Adventures at MD Anderson

On Tuesday, I had a 20 minute appointment with the Plastic Surgery department.  I still couldn't drive and the boys are out of school for summer break. So, I asked my dad to take me and the boys (trying to minimize the amount of time Joe has to take off work). The boys would finally be able to see the hospital where I had been receiving treatment instead of imagining a scary place. It was a positive, short visit, so why not?
My dad and boys sat in the waiting room while I went in to my appointment to remove drains and fill my expanders. They took my last 2 drains (day 13 post surgery and the first 2 drains on day 8). Then, began to fill my right expander with a saline solution. For those interested, here is a link to a video of this type of procedure.  I find it so interesting and watched my procedure the entire time. Suddenly, the room started to get dark. I told the nurse that I may faint and went to sleep. The best sleep I've ever experienced! 😂
When I woke up, I was so confused. I didn't recognize the nurse, didn't know where I was or why my robe was open. 😳 After a couple of seconds it all made sense. I thought I fainted but the nurse said it looked like a seizure. She said I tensed up, clenched my fists, turned my face to the side and my face got red. That bit of information along with low blood pressure/low heart rate and I won my first trip to an Emergency Room. In an ambulance, nonetheless!!! I was already in a hospital but apparently they can't take stretchers down the skywalk. So, they put me in the ambulance, the driver did a donut in the parking lot (or so it seemed)  and took me into the ER. I must have been in the ambulance for 22 seconds.
I felt sooo dramatic. I mean, I've had hundreds of needles since diagnosis, biopsies, port surgery while awake, chemotherapy, X-rays, MRI's, CT scans, a double mastectomy and NO ISSUES. They stick a tiny needle in my boob and I end up in the ER. Oh and they sent me home with one inflated boob. 😂  Comical situation but I felt TERRIBLE that my dad and boys had to experience something other than an uneventful visit. I'm sure it seemed scarier from their perspective, too. Of course, Joe dropped everything at work and showed up even though I asked him not to... So much for trying to avoid him missing yet another work day because of me. 😒
All tests came normal and I was referred to a Cardiologist but I'm sure things are fine!

Waiting in an 8th floor waiting room at MDA.

This is a video of how long I was in the ambulance. 😜

Pathology Results

We've had to be at the hospital more than usual lately. Tons of post op appts, but I will continue to happily do whatever Md Anderson wants me to do.  One of the appointments was to receive surgical pathology results. Going into the appointment, I was convinced that the results would be good but the only results I wanted to hear were "pathological complete response". Out of all of the good news scenarios (and there are lots), this was the best scenario of all. This meant that chemotherapy and the HER2 drugs had worked 100% and that there were ZERO cancer cells left. I had read several clinical studies regarding statistics and patients that received "pathological complete response". Basically...

Patients who attain pathological complete response defined as ypT0 ypN0 (<---my results) or ypT0/is ypN0 have improved survival. The prognostic value is greatest in aggressive tumour subtypes. 
The aggressive tumor subtypes are triple negative and HER2 positive (<--my diagnosis 🙋). Link to one of the studies, if you are nerdy like me! 🤓 

For obvious reasons, that's all I wanted to hear...However, I also knew that it would be unlikely considering I could still feel the tumor until the day of surgery. The ultrasound the day before the surgery also showed that the mass was still roughly around 2 centimeters. Our anxiety level the morning of the appointment was at an 8. To add to the anticipation, my doctor was an hour late. She walked in with a smile, hugged me and said "well, I've got your pathology results and they are great. There were no microscopic cancer cells found in your tissue or lymph nodes. This is what you call "pathological complete response". The amount of relief I felt in that moment was immense. Eight months worth of relief. So much water squirted out of my eyes, that I must have looked like a sprinkler system. According to Joe, his eyeballs were just sweating.  😂 Turns out, the mass I was feeling and what the ultrasound was seeing, was just scar tissue...

This journey is not over but we are BEYOND happy and thankful. I meet with my Medical Oncologist on Monday to determine what happens next in terms of treatment. I do know that I'll have to continue my HER2 drugs (administered via my port every 3 weeks at the hospital) until March 2019. But at this point, I'll be happy even if he says I have to do more chemo and/or radiation for safe measure. I am already bald, so bring it Dr. Ibrahim! 😉

10 Days Post Surgery

Well, the Neupongen shot worked. It worked so well, that my doctors had to discuss whether or not it was normal for my Neutrophil Abs (white blood cells) to jump from 1.2 to 27 overnight. I was able to have a Bilateral Prophylactic Mastectomy on Wednesday June 6th. The Surgical Oncologist spent around 3 hours performing the  mastectomy and left the remaining 3 hours for my Plastic Surgeon. It's so much easier to be the patient. I got to drift off to another planet while Joe and my Mom and Dad waited for updates on the 6 hour surgery.  As soon as I woke up from surgery, all I wanted was to see their faces.

Joe spent the night with me at MD Anderson on a very comfortable recliner. 😬 Again, the patient is better off.  Thankfully, it was only one night and we were home by noon the next day with my 4 humongous drains. Around day 4, I was feeling so well that I decided I would stop taking my prescription pain meds and only take Tylenol. Bad idea, because pain and nausea kicked in quickly.  I went back to my prescription medications and have been able to stay on top of the pain so far. I can't lift anything over 5 pounds so the boys have been helping me with everything. My mom has been my personal nurse and taking care of my drains twice a day. 💜  On Thursday (day 8), I had my first post op appointment with my Plastic Surgeon.  He was able to remove 2 drains and replace the 2 remaining drains with smaller bulbs. I can actually wear a shirt that will cover the 2 new drains. Great progress!!!! 😄

I'm scheduled to go back to MDA on Monday to discuss the pathology report with my Surgical Oncologist. A bit anxious about it, but not as bad as I had anticipated. I'm hopeful that the results will be good.  Then, I go back on Tuesday to hopefully have the last 2 drains removed and begin to have my expanders filled. 👏👏
I'll have one more surgery in a couple of months for a continuation on the reconstruction part, but I am just so glad to have this big one behind me.

My boys told me yesterday "Mom, it's not your birthday and you get something every single day". To say I'm grateful would be an understatement. I feel speechless and overwhelmed with love.
I'm so thankful for the calls and messages checking in to see how I'm doing, the uplifting cards, the flowers and fruit arrangements, the meals, the gift cards, the outpouring of help, the gifts- all of it! Most of all, I'm thankful for the amount of love that goes into each gesture. Thank you!!!! I am a very lucky girl! 💖

I will update on Monday or Tuesday after the appointments.  Wish me luck and feel free to throw in a prayer or two!

Not my pee pan... 😛

Surgery Update

I counted 11 appointments at MD Anderson between yesterday and today. Just regular pre-op appointments, scans and tests. I was surprised (and very disappointed) when my Plastic Surgeon informed me that he wouldn't perform surgery on me due to low white blood cell counts. My team later decided to give me a Neupogen shot. This shot was administered in my stomach and is supposed to stimulate bone marrow to help produce more white cells. At this point, I'm scheduled for surgery at 12:30pm tomorrow (June 6th), but first I'll have blood drawn to check my white cell count.
Never (EVER) thought I would pray for higher blood counts, so that I can have a double mastectomy. 😲

I'll update tomorrow if surgery has to be postponed OR in the next week or so, if surgery ends up taking place.