But the Very Next Day!

Little rabbit Foo-foo, hopping through the forest, scooping up the field mice and bopping them on the head…

Despite all pain and suffering, and tight clutching of the lovely little underarm pillow, the seroma’s back, just like little rabbit Foo-foo. I’m looking at the ‘wait for the body to figure it out and deal with it‘ option a bit harder – I suppose it’ll give Dr. Harlow (oncological surgeon) and I something to  talk about when we meet this coming Tuesday. So awkward when the conversation lags.

I’m back to using the mini icepacks for now – don’t know if they really help anything, but they ease the symptoms at least.

Meanwhile, on other news, I now have my full pathology report in hand – here are some highlights:

• Tubules: 1
• Nuclei: 2
• Mitotic Rate: 1 (actual count 7/10 HPF with field diameter of .54 mm)

• Total: 4

• Differentiation: Well
• Margins: Negative (1.0 mm from closest margin, anterior)
• DCIS: Not identified*
• LCIS: Not identified*
• LVI: Not identified*
• Lymph nodes: 0/2 (positive/total count)
• ER/PR: ER positive (60%); PR positive (40%) (S11-11207)
• Her2/neu: negative 

The tumor measured 1.6 cm at greatest dimension (1.6 x 1.2 x 1.2 cm) and is graded as T1c.

It’s all pretty much good news (as long as you ignore that bit about, you know, cancer) and puts me back to Stage 1, as far as I can tell. I’ll be meeting with the oncologist (Dr. Khan) Tuesday, as well as with Dr. Harlow, and we’ll figure out what comes next: chemotherapy, radiation, and adjuvant therapy; or radiation and adjuvant therapy (most likely a five year course of tamoxifen).

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*DCIS – ductal carcinoma in situ; LCIS – lobular carcinoma in situ; LVI – Lymphovascular invasion.

*Tamoxifen – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamoxifen