So much information...

Derek and I went to my pre-op appointment with the surgeon. Information overload!!! Let's start with the fact that my surgeon is really good at what she does. I've read a lot about her and it's all awesome (except for the fact that everyone says she lacks bedside manner). She uses a lot of 'doctor' terminology that can be difficult to understand at times so we kept asking her to explain what she would mean or to explain something more clearly. What we found out is that although I will ultimately be having both breasts removed, she will only be removing the one with cancer initially. With the chemotherapy working so well, it has basically eradicated the cancer from one of my lymph nodes (good news). The bad part of that is now she will need to take all of the lymph nodes because there is no way of determining which one had the cancer and if the cancer had spread to any other lymph nodes.  That scares me and worries me a little because there is the possibility of developing lymphedema. I will have to adjust things that I do in my life moving forward and will need to be hyper-aware of my body. I shouldn't do any heavy lifting with my right side and will have to do physiotherapy regularly to keep fluid moving properly through my body. I will need to learn how to massage my arm and recognize when my arm in swelling. It's something I will have to learn to cope and deal with. My potential surgery date is April 15th, but we will have to wait for confirmation from the surgeon's office. After surgery I will still need radiation which is why they will not do immediate breast reconstruction. Reconstruction will happen further down the road when radiation is completed. We will meet with our radiologist at the end of May to determine how much radiation I will need.  Initially we were told five to six week of radiation every day (not on weekends) but there is a chance we may need a little less.  We will have to wait until we meet with that doctor to know for sure. Regardless, only 15 days until my last treatment...