Thursday, June 6 - The past few days my drains have produced less and less fluid. Drain 2 had been producing about 5 ml the past few days, so I knew that one was coming out for sure.They were both under 30 ml on Saturday evening. I'm thinking, oh boy, this means I'll get to have both pulled. Not so fast. Sunday night Drain #1 decided to produce 39 ml. I called the nurse on Monday and we scheduled an appointment to have Drain 2 pulled on Wednesday. This, along with the hope that Drain 1 would give me less than 30 ml the next 2 days. Happy dance! On Tuesday night I had 2 readings in a row of 20 ml on Drain 1. So I knew they were both coming out. Goodbye and good riddance!
I was actually dreading this procedure even though I was told it wouldn't hurt. So in preparation, I took some pain meds before heading in. We got to the doctors office, they told me to take a deep breath and the next thing I knew, they were out. It was a really weird feeling but did not hurt in the least. My scar had started blistering a little bit from the tape, so Donna (the nurse) applied some polysporin and covered it with gauze. The port holes looked good and I was told they would close in a couple of days. I can start to raise my arm now and do a little bit more reaching. I am still not to lift over 10 pounds until I get clearance from the surgeon. That visit will happen Monday, June 10.
Now on to today's visit with the Radiation Oncologist, Dr. Robert Frazier. This was our initial consultation with him. He told me that radiation is done after a successful surgery and chemo when greater than four lymph nodes are positive for cancer and the size of the tumor is greater than 5 cm. Well, I definitely fall into that category. I will have 33 treatments, Monday through Friday, starting probably the 1st or 2nd week of August. They will treat all 4 levels of the lymph node area to make sure they get any rogue cancer cells that may be lurking as well as the mastectomy site. I will see the doctor once a week during this time.
He went over the side effects and risks that are associated with radiation. The most common is the fatigue which is cumulative for most people. Again, everyone is different, so we don't know for sure. I should expect a really red area where its treated and they will give me a cream to use after treatments. There is a risk of blistering which they can also treat.
He then went into detail on the treatment planning session called a simulation. I will go to Mercy Hospital - Washington in the middle of July for this session. A CT scan will be taken of my chest area up to my neck do define the treatment area and get a picture of my anatomy in this area. I will get 3 tattoo marks to line up the beams on the machine during radiation.
I will also have a mold made that helps me stay in the same position each treatment and to keep me from moving during therapy.
So other than the aggravation of having to drive over there everyday, it doesn't sound too bad.
"I can do all things through him who strengthens me. [Philippians 4:13]
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