I thought I would do an quick extra update this week as I have news about my surgery! I went to see my surgeon on the 10th, and she had a bit of a change of plan for me. Because I have had such a surprisingly excellent reaction to the chemo, no hormone receptors, and no 'positive' genetics results, I am in a super lucky group of people. This means I can have a different surgery! Instead of the mastectomy and reconstruction, I will be having something called a 'bi-lateral thereaputic reduction mammoplasty'. These are the pictures my surgeon drew and also something I found that I think describes it the best:
I will have the cancer area and the area around it taken out, and the same on the other side. So not a mastectomy, but more than a lumpectomy. And a recovery time that is in between both of those surgeries. I spend one night in hospital before having my drains removed and then I get to go home. They will be removing a few of my lymph nodes for testing also. Before the surgery I have to go in to the radiation department and have a local anaesthetic in my breast, and a wire inserted where the cancer is/was, guided by the clip left in from my biopsy. Terrifying! My surgeon will also be removing my port and fixing up the scar which is pretty exciting, she is very eager to make it look nicer which is so good. My surgery is booked in for the 26th of September which is coming up super fast! I find out the day before what time I will be going in, hopefully nice and early so it is less time for panicking.
On the 12th I went in to hospital for my final MRI. I was a bit nervous after I didn't have a very good experience the first time round. Thankfully this time was much better! My nurse organised me to pop into the day ward before hand to have my port accessed with a special MRI needle for the contrast dye to go through. Everything went a lot smoother this time around, and I only needed a little dizzy rest coming out of the scan, so that was great! My results showed up on the 'Manage My Health' system the next day. It said: "The enhancing lesion previously present centrally in the left breast has clearly significantly reduced in size. The transverse diameter of enhancement is now estimated at about 3mm in transverse diameter comparing with 7.5mm previously". AMAZING!! My first ultrasound showed 36mm so it is a huge decrease. They also talk about the slightly complicated proximity of the tumour to a 'significant vessel' but I am trying not to focus on that! They have said that no other abnormalities are found which is fantastic.
I have had lots of great horsey time this week. Louie had such an amazing lesson on Saturday, he had a huge road walk and did so well listening to all his instructions. He had two spooks and just got straight back on track. I got a beautiful new rug from the company 'Canter for Cancer' so when I tried it on him I decided to hop on as well for a little walk around the dry lot. He was really responsive and did a lovely forwards and backwards for me, I was pretty chuffed!
Last night my friend organised a 'Pony pals post poison party for Vicky' to celebrate finishing chemo. It was so fantastic to catch up with some of my amazing horsey friends - and so funny seeing everyone out of the normal pony clothes! I had a wonderful time, laughed so much, and even had a few delicious drinks. I can't wait for the finished all treatment celebration!
Today I was super lucky to go and ride the beautiful Kaia. She is so much bigger than Louie, and is super reliable and bombproof! I really felt how much confidence I have lost today, as I was even nervous on her, which made me a little upset. I hope I can slowly get it back. I can't wait for the day I can canter Louie around again without panicking about anything. But look how stunning this horse is! She took such good care of me :) I didn't ride for very long at all, but my legs have had a really good workout!
Next week I have a pre-op at hospital where I will meet my anaesthetist. I'm so glad I get to talk to him and say 'I AM TERRIFIED PLEASE GIVE ME A LOT OF SEDATION FIRST' and 'SORRY I WILL CRY A LOT'. But it will be good to let him know I am genuinely afraid of going under anaesthetic and if he could do exactly what they did for my port surgery I would really appreciate it!
Anyways, that was just a wee update about what the plan is for the next two weeks.
Hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend :)
Lots of love xoxo