Surgery Stuff

🎶Let's skip to the good part. My cancer is coming OUT April 20th. (I am on a cancellation list in case anything pops up sooner.) 🙌🏼

What happens up until then? First of all, no more tests! 🎉 (✌🏼 biopsies and scans) We are quarantining as a family starting April 6th. This means N-95s out in public/work/school when necessary to be out and about and outdoor playdates. (This is to ensure I'm not sick at surgery time because otherwise it would be cancelled and they are now scheduling basically into summer.) Two weeks before surgery I can only take Tylenol as a pain reliever (it doesn't thin blood) and then the day of surgery I take a shower with a special soap to get all sanitized. I have to check in so early in the morning that fasting won't really be a problem. I have a physical therapy session before surgery to get a baseline before I go regularly post-surgery to build back up my motion and strength in my upper body. 

My double mastectomy surgery is about six hours and I will go home that night 🤯. It will be pretty straightforward unless cancer cells are detected in my lymph nodes (which so far look clean 🤞🏼). Cells will be tested while I'm under anesthesia so margins can be cleared in the same surgery and my surgeon knows how much of the lymphatic tissue to take off. Later on, after healing and treatment, I will have a deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) procedure to have some reconstruction done using my own tissue - without expanders. It will make my initial healing more comfortable. 

After surgery comes recovery. I will need to take 4-6 weeks off work and Josh will take two weeks off. Lauren's parents will help full-time for the first 10 days and then Josh's folks will come and help out (so thankful for family). We've had so many people ask how they can help and our friend Heather has generously set up a Give In Kind page for us with with meals and childcare coverage. ⬇️

https://www.giveinkind.com/inkinds/A5D0L0A

And please don't feel any pressure to contribute. (And so many family and friends have already gone above and beyond with all the things- thank you!) Happy thoughts and prayers are always just as welcome. :)

We will know full pathology results and what that means for treatment about three-four weeks post-surgery (if I need chemo and/or radiation). I'll for sure have oral hormone therapy for years to suppress estrogen, what my tumor (HR+) is currently feeding off of. 

I continue to stay positive and am just blown away by every kindness of my community. Thanks for reading!

Xx

Lauren

Pic: Quilt for breast cancer comfort by my friend Ashley, quilted with lots of love and groovy tunes infused #smashmade