Meeting the surgeon

Wow!  If all the hiccups along the road were payment for getting Mirsky as a surgeon then I would say that it was well worth it. 

I showed up at his office for the appointment and no one was at the reception.  I stood for a minute then grabbed the key to the washroom and left.  When I returned, Dr Mirsky was sitting at the reception desk and greeted me with a friendly, "You must be Donna".  He apologized that the receptionist (her name was something like Barb - so I'm going with that for the blog for now) was still out on lunch but he was confident that she had left me a present.  He scrabbled around on the desk and came up with the proverbial clip board and paperwork.  He told me that he had all the result from the tests Dr S had ordered and I surprisingly asked whether this included the MRI results - the only intervening day having been Thanksgiving Monday.  Nope - he didn't have those but he immediately logged on to the computer and got into the datatbase for the General and found the pictures.  They had taken a couple thousand he explained and he needed to look at only the top 500 or so criticial ones.  He did that while I filled out the paperwork.

Barb returned and we finished with the formalities and I was sent into the office without delay.  Mirsky first asked me what I knew and what questions I had.  He listened!  Men who are reading this - listening - actually listening - is probably the most fundamental thing for a woman in any relationship - EVER.  Mirsky spent two hours with me discussing my case and what the best approach would be and what the next steps were.  Jane:  he drew me pictures! 

He can't draw a breast worth a damn, but he got the message across.  We discussed lumpectomy vs mastectomy; local radiation vs general; chemo; endocrine therapy; the process at the cancer centre; which oncologist was worth her salt and which not; his opinion of the MRI pictures (although he is still waiting for the radiologist's report - which will likely only confirm what he saw on the 500); good websites that I can access; etc. 

His overview was definitely geared to a wide audience.  I literally bit my tongue when he explained to me that "infiltrating" and "invasive" (both terms used to describe my cancer) meant the same thing.  I smiled inwardly when he told me that "carcinoma" meant "cancer".  But when he got to the point where he began to define "unifocal" I had to say something!  I just couldn't take it anymore.  I burst out laughing and told him that if he used a term for which I needed an explanation I would ask.  I think this shows incredible personal growth - I'm developing amazing patience!!!:)

I left the office with four pages of pears drawn on them (seriously he cannot draw) and all the key terms scribbled all over with different colours for everything.  I couldn't have taken better notes if I was still in law school.  He was great. 

So, I remember everything we discussed and I can share the following:  it appears to be a unifocal cancer and no spreading has occured yet despite its invasive character; because neither I nor Dr S could find the tumour on a physical exam and Mirsky could only guess where it was based on the various images (he also did a physical exam and is not 100% sure), he will insert a wire an hour or so before the operation to ensure that he gets the right spot (this means no digging around once he's in there - for which I am immensely greatful); a sentinal node biopsy will be performed while I'm in surgery to determine whether additional nodes need to be removed but he will avoid this if at all possible;  he hates the term "lumpectomy" because he thinks it gives women false optimism, so he will perform a "partial mastectomy" unless one of the reports yet to come indicates anything surprising (the success rate for what I have for a lumpectomy vs full mastectomy is the same); this will be followed by breast radiation which reduces the chance of a local recurrence from 39% to 7%; the rest of the treatment process will be determined by the oncologist once they have removed the tumour based on the condition of the lymph nodes, the actual size of the tumour, the histologic grade of the tumour; the hormone receptors of the tumour and the Herz. 

I am currently scheduled for surgery November 17 but he has put me on his priority waiting list so it could be any time between now and then.  I can't wait.  The bruising and swelling from the biopsy is finally diminishing, the bruising from the MRI injection is peaking and the bruising from yesterday's bone scan is just starting to flower.  Otherwise, I'm feeling great if a little tired.  I've lost almost 20 pounds just from being away from the stress of work and I'm so busy running around doing things for my family, friends and the house that I seriously don't know whether I'll ever be able to go back to the office:)  Who has time for work?

I apologize for the lag in reporting on events here.  My mother has shown great patience in waiting for news.  It's sometimes difficult to find time to just sit and type.

I have taken up playing tenor sax since leaving work.  I'm horrible, but my band, New Horizons, is playing a concert at Dominion Chalmers Church on December 13 and the other members of the band are much better than me!  Not surprisingly, I'm in the beginner band, but there are two intermediate bands, an advanced band and a jazz band.  I heard them in concert last spring and they are well worth seeing so if you have nothing to do that day I'd love to see you there.  Seeing me play live will be something you can use in the future to blackmail me if you'd like (and if the need arises):).

It's almost 10 a.m. now and Kadriye is still a lump in bed, so I'm off to practice playing!  The tenor is especially loud and I manage to make the most obnoxious sounds with it!!