So many questions

It’s Saturday and we are going to treat our selves and go out to a movie.  We are trying to get back to as much normalcy as possible.  The pain and swelling on the right side doesn’t seem to be subsiding, at least not as quickly as was suggested by the docs.   The pressure under the expander along with the swelling in the underarm area is disconcerting.  We now have an appointment at the Spectrum Health Lymphoedema Program for an evaluation, therapy consult and probably a compression garment.  This appointment is immediately followed with an appointment with the Plastic Surgeon where we will again discuss the pressure under the expander.   These appointments are on Tuesday, the day after our initial visit with the Oncologist.  Finally there is an appointment with the Breast Care surgeon on Friday.

We still have so many questions.  Hopefully by this time next week we will have a better idea of the overall plan.  The order of the treatments is at the top of the list.  Chemo – radiation – mastectomy or Chemo – mastectomy – radiation?  The Radiation Oncologist wants to start a couple weeks after Chemo is done.  But what if they find cancer in the lymph nodes on the left side when they do the second mastectomy?  Would we need radiation again and cause more issues with the left side reconstruction?  The second mastectomy would need to wait until 3 – 4 weeks after Chemo to get the white blood cell counts up.  Can radiation wait till that is healed?  Sooo many questions!  We will keep you informed as we start getting answers.