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Community Corner

Breast Cancer Diaries: Surgery

My harvested lymph nodes were benign. That means no cancer elsewhere in my body. Praise God!

I was very calm and confident on the day of my surgery from my faith in God and all the prayers and well wishes. Before the surgery began on Tuesday, I had a procedure done in the Comprehensive Cancer Center at the Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs. This was to pinpoint the tumor and radiate my lymph nodes. 

The mammography machine was used to find the tumor. After a local anesthesia, two hollow needles were put in my breast about one inch apart. Then wires were put inside the needles, which looked like two candy canes around the tumor. I saw how beautifully Dr. Lipkowitz did this procedure when his assistant, Barbara showed me the mammogram image. My surgeon, Dr. Lee would use the wires as a guideline to removing the tumor and the tissue around it. 

Next Dr. Lipkowitz had to inject a radioactive dye around my areola which would travel up to my lymph nodes. Suddenly my areola was like a clock for the injection spots: 12, 3, 6, and 9 o’clock. That was the most painful of all. I was told not everyone feels as much pain as I did. That’s good for them! To say that was the most discomfort I have felt is good because today, the day after surgery I am in hardly any pain.

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Next I was in the pre-op room where Dr. Lee came in and asked if I had any questions. Of course I couldn’t think of any. Then I met Dr. Feldman, the anesthesiologist. Both doctors were calm and reassuring to me. Then I was hooked into an IV and was on my way to the operating room. Soon (to me, but actually two hours later,) I was awake and in the recovery room being told to breathe deeply. This was a little difficult because of the tight bandage around my chest. My underarm was not as uncomfortable as I thought it would be. I still have complete mobility with it.

My husband told me Dr. Lee said the surgery was one of the better, smoother surgeries that she had performed. She also told him that the harvested lymph nodes were benign. That means no cancer elsewhere in my body. Praise God!

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Hopefully this diary entry was not too graphic. My intention was to let women know what to expect and to hopefully alleviate fears. But every breast cancer case it different. My experience is not everyone’s experience. Tomorrow I start five days of radiations, two times a day. 

Following the surgery, somehow I feel I have a new lease on life and I am enthusiastic about the start in my fight against cancer!

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