Journal entry by Jessica Ramirez Sole —
I had my follow up appointment on Tuesday with the oncology surgeon (Dr Suthers) and the reconstruction surgeon (Dr Martinovic). Bottom line - the cancer was removed with clear margins. Woo-hoo!
After my last post, the steri-strips on my incisions went into full blown allergic reaction. I had red, ITCHY and water blisters throughout the length of both incisions. So, I ended up with a Saturday morning call with Dr Martinovic. She had me take the steri-strips off and told me to use my steroid cream to try calm it down. As soon as they were off, I could feel relief. It still itched, but not a lose-your-sanity level. You can see exactly where the glue was on my skin.
So at my appointment Tuesday, Dr Martinovic says with a wince, "don't ever let me use steri-strips on you again." She wrote a new rx for cortisone cream, and because my skin was still red and broken from the blisters, she did not start filling the expanders. My drains were doing well, and she anticipates removing them next week.
Then I met with Dr Suthers, and she had the pathology report. They did find a secondary cancer in my ducts (DCIS), which is what Paget's is known for so this wasn't unexpected at all. The DCIS was not invasive, and they got it with clear margins. WHEW. It was a grade 3, which is high reoccurrence likelihood. And my estrogen and progesterone receptors (ER/PR) were both negative, so hormone therapies would not work for me. However, we will talk more with the medical oncologist next week about all of that, and what (if anything) that means for me.
So, more to come next week with oncology and hopefully a positive step forward with reconstruction. In the meantime, I've started back to work from home mostly full time again. My incisions look great, and the redness looks a ton better. They were diagonal, so they make a V on my chest. I'm very sore on the outer part of my chest, right under my armpit area, and in the muscle just inside of my shoulder, above my chest. All in all, moving right along and so grateful for the positive pathology report. Even more grateful for the love and support of some pretty awesome family and friends.
After my last post, the steri-strips on my incisions went into full blown allergic reaction. I had red, ITCHY and water blisters throughout the length of both incisions. So, I ended up with a Saturday morning call with Dr Martinovic. She had me take the steri-strips off and told me to use my steroid cream to try calm it down. As soon as they were off, I could feel relief. It still itched, but not a lose-your-sanity level. You can see exactly where the glue was on my skin.
So at my appointment Tuesday, Dr Martinovic says with a wince, "don't ever let me use steri-strips on you again." She wrote a new rx for cortisone cream, and because my skin was still red and broken from the blisters, she did not start filling the expanders. My drains were doing well, and she anticipates removing them next week.
Then I met with Dr Suthers, and she had the pathology report. They did find a secondary cancer in my ducts (DCIS), which is what Paget's is known for so this wasn't unexpected at all. The DCIS was not invasive, and they got it with clear margins. WHEW. It was a grade 3, which is high reoccurrence likelihood. And my estrogen and progesterone receptors (ER/PR) were both negative, so hormone therapies would not work for me. However, we will talk more with the medical oncologist next week about all of that, and what (if anything) that means for me.
So, more to come next week with oncology and hopefully a positive step forward with reconstruction. In the meantime, I've started back to work from home mostly full time again. My incisions look great, and the redness looks a ton better. They were diagonal, so they make a V on my chest. I'm very sore on the outer part of my chest, right under my armpit area, and in the muscle just inside of my shoulder, above my chest. All in all, moving right along and so grateful for the positive pathology report. Even more grateful for the love and support of some pretty awesome family and friends.
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