I finally was able to reach Len at work. I gave him the report, and he could tell I was upset. He couldn't leave. I waited until the next morning to cry on his pillow. Felt good just to get a nice hug. He gives the best hugs.
Dr. S wanted to see me right away to go over my options. So I made an appointment to see him at 4PM on September 11th at the Glendale clinic. Len was able to take off work so he could go with me. I needed a second set of ears, but really just needed him with me.
The doctor came in. He's a nice man. I like him. He did the surgery on Len last year when he was having issues with his colon and his intestines. Angry bowels, I think they were called.
So he sits us down, and draws a picture. Looked like cauliflower on a tube. Well, down the tube, he draws the bubbles inside the tube. "This is what the DCIS looks like - it's contained in your milk duct." Okay, that makes sense. "This is what would happen if it were to spread" as he draws the bubbles outside the tube. "That would be called invasive cancer." Okay, that makes sense.
"So, what are your recommendations?" I asked.
"You have a couple of options, but I would recommend you have a lumpectomy to remove the margins around the tissue we took out, and then six weeks of radiation."
Silence. For what seemed like an hour. It was probably closer to 10-15 seconds.
"Hmmmm. Why six weeks of radiation?" I asked.
He started repeating statistics. "Well, doing the lumpectomy without radiation, the chance of it recurring is about 20%. But with radiation, it's less than 5%."
He answered a few more of our questions - what is the process, when should I have this done, what's next, who else should I be talking with - just general questions.
"Do you have any other questions?" he asked.
"Sure. What if I decide to go without the lumpectomy or radiation...?"
Without hesitation, his response was, "I think you'd be making a huge mistake..."
Hmmmm. Okay then.
What happens next? More to follow, tomorrow.
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