The Results of The Lump and Lymph Nodes

The 2 weeks following my discharge from hospital before I got my results passed surprisingly quickly.

The main thing we were waiting to find out was whether or not the Cancer had spread to the Lymph nodes as we knew this would lead to more complications and Chemotherapy which I had previously been told would be unecessary.

This time both Jay and my mum came in to see the consultant with me (Mr Agarwal again).
The Breast Care nurse Gill was also present to help explain anything we didn't understand.

The first thing he said was "We found 2 types of Cancer present" I took this to mean the lump and the Lymph nodes and couldn't hold back the tears.
However it turned out he was just reclarifying what we already knew - invasive and non-invasive.
He went on to say that they had removed 6 lymph nodes and they were all clear - thank God.

However, to be classed as a sucessful removal, the tissue needs to have at least 5mm of Cancer free cells at the perimeter. This was not the case in 3 areas of my tumour.

My tumour ended up being 4.1cm in diameter and was classed as Grade 3 Cancer.

What this means is that as I have such small breasts they would not be able to go in and "shave" any more tissue without major disfigurement and potentially be unsucessful anyway. So the only option was to put me forward for a Mastectomy.

For me this immediately brought images to my mind of the typical diagonal slash scar, however it was quickly explained to me that I would be suitable to have an immediate reconstruction i.e. in the same operation they would remove my boob and build me a new one at the same time! This way I would never be awake with only one boob - hooray!

This bit of information filled me with a surprising feeling - Joy

I can't explain it other than I have never had particular love for my breasts they have always played second fiddle to my bum and I do not have any emotional attachment to them as some women do.
When I asked my Breast care nurse if there would be any possibility of them making my boob bigger than it currently is when they rebuilt it (and obviously do something to the other side to keep me balanced) she said "almost definately" I was elated - honestly - a free boob job!!

It was explained to me however with this new information I would now need to have a course of Chemotherapy, but the Radiotherapy that I was initially told I'd have to have would no longer be necessary. So Swings and roundabouts - Chemo I hear is the better option of the 2 so lucky me!

I left the consulting room with a smile on my face that day :)