Yesterday I met with my plastic surgeon to see what the next steps needed to be for this new adventure. It was an interesting visit, and I'm not sure if things have completely set in or not.
Dr. Wittpenn said that the pathology report that Dr. Rowley had completed from the biopsy was not complete. He is not sure of the exact level of melanoma. What that means, is that as melanoma is now measured based on Breslow's which is looking at the thickness. Right now, I am being classified as intermediate. They will not truly know the level or how invasive this is until after surgery.
I will go into surgery on August 1st. It will be an interesting day as not only will I have surgery, but I am also have this nuclear reactive medicine procedure done as well. They will inject this stuff in my lymph node areas to kind of light them up so that we can see what has been effected. They will also remove a couple of my lymph nodes through my armpit. The worst I should see from this procedure is some fluid build up that my body will take care of. YUCK! I already sweat enough as it is. :-/
This all starts about 9:30am that Thursday, and then I go into surgery at noon. That's going to be a really long time without food and fluids! It is outpatient, and due to the nuclear medicine, I have to be in the hospital. Oh how I would rather be in an outpatient surgery center!
If it is any worse than what he is thinking or it has traveled, then the chances of me going to MD Anderson will become pretty high. Melanoma is treated very different from other types of cancer as it does not respond to chemo. Also, the biopsy of my lymph nodes will also help give us an idea of how long before it shows up again as you are never completely free of skin cancer.
I have also started putting a cream on a couple spots on my back to see if we can get them gone prior to anything worse happening. At this moment, I haven't had any crazy reactions, but today will only be day three of application. I'm hoping nothing crazy will happen, but the chance of them becoming very big, yucky scab areas is possible. Depending on the reaction will decide if we use this same medication on my face or not. Yea - I've had a spot on my face for a few years that Dr. Rowley is not excited about. Oops.
Work and life is going to become interesting! Surgery is a few days before a floorset and a week before tax-free weekend. YIKES! We are going to be an arm down. LOL! Also, I was told I couldn't dance for several weeks. The location is not the most ideal, and could easily be opened up if I do too much. :-(
I guess I better get serious on getting some things done at my house before I can't do it for awhile!!
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