Monday, September 12, 2011

Excited & trepedatious

I had 2 appointments in Houston today. The first was with the breast oncologist, Dr. L. The second was with my new plastic surgeon, Dr. C.

Dr. L was pleased to see me. She was also extremely pleased to hear how well Rachel is doing. She suggested for me to try yoga, pilates, accupuncture, and possibly a different medication in order to control my pain. She was very excited that Rachel was developing so well. She also let me know that they are working on projects to hopefully keep women with genetic histories like Rachel's from having to walk this journey I have walked. She was just in the news with an article about my type of cancer.

Dr. C was quite nice too. He, of course, was unsure what exactly is causing my pain. He said that the weight of my implants could be causing my pain issues, but he's never had anyone come in with the same type of pain issues I have. He gave me 3 of the same options as my local doctors. However, he added another option: another surgery but using my own tissue this time. There are a few down-sides to this option. One: it is a long and involved surgery. Two: the amount of tissue I have in my abdomen is minimal, so the resulting breast mound will be fairly small. Three: the surgery will involve some fairly intensive pain and leave at least one more scar. Four: the surgery cannot be done until December. However, this option is my best bet. So I'm scheduled. I don't know what I'm going to do until then, but that is my plan for now.

2 comments:

  1. Hopefully this will be the fix - once and for all!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hang in there Erika - you're still here with your bright smile! Love you!!!!

    ReplyDelete

My Chemo-Jane hair-style

My Chemo-Jane hair-style
I just had to have my mom buzz my hair because it was falling out so badly.

Pre-op wearing my hand-crocheted cap with my prayer shawl.

Pre-op wearing my hand-crocheted cap with my prayer shawl.
My loving husband is watching me distract myself with a game on his iPhone.

2 days after my BMX w/ 100ccs in the TEs

2 days after my BMX w/ 100ccs in the TEs
I even have a fashionable belt to hold up my drains.

3 weeks post-op w/ 400ccs in each TE

3 weeks post-op w/ 400ccs in each TE
The smile is fake because the TEs were irritating!