April 7, 2009
The morning of my surgery, I had the craziest dream. I dreamed that I was crowned Mrs. Aquafest at our town festival. John Travolta (not the Disco version, but the Hairspray version) was the headline performer. In my dream, he knew my friend H. who is also a breast cancer survivor. When he said Hi to her from the stage, I stood up and yelled "I know H., too!" Oddly, this has not been the only celebrity dream during my treatment so far. I am pretty sure it all has to do with my feeling somewhat like the center of attention right now.
The day of surgery, there are 3 procedures scheduled. The fist is a Sentinel Lymph Node Injection. This is an injection of a radioactive solution into the breast which follows the path of the tumor's drainage. It shows the surgeon which lymph nodes this particular area of the breast drains through, so that he can biopsy and determine whether there is any node involvement (spread) of the cancer. The radiologist takes images of the drain path, and makes X marks on my breast where the lymph nodes are located. The surgeon also has a hand-held device which detects the radioactive areas.
The second procedure is a Needle Wire Localization. A wire thin needle is inserted into the breast and the tip is circled around the tumor site, to show the surgeon the exact location of the tumor. After this procedure, they put a protective covering over the needle, I don a hospital gown on the top, cover myself in a blanket and they wheel me in a wheel chair to the car. Dan has to drive me to a third location for the surgery. Not exactly the parade float I might have hoped for as Mrs. Aquafest!
The surgery was a breeze after all that - I sure was looking forward to going to sleep. Of course, an instant later I was in recovery and it was all over for that day. He had removed 3 lymph nodes and about a 5 cm area in my breast. I had 2 incisions, each 3 - 4 inches. One under my arm, and one on the lower portion of my breast. Both areas were completely numb and covered with bandages.
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I hope they gave you some kind of anesthetic something before all the injections and localization needle things!!!!
ReplyDeleteGoodness you had to drive somewhere for the third part of the treatment? My gosh. MB you are great writer as I can visualize all of this from your writing!
I remember the John Travolta Dream. I wonder who else will turn up in your dreams? I really hope its a few of your favorite TV show people...like the Lost cast cause I know you watch that.... :-) Wouldnt it be cool if at the end of your treatment you dreamed about John Travolta again and this time you all karaoke'd together onstage? Ok...i know I am ridiculous and silly...
just trying to make you laugh...
Yes, I was numb during the injections and localizations, the staff was great and I felt no pain. Sadly, they do many of these each week and they have perfected it.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the laugh regarding dreams, I am secretly (well, not so secretly now, hoping for a Simon Baker dream)