Monday, July 13 was my surgery. I had a right mastectomy to remove the DCIS (cluster of calcifications in the duct). I have never had surgery and it was a bit nerve racking. I really didn't like the idea of being put under. It was a really long day as my surgery was scheduled for 1:00 and was delayed until 3:00. There was a lot of time of just sitting in a hospital bed waiting. Surgery ended around 8:00 pm. I didn't come out of anesthesia well. It wasn't fun but after 6 hours the drugs were out of my system and I felt much better. I was discharged the next morning.
On Wednesday, I received a phone call with my pathology report from the mastectomy. A nurse called and told me that everything came back negative. There was no cancer found in my lymph nodes and no cancer found outside of the ductal walls. This meant the cancer was not invasive and I would not need additional treatment. I was so relieved. Tears of relief washed over me. It was the news we expected but now it was for real. I called those who knew of my situation and relayed the good news.
On Monday of the next week, I went in to meet with my surgeon. She said we needed to talk about my pathology report. I was completely blindsided by what happened next. She read and showed me a very different pathology report than the one read to me over the phone. The pathology report she had, said that invasive cancer was found. A small tumor of 9mm was found outside of the ductal wall. No cancer was found in the lymph nodes which was good news. However, this tumor was HER2 positive. It was small, but aggressive and needed aggressive treatment. She could not tell me what exactly the treatment would be, as that would have to come from the oncologist, but she said that chemotherapy would be needed.
I can't explain how devastating this felt. How had the pathology been read to me wrong again? My surgeon felt bad and was going to speak with the nurse but nothing could change my report. For a week I had to wait to see the oncologist to know what all this would mean for me. So for a week I felt numb and scared. I researched all I could on HER2 positive breast cancer and was terrified. I had a friend connect me with two wonderful ladies who had recently had breast cancer and that was helpful to hear their stories but I didn't know what mine would be. For a week, I really felt I had been handed a death sentence. If the cancer was not going to get me this year, it would be back and get me at some point.
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