Thursday, March 15, 2012

Re-Excision Surgery

Today I had my re-excision surgery to remove additional tissue surrounding the tumor that was removed on 2/23.  The pathology report showed that the cancer went from the tumor all the way to the edge of the tissue, so they could not confirm they got all the cancerous cells.  Theoretically, any treatment I would have should take care of any remaining cancer cells.  Both of the oncologists I saw left the decision for re-excision up to me.  They like to keep patients out of the OR whenever possible.  I decided for peace of mind to go ahead with the surgery and take additional tissue.  They like to have 1cm of clear margin between the cancer and the edge of the tissue.  There is still a chance they did not get all the cancer, so the option for an additional re-excision (3rd surgery) would still remain.  Right now I am leaning towards proceeding with treatment even if we do not have clear margins.  I will be having the BRAC testing soon, and depending on the results of this, I may take more drastic measures after chemo/radiation to reduce my chances of recurrence.

1 comment:

  1. I forgot to mention everything went well today. I didn't have to spend the entire day at the hospital and I was home around 11am. I am having some pain but definitely less than last time since it was just the boob. I have not sent any text that I didn't remember sending like last time when I was on these great pain meds. My arm is still really painful and very stiff from the node surgery. Over time this will get better.

    ReplyDelete