The Breast, the Lung, and the Tick

After my diagnosis of breast cancer and the mastectomy on Nov. 4, I opted for breast replacement surgery which begins the day of the surgery with the placement of a tissue expander next to my chest wall.  Then over months saline is injected until the skin expands enough for the transplantation of my own abdominal tissue and blood vessels as a new breast.

As a result of the diagnosis I also underwent a bone and a tissue scan.  Around Thanksgiving my oncologist called to tell me there was a spot on my lung that was probably nothing but required a lung biopsy.  I went back to Sloan-Kettering for the biopsy Dec. 4.  The radiologist confessed that he and the staff had been totally puzzled by the image on the scan and had no real idea what they were dealing with.  It appeared as a ghostly image, totally translucent... Right before sending me to sleep I asked what his hunch was.  He told me it was probably small cell lung cancer....and off I drifted...

Home later that night I looked up what that meant..it meant survival of 2 years.

Saturday Dec. 5 I got my hair cut very short in anticipation for my first chemo treatment Monday Dec. 6th.  I was in such fear that ( I thought) I began to get cold sweats... 

Monday I went off to my first chemo treatment.  The nurse inserted the IV and showed me the door where i would receive the first influsion.  Just then the oncologist entered and said that there would be no chemo, that the biopsy revealed that it was indeed lung cancer.

She took out the IV and sat me down.  It was NOT small cell lung cancer.  I was positively giddy at the reprieve.  Then she told me that it was probably metastatic breast cancer that had traveled to my lung.  I asked her what that meant in terms of survival.  She said with luck, 5-10 years.   The other "good news" I received is that chemo was now out of the question for me.  I will be treated by hormone therapy since this breast cancer is very very sensitive to the use of hormone cessation pills to stop any new tumor growth.

Tuesday Dec. 8 I ran a fever and felt terrible.  Flu-like virus, I thought.....No further news from the biopsy all week.

Sat. morning I woke to find my involved breast turning reddish.  I waited until 10 pm to check it again.  It was bright red and swelling.  I called the plastic surgeon who instructed me to pack a bag for 3 days and get to the Sloan-Kettering ER immediately.  I had cellulitis, an infection of the skin, common when a foreign object (the chest tissue expander) is placed into the body.  1 in 5 women getting reconstructive ssurgery get this condition.

By Tues, my condition had worsened.  No antibiotic could stop the infection and I ran a fever continuously.  I needed another surgery which I had by 4 pm.  They took out the tissue expander, flushed the infection.....
I then spent 5 days recovering on heavy IV antibiotics.

But consider this---but for the lung cancer, I would have had that first shot of chemo which would have significantly decreased my infestion-fighting white bood cells.  And unbenownst to anyone, I already had a raging internal infection of cellulitis inside me. They told me that my healthy immune system really dug in and protected me until I got to the hospital.  That shot would have been fatal to me in trying to stave off the infection, or at least led to an ICU-level infection.

Wed. the lung cancer surgeon stopped by to introduce himself to me.  He had preliminary results from the biopsy.  It was NOT metastatic breast cancer.  It was a sneaky early stage lung cancer probably from 2nd hand smoke from all the years in my father's house.  Since it is translucent, it cannot be found on any x-ray.  It only shows up on a body scan.  Which you are only given if you already have cancer.  I asked what would have happened if it had not been for the scan spotting it.  He said it would have grown until it would have caused symptoms, andby then it would be too late. IOW, but for the breast cancer we would never have found the lung cancer....

He told me that I would have surgery this Jan. to get rid of it, then follwed by pills that will stop it from any further impact on my health.  The surgery is done robotically thru 3 small cuts.  I go home after 2-3 days with 3 band aids.

And then there was the tick.

On Wed. night as I prepared to shower, I thought I spotted a caraway seed on my arm.  Except it was a tick.  I knew how to get them out which I did, and then demanded preventative medicine.  The next day they brought in a beautiful Lab dog to sniff out the room.  Emma is the hospital's official bedbug and tick detector.  No new ticks.

Tonight is Friday and I leave tomorrow at 10 am for home.

I have written this quickly and without analysis of the stage and state shifts I have gone through this week.

Your prayers and good intentions helped save me this week.  I will add the spiritual context in a later post, but I wanted to get this up and public.

Blessings to you all.