Surgery, radiotherapy and other matters

Two trips to hospital in as many days have taken their toll - especially as I had to wait three hours to see the oncologist yesterday - but overall the news was good:

1. I won't need to spend a single night in hospital when I have surgery - They will perform a sentinel node biopsy, which means they will remove one lymph node (or a very small number) only. Apparently fluid from the breast goes through one node, which then 'distributes' it to other nodes. Therefore the operation will consist of a lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy and should take about 40 minutes. I'll have to go in early but will be released on the same day as it is classed as a minor operation - which feels strange as they will, after all, be removing a malignant tumour. Surgery will take place on 13 March. They'll analyse both the tumour and surrounding tissues to see if there are any pre-cancerous cells, and the node to see whether the cancer has spread. If both come back negative, that'll be it. If the node is diseased I'll have to have another operation to have them all removed (called axillary clearance). If there are pre-cancerous cells I'm not quite sure what they will do.



2. Apparently there is a correlation between how someone responds to treatment and long-term prospects - In my case, as I'm responding very well, it's all looking very good. On top of that the fact that I'll be getting Herceptin and Tamoxifen (hormone treatment) means that things could be a lot worse. Of course cancer is an unpredictable illness but there you go.

I also know what the rest of my treatment plan consists of. I will be getting radiotherapy - two weeks after surgery I'll have an appointment to see a radiotherapy consultant and I'll have to sign the consent papers. I'll hopefully be starting it within three weeks but there are no guarantees because of waiting lists. It will last between three and six weeks - usually four, according to the oncologist I saw yesterday. I'll have to go in every day for a small dose of radiation - doesn't that sound good? Then I suspect I'll be given another wee break before going onto Herceptin and Tamoxifen. She may well have told me but I switched off in the end.

I feel quite tired today but it still looks like I'm going to Kew despite the snow. I suspect I'll be paying for this but I don't care right now. My body seems to have more or less capitulated through lack of exercise - I can't walk 100 metres without getting out of breath and my muscles hurting. My oncologist told me that I should try to exercise despite the fatigue - easy to say when you've never had chemotherapy. I understand what she means but when I do try to be a bit more active I end up having to spend two to three days in bed recovering - what's the point in that? Still, I'm feeling quite positive and I've found ways of keeping busy depending on what my body's telling me - my brain's a bit fuzzy these days so I'm working on web design (and having fun in the process) rather than content. I've also done a bit of painting - abstract painting in different tones of orange, which I found quite invigorating.

I know I owe people emails and I'm slowly working on it. Hope everyone's well and thanks to those who leave messages - I enjoy knowing what's going on in your lives. (Stephanie, I will try and find out a bit more about the Chillow. I'm not sure how it works but all you need to do is fill it with lukewarm water et voila! Provides cool comfort for the whole of its lifespan).

Be good.