I am ready for my #cancerfree life.  This past Friday on February 10th I had my  lumpectomy surgery, it went as smooth as possible.  I had my surgery scheduled for 11:45am and I wondered why they had told me to get there at 7am.  To prepare for the long wait I charged my IPad overnight and even packed a book.  As soon as we got to Northwestern I was immediately taken to nuclear medicine.  I was injected with a dye in my left breast and placed in a scanner that took multiple images.  The purpose of this pre-op was to track the cancer if it were to spread.  This is done so the surgeon knows exactly what lymph nodes to biopsy.   This took about an hour and 4 lymph nodes lit up which were then marked.  After nuclear medicine I was taken to Radiology for my needle localization.  This is where the radiologist placed me in a mammogram to mark where the tumor was.  They placed 3 needles around my now gone tumor site and where calcifications still existed.  This took 2 tries but I had the best Radiologist on my case and she did such an amazing job again.  (She also performed my original biopsy to detect my cancer)  After radiology they let me know that as soon as Dr. Hansen my surgeon got the biopsy for my lymph nodes they would be tested right away and we would know if the cancer had spread or not.  I was then wheeled into pre-op.  My anesthesiologist came in to let me know what was going to happen during my procedure and what medications would be administered.  My nurse started my IV, the surgeon came and the next thing I knew I woke up in recovery.

After I woke up my surgeon walked in and let me know that all 4 lymph nodes were NEGATIVE and the cancer did not spread.  She also, as expected, had a very successful lumpectomy and told me to follow-up with her in a week.  I was ecstatic and told the nurse I was ready to go home.  She giggled at me and told me I needed to rest for at least 30 minutes.  After an hour she wheeled me into another recovery room where Bar was waiting for me and immediately said I could go home whenever I was ready.  We left the hospital around 230pm and made our way home.  The days following I felt soreness at the site and swelling, all normal responses.  Its amazing to see what allopathic medicine is capable of, I don’t have a single scar and all my stitches are internal so they will heal on their own.

I am ready to move on and leave all of this behind me.  One main thing I wanted to feel normal with is my appearance.  It is crazy to think what the human body goes through and what a toll it can take on your face.  The person you are seeing in the mirror is not someone you recognize.  Luckily there are so many ways especially as a female to help with this-fake eyelashes, fake hair and of course make-up.  I took before and after photos to show the reality of Cancer.  But luckily it being 6 weeks from my last chemo session I have started to see significant changes.   My hair is starting to sprout, my eyebrows are coming back and the amazing drug Latisse is getting my eyelashes on point.

I am unable to work because of the location of my surgery and the healing process.  I will be out of the office for 3 weeks so after recovering for 10 days our surgeon cleared us to travel.  Next week we leave for Bali- a county of serenity, natural medicine, beautiful weather and a place that will make us look forward to what our future holds-a cancer free life.