Plastic Surgeon Appt

WOW!!!   I had an appointment with my plastic surgeon today.  I thought we would be discussing my impending surgery and exactly how the reconstruction was going to happen.  I had my questions prepared for my recovery and felt content with my decision. 

Dr Kroniwitz then informed me that my surgical oncologist, Dr Hunt, has me scheduled for the mastectomy with delayed reconstruction not immediate reconstruction as we had thought and planned for.  I won't go into all the details of how upset I got and all of his explanations.  I will speak to Dr Hunt's PA tomorrow and figure out where the miscommunication happened.  

Dr Hunt feels that there is still a possibility that my lymph nodes may have some cancerous cells.  She does not want Dr Kronowitz to do reconstruction with that possibility.  If my lymph nodes come back with cancerous cells then radiation will be my next step or maybe another surgery to remove all the lymph nodes.  The radiation will have a negative effect on the reconstruction and it would basically need to be redone.  I would lose the ability to use the abdominal tissue - the DIEP procedure can only be performed once.

Soooo - it looks as though I might only be in the hospital one night with a much shorter recovery afterwards.  I should get the results from the lymph nodes in about a week after surgery unless they see something during surgery.  Next course of action could be radiation or the reconstruction.  Only time will tell!

I will know more after I talk to Dr Hunt's PA tomorrow.  I will try to post tomorrow before I head out to the relay.  I hope to see many of you out there!

Love you guys!

Terrie