just beautiful!

I brought mom and dad and Stephen came along. It's good for them to be here - away from the city and in a beautiful quiet setting. I hope I can sleep well tonight because I am tired and didn't sleep hardly last night.

That's me on the deck! Yay!

Surgery date is next week Thursday - 6 more days. I hope it all goes well!

Springtime Pathways

I just love walking in the Springtime. We have our favourite places to walk - this is one of them down at the Fraser River, Matsqui Trail. If you start out at the Sumas Mountain end of the trail there is a long stretch which runs right down along the riverbank OR you can choose to walk on the dike itself. We prefer the woods down at the river. As you can see when it rains, it does get muddy here so having not had rain for several days it was a good option to walk along this path today! And it's so gorgeous and green and lush - I just love it! The grass is still that fresh new green hue with no seed heads yet - almost like someone had spread fertilizer on the lawn, you know?

So what happened to the items on my long to-do list for today? Well, I did manage to clean the venetian blinds on the 3 windows around the kitchen table, then washed the windows, the walls above and below the windows, ironed the white curtains and rehung them. So THAT's done! Good grief - so much work. I only have 9 more windows to do in the dining room and living room area alone, nevermind the big windows in the bedrooms and bathroom. It's the thing that I love the most about this house and yet hate it! I love all the light but the cleaning! Oh my!

Long Weekend

Ahhhh ... a long weekend - first one of the year, except for Easter, of course.

I spent the day at the garden centers - bought a bunch of plants for the front flower bed and the balcony planters. FINALLY I planted something but the weather is still not that warm. It sure did feel good, though, to get my hands around those little plants and put them into fresh, beautiful soil.

I got a call from the surgeon's office today with my surgery date. At first she told me June 18th which I thought was ridiculously far into the future - all of 5 weeks way. Then a couple hours later she called back and said, "can you come on the 4th? We had a cancellation." Of course I said "yes! I can be very flexible." So in 3 weeks I go for my slicing and dicing. Good grief. Can't believe this is happening to me. It seems so surreal.

The hard part is that I feel perfectly fine. You know, when you break a bone or you're bleeding from a cut or you have pain somewhere, or there's a growth or something ... you know that you need to have surgery to get better. That's perfectly normal. But when you don't feel any pain, etc. in the back of your mind you're thinking, "Why would I purposely put myself through that when I feel fine?!" So mentally that's a challenge.

At least now I know a date when I'll have to be off work for a week-plus. A lot to do over the next 3 weeks before I'll be away. I hope I can be productive at work.

But for now I'm going to enjoy the long weekend - it shouldn't rain so it'll be a good opportunity to get more work done in the yard such as digging up those two other hideous flower beds!!!!!

Vegas

Yes - Vegas was awesome! We did so much walking and of course wearing sandals with no real support didn't help so my legs were in so much pain. I noticed interesting stuff about Vegas this trip.

First - there are NO BENCHES along the streets. There is absolutely NO PLACE TO SIT if your feet get tired. No benches, no chairs, no foundations or rocks or anything to sit on. Absolutely nothing. They want you to go into the casinos!

Second - in the casinos themselves, I noticed that when you're standing sorta in the "center" of the casinos, there is tons of space to move between the tables and slots etc. but that as you get to the outer edge (where you can see actual daylight) the tables and banks of slots (mostly slots) are so close together that the crowd has to pass through single-file. You can't even walk side-by-side. The only reason? To keep you IN the casino

Third - and finally, there are also no benches or places to sit inside the casino other than at a table or the slots.

Amazing!

The weather was awesome - it was quiet only the hotel room - the Flamingo. But we had fun anyway! I want to go back sometime with our trailer - do a long road trip - that'll be a LONG one! - and just park somewhere in a nice trailer park and drive in to the city when we feel like it, explore the area, etc. on our own time. That'll be fun.

So this is what one looks like when one has not slept all night and only arrived back home at 5:00 a.m.!!!! I was so tired but happy!