Surgery Date Set

I just realized that I haven't updated in a while, so here's a quick update.
I am scheduled for surgery tomorrow (Monday Nov 12). My white blood cell counts were at 3.7 (normal is 4.0-11.0). My plastic surgeon would not have performed the surgery at 3.5, but I made the cut and that's all that "counts". 😉 My Oncologist said it could take a year for counts to normalize from chemo. Speaking of chemo, my eyelashes are falling out AGAIN 😫 almost 6 months post chemo.  That's getting a little old especially since I've lost count on how many times I've lost them.  BUT, I'm still so incredibly thankful for that poison.

Surgery tomorrow is to swap out the rock hard tissue expanders for silicone implants and fat grafting. Fat grafting is liposuction that transplants fat to the breast area since the double mastectomy took every ounce of fat in that area. My surgeon had warned me that I did not have enough fat and would need me to gain some weight. Soooooooooo, being the good patient that I am... I gained 5 kilos (MD Anderson weighs in kilos instead of pounds). Loved every bit of it too! 😋  Apparently, it's not enough and he's pretty confident I'll have to have another surgery down the road. I am just so excited that I'll be done with the bulk of my treatment after this surgery. A year ago, I could only think about 1 single chemo treatment at a time. The mastectomy, year long Hercetpin and phase II of reconstruction was just too far away (and daunting) for me to even think about.

Is it strange that I'm looking forward to the surgery sleep that tomorrow will bring? 😂 I welcome prayers and positive vibes for a quick and easy recovery. I'll update next week sometime. 💗

PS/. Almost forgot an update. After the CT scan I had in October, I was referred to a gastrointestinal doctor at MD Anderson.  Since the cyst in my pancreas has remained stable for a year and is only 5mm, he wants to continue to monitor once a year via CT scan. He said it's likely pre-cancerous but did not feel a biopsy was necessary (would only do one if larger than 1cm). Just thankful that he didn’t feel it was anything that needed to be addressed right away because I would have thrown a temper tantrum. 😜

Stylish  CT scan outfit

Funny how this little machine can cause so much anxiety. 

Hard to believe this all happened in the last 365 days.

CT Scan Update

My nurse emailed me today and let me know that my CT scan didn't find any cancer. YEAH!!!! 💃 The 4mm lung lesion that they found a year ago had resolved itself. However, the 5mm cyst in my pancreas is still there. Thankfully, she said that "cysts are usually benign" and that it had not changed in size. They will be referring me to a Gastrointestinal doctor at MD Anderson (because I don't have enough!!! 😂) that will decide how we should move forward.

I'll get a call within the next 2 weeks to schedule my exchange surgery where they will swap the expanders for implants. One of the MANY great things about MD Anderson is the fact that they schedule every single appointment for me.  The scheduler coordinates with the different departments (oncology, reconstructive surgery, chemo suite, scans, blood etc...), and they make my appointment on days that I'll already be there. I feel so lucky that all I have to do, is just show up. One less thing to worry about!

It has almost been 5 months since my last chemo and hair is growing! I even got my first haircut since I shaved it in February (first shave was in Dec. 2017). I have dreams about my hair being as long as it was! I'm hoping that I can be done with wigs and hats by next October.

Thank you to the beautiful souls in my life that continue to check on me!! I feel the love and I'm so grateful for it. 💓

Update

I met with my Oncologist last week and it was a good visit.  I love him and his personality is exactly the type of doctor that I need. He doesn't focus on statistics and always finds a super sweet way to respond when I corner him with reoccurrence questions.
I've been cleared to return to my regular checkups (i.e., the dentist and the OBGYN. Ya know? All the fun doctors. 🙄).  I am not scheduled to see my Oncologist again until the end of January . I made sure they scheduled it after my birthday. I spent my 41st birthday getting chemotherapy this past January, so I'm determined to plan something fun this coming year.

This week, I get to see my plastic surgeon.  This means that I should have my exchange surgery scheduled in the near future. 🙌 I will also have another echocardiogram to make sure Herceptin isn't causing any heart damage. Please pray that everything looks good so that I can continue getting treatment. On Friday, I'll have a CT scan to check on a "small 4 mm nodule" in my lung as well as a "small 5 mm cystic lesion" in the pancreas that they spotted last year.  The preparation and scan should take 3 hours. Funny how I had already forgotten how lengthy that type of scan can be.  Scans are always scary for anyone that's every been diagnosed. However, for some reason, I'm feeling really relaxed and confident that everything will look good. I just can't allow my mind to wander too much.
I'll update as soon as I know the results. 😘