Surgical Consultation

Yesterday we spent a little over six hours at the hospital meeting with my surgeon and plastic surgeon.  The first consultation was with the surgeon who'll be performing the mastectomy, Dr. Leigh Neumayer.  We really liked her and her team.  They seemed very confident and capable.  It's also been nice having female doctors because it seems that I can joke with them more so than if they were men.  I don't mean to be sexist but I just can't see myself laughing about boobs with a guy doctor.  Dr. Neumayer gave us more information about the operation and I got to see pictures of the results.  I didn't let Geoff see them though, but I should have because they weren't that great anyway.  I did learn that it is going to be a 10+ week  healing process involving multiple operations.  I won't be able to lift anything heavy, meaning Mikey especially, but I will have exercises and therapy to help me recover.

We then met with a genetic counselor who was worthless yet still managed to take up almost an hour and a half of our time.  We felt like she was a salesman trying to sell us a used car.  We want the test, we just don't want to pay the thousands of dollars it costs because insurance won't cover.  It won't really help me make any decisions, but it will help my family and my kids figure out their chances of developing cancer.

Lastly we met with Dr. Agarwal, which was weird because he is a man and there was no joking about anything.  It was the most stressful of them all because he was so serious but I was able to find out a lot of good information.  He was very frank when he said that I needed to understand that breast reconstruction is much different from a "boob-job".  That I will not look the same as some woman who's only had augmentation done, I will be scarred and there will be difficulty in obtaining symmetry.  He was very reassuring when he said that because of my age and physical condition I should have a very successful operation and quick recovery and great results.  In a rare moment of emotion he promised me that he would do everything in his power to make sure that I was satisfied with the end result.

It was a long day but it was nice to come back to Mom McGee's home to find that Mikey had been spoiled and that a delicious dinner had been prepared for us.  Our hearts are full because of all the love and support we have felt.  We pray that all of you will be blessed for the kindness you have shown us.

FYI, as a reminder June 6th has been confirmed as my surgery date.

Also, if you're related to me you need to go get yourself checked.