Finally....results of MRI and a consult with a surgeon

Finally the results of the MRI - a few highlights:

• Right breast is fine
• Left breast has two other suspicious areas
• Didn't say anything about lymph nodes
• Didn't say anything about what stage

The funny thing is that I got all the information over the phone from my gyn doctor's office.  I was frantically taking notes because Dave was on a work call and I didn't want to forget to tell him anything.  I wrote "4th area, superior to cancerous area, near aereola, might have spread".  He read the notes and frantically started packing us up to get ready to see our first surgeon consult.  (Back to this story in a minute....)

I loved the breast surgeon at Rochester General:  Dr. Medeiros.  Sorry, I butchered that name on my last update.  She is the director of breast surgery and Dave got us in there for an immediate appointment through a work contact. She did a visual and breast exam first - to get a good idea of the kind of surgery we were looking at.  As she was doing this, Dave was asking a million questions....namely, if the cancer had spread to other areas of my body.  At this point she said she had no reason to believe that it did.  She left the room for me to get dressed and Dave let out the BIGGEST SIGH OF RELIEF.  I was like ????????  He said that when he read my notes from the morning, it said the MRI showed that the cancer had spread into my AORTA.   Now go back up and reread the underlined part.  He read "aereola" as "aorta" and thought the cancer had spread to my heart.  He was quite worked up over this.  We've been laughing over this ever since.

Back to the surgeon's recommendations:  I am looking at a rough-looking lumpectomy or a mastectomy with breast reconstruction.   I'm having genetic testing to see if I have a predisposition to breast cancer.  If I do, I will have a bi-lateral mastectomy.  She would not be able to tell if my lymph nodes are affected until she removes them during surgery and has them tested.  If they are positive for cancer, I would be looking at chemotherapy.  If not, I may get away without chemo.  I may be a candidate for Tamoxifen for 5+ years instead. Radiation is to be determined.  Stage of cancer is to be determined after surgery - most likely I am stage 2b.  I have an 85% chance of living for 5 more years.  Sweet, right? :).....nothing like an honest discussion about your life span.  Breast reconstruction would involve a spacer placed behind my chest muscle that is slowly expanded over 2-3 months until it is the right size for an implant. First surgery could be in about 3-4 weeks, with an overnight hospital stay and out of work for 6 weeks.  Then the second (breast reconstruction) surgery would be a few months later and I would be out of work for about 2 weeks. 

Dave and I went to lunch and shared a carafe of wine.....and had philosophical discussions.  Fun times. I've been in denial, but this is becoming a little more real to me.

On the horizon:  I meet with a plastic surgeon on Monday.  I get 2 more second opinions on Tuesday (Dr. Caldwell and Dr. Hetland).  Then a week from that I head to Cleveland Clinic to consult with a surgeon, oncologist, radiologist, and plastic surgeon.  I'm exhausted from today's information - not sure I can do this several more times.

But, looking on the bright side, I don't have cancer of the aorta! :)

And in the meantime, Dave is enjoying looking at pictures of breast reconstruction.  Sigh. :) :)