Surgery is scheduled for 2/18

Well, I got the call this morning that my surgery has been scheduled for February 18. The surgery is going to involve a unilateral mastectomy (meaning only one breast) in addition to GAP flap reconstruction. It's going to be pretty long, probably about 10 hours, because the surgery involves taking tissue from my butt (TMI, sorry) and transfering it to my breast and all the little blood vessels have to be reconnected via microsurgery. Isn't it amazing what doctors can do these days?!?

My surgeon's group is amongst the few in the nation that have perfected this technique and they happen to be in San Antonio so the whole surgery will take place at Methodist hospital there. Because they are taking the tissue from the butt, and I am quite literally getting it from both sides, they can only do one breast at a time. This means that I will have the surgery on the cancer breast, recover, go through chemo if I have to, and then have the surgery on the other side. Not exactly thrilled about a surgery/chemo "sandwich" but for some reason this still just "feels like" the right choice.

I could have opted for implants instead, and then I would be able to have both breasts done at the same time. Both tissue reconstruction and implant reconstruction have their positives and negatives, but Dan and I both feel that the tissue reconstruction has more positives for me. Yeah, it means more in terms of surgery and recovery this year, but implants only have about a 10-year life span and those of you who know my paranoid, worry-wart nature know that I would be constantly worried about a leak. Plus, I'd love to just get surgery out of the way and not have to worry about it down the road.

We will keep you all updated as we learn more!

Now for something a little less cancer-y...

I've decided I don't want breast cancer to consume my life, and therefore this blog is not going to be all cancer, all the time. I'm going to include other stuff: things that make me smile, things to be thankful for, etc. Today's random happy thought? My husband's cooking. 'Nuff said. Go check out his blog and see all the fabulous food I get to eat all the time:

http://www.dangourmet.blogspot.com/