I saw the surgeon yesterday and there wasn't a lot of necrotic tissue that he could clean out. He and his nurse were also quite impressed to see how much the area had changed in just one week. No more raised mound, no more Mount Herminator. The area now looks more or less like the right side. Except of course, it has a deep wound that goes down to the chest wall - about 4 cm.
It isn't draining as much. If the plastic surgeon is available, it looks like I may have the surgery in December, after the next round of Abraxane.
Also, more of the satellite tumors seem to be shrinking and disappearing as is the swollen lymph nodes elsewhere in my body.
Had lunch yesterday at Pastini's with the other models from Puttin' on the Pink (now, POP for short). I thought there was only four of us, but it ended up being about 11! It was fun! Randy Millstein, our photographer, was also there and he distributed CD's of photos of the night, including me doing the shimmy-like surf move! AS soon as I can download the photos, I will post them.
Another of the models, M, knit a pink winter hat for me. And, my colleague N gave me a new scarf and earrings plus she gave me four more beautiful scarves on long-term loan.
Eddie and I are heading to Bend today, for the night. We'll see a friend and colleague there - she has a new baby girl. I think we'll also talk about work some. And, I'll take Eddie to Sun Mountain Fun Center to play at the Arcade. We may even play in the snow. Another friend, B., who went to the coast with me last month, will join us for the trip.
All in all, life continues to be good. Good news on the cancer front; friends are giving me gifts again; I get to celebrate life this week-end. I love holidays!
A big thank you to M and N for the gifts! As I've said before and I'm sure I've said again, I have great friends!
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Wow
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2 comments:
Dee,
This is the kind of news I like to hear. Have you been radiated on the side where Mount Herminator used to be? I had surgery after my abscess failed to heal. I was not very good at restricting my activity and I ripped everything back out. I am not sure if it would have ever healed from the surgery. A wound vac did the trick. It brings the tissues together and allows everything to knit. It was a pain in the butt, however. If the area has not been radiated, then surgery has a much better prognosis. (And of course, I pulled out all the stitches while I was playing tennis--so I will never know if potentially the surgery could have worked. But the skin was so thin, the stitches just would not hold.
I am so glad that you are doing better.
Hi Joanna,
No, this area has never been radiated, so they are quite hopeful that the surgery and plastic surgery will do the trick to replace all the dead tissue.
The more amazing news is that even more of the satellite tumors have disappeared! Yay!
I had to wear a wound vac for about a week about two years ago, after radiation shrunk my breast tissue so much that it caused the tissue expander to burst. Then the surgeon had to take out the tissue expander and I ended up with a big cavity. I called it the "Bat Cave"! LOL
Anyway, things are continuing to go well! Hope you are well!
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