Surgery day

I know this is a lot of information.  A friend encouraged me to write about my experience in the hope that it would help others who are going through a similar experience now or in the future.  At least, I just hope it helps encourage women 40 and older to get their annual mammogram.  I know mine saved my life.  Had this aggressive little bugger gone another year undetected, I would have been in BIG trouble.

July 20, the day finally came.  After finding out about the cancer on July 2, I was ready to get the ball rolling and get this cancer out of my body.  Dr. Tittensor did a great job getting me ready for surgery by walking me through the procedures and letting me know what to except.  My two great supporters were by my side the whole time.  Rick and Andy went to the outpatient area with me at 8:00 am to get the pre-surgery procedures done before the surgery began at about 11:00.  It took about 2 1/2 hours for the surgery and the recovery took about an hour.  We were out of there by about 4:00 pm and home to rest.  I took the narcotic pain killers for about a day and a half and then Tylenol did the trick.  After that I felt sore but OK.
The pre-surgery procedures were not pleasant and were probably the worst part of the whole experience.  I went into the mammogram room and the technicians position the breast in the mammogram clamp so that they can see the tumor on their machines.  The radiology doctor then came in and proceeded to insert a very large and in charge needle into the breast issue (that has been numbed, but not completely numbed) and marked the spot with a radio active bead to help Dr. Tittonsor find the exact spot of the small tumor during surgery.  He had to make several attempts, wiggling the needled around a lot.  Not fun.  They figure that about .7 centimeters of the tumor had been removed with the biopsy and she took out about another .3 centimeters.  The tumor was about the size of a large pea.  She then removed the surrounding issue (about the size of a golf ball) to achieve what they refer to as "clean margins" meaning that the surrounding tissue is cancer free and that the tumor hadn't spread.
After the radioactive bead was inserted, another technician came in and injected bright blue dye into the same spot as the bead.  The dye then proceeded to travel to the areas where the cancer could have spread and shows the doctors if it is in the lymph nodes.  The bright "Cougar" blue dye exited my body for days afterwards!  It also made my skin look very white and pale.  After these tortures, we moved on to the pre-surgery room and waited for the doctor. I got to enjoy a new device that was a hot air blanket they put on my body prior to surgery.  We all know how cold it is in a hospital, and the hot air blanket kept me toasty warm (see in the picture.)  They said that recovery and healing goes better if the body is warm prior to surgery.  Ya think??
As they rolled the gurney into surgery I was talking to the technician about the Romney/Obama campaign.  Those were the last words I recall saying...that I wanted to sleep in the Lincoln bedroom if our favorite Mitt Romney were elected.  I shudder to think what else I said after that!
Before surgery we consulted with Dr. Tittonsor about what course of action to take.  Mastectomy or lumpectomy?  Various things are taken into consideration.  The stage of the cancer, and the grade of the cancer are heavily considered.  Since the tumor was small, Dr. Tittensor suggested lumpectomy followed by radiation.  If the choice was mastectomy, then radiation doesn't usually follow.  Both have benefits and draw backs, but after considering everything, we opted for lumpectomy and radiation and she agreed.  
The surgery went well.  I had about a 4-5 inch incision on the breast and a 4-5 inch incision under my arm where they examined the lymph nodes.  It turns about that the cancer had NOT spread to the lymph nodes.  Halleluiah!  She said she would call in a few days after surgery with more lab reports and let us know if the margins were clean or not.  If not, then more surgery would be necessary, possible even a mastectomy.  She did call later to report that the margins were clean and that it definitely had NOT spread to the lymph nodes.  Great, great news!

She also inserted a Power Port into my upper chest.  This is a port about the size of a quarter that will stay in my body for a year while all the treatments are given.  It has an 8 inch tube that runs into my large neck vein so that the drugs go right into my blood stream.  It is under the skin and I can swim and bath with it in.  After surgery it hurt more than the incisions, but now I am getting more use to it.  With one poke into skin covering the port they can now draw blood and also insert the IV for the chemo drips.  It makes it a lot easier and better for your arms rather than using arm veins that are much smaller.  

My dear husband has been by my side the whole time.  He isn't a fan of all this hospital stuff and he is showing great courage and determination to be with me no matter what.  I love him even more because I know how hard it is for him.  Phase 1 completed, now on to phase 2 & 3 chemo and radiation.