(no subject)

[the_rck]

I finally emailed my surgeon's office last night to ask what was going on with the pathology report, and the nurse called me this morning to tell me the results. The lymph nodes were all clean which almost certainly means no chemo. The tumor itself was smaller than the mammogram showed, about two thirds the size-- 1.5 cm. It was entirely invasive mucinous which, if I understand correctly, is about the best form of invasive breast cancer I could have had. It's pretty rare, only about 2% of tumors are mucinous, but the really good thing about it is that that type pretty much never spread beyond the confines of the initial tumor. The tumor will grow, but it won't spawn anything else.

I don't know yet what all of this means, going forward. I'm to go in next Monday afternoon to find out. My case will be presented to the tumor board that morning, and they'll come up with a consensus recommendation as to what to do next. I'll probably see my surgeon's nurse rather than my surgeon because he has surgery scheduled that day and might still be in the midst of that when I come in. I'm hoping that I'm to see the nurse because things aren't going to be particularly complicated, but who knows?

Scott is trying to get Monday afternoon off. He thinks he'll be able to, but he can't promise. I've told him that I'm good to go on my own if it comes to that. I suppose I could ask Scott's sister if I really want someone with me, and it might be a good idea to have someone if what comes next is going to be complicated. My impression is that things aren't likely to be complicated, but I really don't know.

Scott is a little worried that the biopsy wound might be infected. I don't think that it is, but I'm going to start washing it every day with antibacterial soap, just in case. Basically, it's still leaking a bit, and there's an underlying layer of something white and solid in there. I don't think it's an actual infection-- I washed thoroughly last night, in the shower, with water running over that bit of me for quite a while, and it stayed looking exactly the same. Also, my breast isn't hot to the touch or red. It is swollen and bruised and painful to touch, but that's true of all parts of the stupid thing, not just the parts near the biopsy.

Cordelia is still finding her feet in terms of dealing with the new school routine. She's not sure that going early to see her friends is worthwhile-- One of the buses is now dropping kids off at the back of the school which is hard for her to get to. The other bus has been consistently late to arrive. That leaves her with one friend who's going to be biking to school as long as the weather's good.

Scott and Cordelia went out last night to buy her a bunch of composition books. She knew she needed one for social studies and thought it couldn't hurt to pick one up for each of her classes, excluding orchestra. She also wanted some pencils and a sharpener. One of the main classrooms doesn't have any sort of pencil sharpener, and her teacher has been very specific that work must be done in pencil, not in pen. It seems like a major oversight that a newly constructed classroom wouldn't have a pencil sharpener.

Scott expects to work late on Friday, have Saturday off, and work Sunday. I think I'm going to set a wake up alarm for Saturday so that he can get to the car dealership. We need to get this car business taken care of soon, and he's not willing to do it after work during the week. I think there's also a basic problem-- He very much doesn't want to take on more debt and keeps second guessing himself as to what the best course of action is.

Comments

[kyrielle]

I'm glad the pathology results were good! That's excellent news.

As far as the biopsy, *tell your doctor ASAP*. It may or may not be infected. It may or may not be fine, if it's not infected. Let the doctor know what you're seeing and let them figure out whether to worry. :)

[the_rck]

I emailed last night and talked to a nurse this morning. She concluded that there's nothing to worry about. There is a senior surgical oncology resident on call all weekend, so I have that to fall back on if anything changes.

[lemon_badgeress]

SO happy to hear about your pathology report!

It sounds like your biopsy wound is under too much strain -- that white layer //might// be a type of tissue that forms when flesh that needs to knit together to heal is being pulled apart by gravity or whatnot. You might need a couple stitches. (given I cannot see it, this is only one possibility, but it doesn't sound like an infection to me). I'd call back tomorrow and tell them about it, they might not want to wait until Monday to look at it.

[the_rck]

I emailed last night (infinitely easier on me than calling). I talked to a nurse this morning. She didn't seem worried about the biopsy wound at all. I'll have whoever I see on Monday take a look, and I'm going to wash it every day between now and then.

When I type on my smartphone I make loads of typos

[falena]

Yay about the good pathology results.

I'd ring my doctor about the wound, if I were you. Just to err on the side of caution.

Re: When I type on my smartphone I make loads of typos

[the_rck]

I emailed last night while I was up due to reflux. I'm terrible at making phone calls and tend to keep putting them off until I can't put them off any longer.

At any rate, one of the nurses called, and she doesn't think I have anything to worry about. I will ask whoever I see on Monday to take a look at everything.

Re: When I type on my smartphone I make loads of typos

[falena]

That's good to know. Hope today's visit will just confirm it's nothing to worry about.

[coneyislandbaby]

I'm so glad your pathology results are good. Still sending you all the good wishes I have.

[evalerie.livejournal.com]

I have the impression that mechanical pencils are more of a "thing" than they used to be. My kids use them a lot. I found a 72-pack of them at Costco for super cheap this year, so in theory I now have enough pencils to last until they go away to college. Anyway, my point is that they don't need sharpening, which might be nice for a classroom that doesn't have a sharpener.

**hugs** about the car decision. I hear ya. Would your family consider buying a used car, so that you're not taking on as big a car debt? Just curious. I always prefer used cars, so that I'm not paying for the huge depreciation of the car's first year, while I think Jan preferred new.

[the_rck]

I know Scott thought about a used car, but what he wants is specific enough that finding it used might be challenging. There's also the trade off that used cars don't tend to last as long before needing to be replaced in turn. I don't know. I'm leaving it up to Scott. Our last car was new, but all of our previous cars were used.

I'll ask Cordelia if she wants mechanical pencils. She might be old enough to keep track of one. Then again, there's one of her classmates who likes to steal other people's stuff. She gives it back eventually, but it's... difficult.

[daegaer.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad to hear you probably won't need chemo! And the non-spreading nature of the tumor sounds very hopeful. I hope you get good news on Monday!

[the_rck]

Thanks!