Thursday September 14^th- my 28^th birthday!  I had gotten what I had wanted and hoped for.  Today was exactly 2 weeks after I had learned that I had breast cancer.  What a whirlwind!! 

Todd woke me up and made me popovers for breakfast.  They were so good- but I was having a hard time eating.  My stomach was upset… I was nervous- but didn’t know why I felt it necessary to be nervous.

I went into work and enjoyed birthday blessings from everyone there!

I wasn’t in long when I had to leave for my post-op.  I sat in the waiting room at the Elliot Breast Health Center feeling totally sick… what the heck!

We went in and I was checked out.  There was still some swelling- but everything was looking good.

We went over the pathology report again- Stage 2 cancer (because there was lymph nodes removed- if not that- it would’ve been a stage I)

Sentinel lymph node biopsy- 1 of 4 nodes positive for metastatic carcinoma- metastasis measured 0.4 cm in greatest dimension- no extranodal extension of tumor

Left breast lumpectomy- 1.5 cm in greatest dimension, margins free of invasive carcinoma- it was a close deep margin- so my doctor had gone in and removed tissue all the way to the muscle- so margins are free

Left axillary nodes- 1 of 13 nodes positive for metastatic carcinoma, metastasis measures less than 0.1cm!

Awesome news!  Happy Birthday to me!  I gave my doctor a hug and it brought me to tears.

I then got my video and equipment to do exercises to get my left arm back in the swing of things.  Also was taught about lymphodema and caring for the arm after surgery.

There are no lymph nodes under the arm – so it is very important to reduce risks of infection in that arm.

Lymphodema is swelling of the arm and could happen now, in a few years or never. 

Once that was all done- we went to talk to the Genetic Counselor that we had met with the week before.  She had done a family tree to see if there was anyone on either side of my family with breast or ovarian cancer.  My grandmother on my dad’s side died of ovarian cancer so that seemed to be a red flag to her.  It was clear that I was a candidate for genetic testing. 
Todd and I had decided to have this testing done- to better arm ourselves with information.  What will I do with this information? I’ve been asked.  If positive- I will know that this is where my cancer came from.  This how a healthy 27 year old woman got cancer.  I will also be more informed that when we have children- they will have a 50% risk of getting this gene.  If I have a daughter and she potentially has this gene- we can test her at 18 and then be more on top of her breast health screening. By then – who knows how far we’ll be in the treatment for breast cancer- or for any cancer for that matter.  I’m doing this for me and Todd and for my family and future family.  I’m not going to let this information potentialy shut me down to not having kids because I can potentially pass this on… I want to be educated about it so I can be proactive if it does happen.

I had to get blood drawn- which always makes me nervous.  I’m proned to getting dizzy- so I sat calmly and the nurse did a terrific job!  Best blood draw yet!  We should have the tests back in 3 weeks.

Todd wouldn’t just take me back to work- he wanted to take me out for a birthday lunch!  We went to Famous Daves Bar-b-Q and had a super lunch.  My appetite was back in full force!

Todd had the nerve of telling me he felt bad because he didn’t get me a card or anything yet for my birthday because we’ve been so busy.  This upset me because he had already done SO MUCH!  He had gone above and beyond the call of husbandly duty!  And I got what I wanted- clean margins!  This has been the best birthday yet!