Saw the radiologist this morning. Good news is that I do not need radiation. He went through the pathology report and explained what he looked at to make his decision. I appreciated his thorough response. He also better explained the new chemo drug that I'll be getting. It specifically targets that HER2 protein. Even though all my labs showed that the cancer has not spread, but because it was a Triple Positive form of cancer making it more aggressive, the new chemo will kill any cells that may have wandered. And while 14 rounds sounds like a lot, he said that it will have the best results.
I also saw the plastic surgeon today. Good news is that overall, it looked good, but the output from the drain is still too much so I have to keep the tube in for another week. But the color and quantity was going in the right direction. She explained it like it was a pimple. Once you pop a pimple, there is the "stuff" that needs to drain out before it stops bleeding. We're almost there but not quite. There is actually some extra fluid build-up in the area. Apparently the compression bras from Amazon didn't have enough compression so now I have an ace bandage wrapped around my chest. There was also some moisture under the dermabond (surgical glue) on the incision scar. Apparently I was supposed to have been peeling that off.
Overall, a good day. So much information gets thrown at you, some while you're highly medicated, that you don't remember. Easy fixes.
While making my appointment for next week, the appointment coordinator was on the phone with someone with a recent breast cancer diagnosis, and I could tell they were overwhelmed. The coordinator was doing her absolute best to calm her fears, but I just wanted to take the phone and tell them they are going to be okay. I'm not like a super planner, but it helped going into all this with at least a general outline of a plan, even though sepsis threw that all out the window. I was fortunate that my big sister is here to guide me. But with the initial diagnosis, it's overwhelming as fuck. It's making me more of a mama bear :)