Pathlogy Report

Last Wednesday I went back to MD Anderson and met with Dr. Chang and Dr. Bedrosian. At my Bedrosian appointment I received my pathology report from the tissue removed during surgery. It was an excellent report. They only found a very, very tiny area with any cancer cells left and they found no sign of cancer in any of the lymph nodes that were removed. Dr. Bedrosian used the word “excellent” to describe my report, and radiation was not mentioned as a possibility. She is now bowing out as a member of my team and will only see me again if one of the other doctor’s would like her to see me. Dr. Chang is completely in charge of my recovery from the mastectomy, which makes sense since it is his job to reconstruct the tissues and he would have the most interest in making sure I heal correctly. Dr. Gonzales is responsible for my cancer follow-up care, and as Dr. Bedrosian said, “she is more than capable.”

Monday, July 26th, I had my follow up with Dr. Gonzales about the pathology report. She said it went really well, and they were not able to get any tissue for the clinical trial I participated in. She also told me about another clinical trial that she is sponsoring. This trial involves another 6 months of chemotherapy, using a different set of drugs with the side effects of Taxol and F.E.C. She recommended that I not participate in the trial. “It doesn’t make sense for you to participate in this trial, but I feel like I have to mention it to you and give you the option to participate.” Okay, fair enough. I’m not participating. You don’t need to tell me twice that I don’t need anymore chemotherapy.

Mom and I went to Lankford Grocery in midtown Houston for lunch. The burgers had to be at least a ½ pound each. Needless to say Mom and I did not finish our burgers, but they were really good. If I go there again I’m sharing my meal. We then headed back to MD Anderson for my afternoon appointment with Dr. Chang.

Dr. Chang removed both of my drains…YEAH!!! I thought it would hurt, but it actually relived some of the pressure and as a result some of the pain. He also put 65 cc more in each of my expanders, bringing the total amount to 410 cc. I think I’m going to keep them this size, but I’m going to wait a week before making my final decision. If I decide to not add the additional 40 cc per side, then I don’t see Dr. Chang again until August 23rd. At that appointment we will discuss when to schedule to surgery for the exchange. The exchange surgery is short, about an hour. They make a small incision along the mastectomy incision line, deflate and remove the expander, and insert the implant. The size of the incision is determined by the type of implant, saline or silicon that will be used.

Now I have to make my next big decision – size and, saline or silicone. How easy is that?