Surgery Update: February 6th at St. John's Hospital in Maplewood
As many of you already know, I was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this month. I have two types of cancer: a DCIS and a invasive ductal cancer. The first is one that's contained in the duct, the latter started in the duct and has spread to the surrounding tissue. The cancer is estrogen receptive, which means estrogen fuels it's growth, so I will be doing hormone therapy post surgery. We also know it's a grade II. Cancer's are graded on a scale of 1 to 3 with 1 being slow growing and 3 being fast growing. This tumor is somewhere in the middle. We'll find out the stage of the cancer (i.e., how far it's spread) when I go in for surgery next week, though staging isn't nearly as important anymore as it once was. It's really more about the pathology of the tumor that impacts the outcomes. The surgeon, Dr. Ogren, and radiologist both feel confident that it hasn't spread beyond the breast as this. We're keeping our fingers crossed that it hasn't.
Since we last communicated with folks via email, we've decided to do a double mastectomy. I found out after our initial meeting with the surgeon that my odds of getting breast cancer in the healthy breast are in the 20% range. I'm 38 and have many years to live. We don't want to go through this again!!! We've also opted to do immediate reconstruction, which is a misnomer as it takes up to year to rebuild. More on that process later as it's fascinating.
I will be in the hospital at least one night, maybe more. After that, I'll be at home and will need to minimize my movements. I've heard that I won't even be able to brush my own teeth. Crazy. I'm going to connect in with some folks who've been through this to get more details.
3.5 on the Dauber Scale
The Wisconsin Lynch's came up with a brilliant 5-pt scale to quickly communicate how your feeling - 1 being awful and 5 being stupendous. Tom and I are both at about a 3.5 on Dauber Scale. We feel optimistic about our prognosis and are viewing this as a bump in our journey.
I think my mother in-law's - Sue - description of the Dauber Scale that she sent me a few weeks ago is awesome. It also gives you an insight into what an upbeat and funny lady she is (you are, Sue!):
"Hey Lisa! I've got this idea....First off, I looked up the word Dauber, now that's it's out in the Lynch family lexicon. Wendy and I were a little nervous about the actual definition. didn't want funny looks shot our way after using the word...Well, it means Spirits. Phew. So, if you don't mind, during your future "adventure", let's use Dauber as our code word for how you are feeling- physically and emotionally. As in, hey, Lisa, how's your dauber today? We'll use a scale of 1-5, 5 being Tops! You can also use + and - if you wish. This dauber scale could save a whole lot of jig-jagging and poly-razmatazzing about your well-being. If you think this is the dumbest thing you've ever heard, just say the word. I promise it will not affect MY dauber. Love, Sue"So how's your Dauber today?
