Well, the first part of my birthday was wonderful. Hubby took me to Olive Garden for a lovely lunch. We stopped at our favorite little hoity toity fruit/veggie/orchard place where I bought three of the most wonderful apple turnovers that I've ever tasted and hubby got a pound and a half of fudge (all different kinds). Then we stopped at a veggie hut on the side of the road where I bought a bag of fresh green beans for $1.50. It's on the honor system. They have all these veggies there with a list of how much they cost and a hole in the wall. You just slip your money in the hole. Gotta love small town living. I also picked up two Kentucky t-shirts for my daughter and her boyfriend. I had a really hard time finding Kentucky gifts for them when they were here. Evidently you can only get something with the University of Kentucky on it and that means nothing to them as they are in Texas.
The afternoon didn't go nearly so well. The surgeon was an hour and 45 minutes late to my appointment. At one point I was afraid they had all gone home and left us there in the office. I was just making myself comfortable for an overnight stay when in he walks.
My diagnosis: intraductal carcinoma in situ. That's a type of cancer in the milk duct. The bad part is that it's gotta come out. The good part is that this type of cancer rarely becomes invasive and moves to the adjoining tissue. There are two ways to remove it. One is the traditional method where they put you to sleep and cut it out. There will be a large scar and a lengthy recovery time (lots of pain, evidently, as it is considerably deep within my breast). OR, I can go to a bigger hospital and a radiologist can take it out with a rather large needle. You are not put to sleep but are laying on a table on your stomach, with your breast thru a special opening. He uses a large bore needle with a little scooper on the end and will remove all the cancer that way. It should take 6 - 8 needle fulls to remove it all. You walk out with a band aid and Advil. Geez....that sounds like the way to go. My surgeon is calling today to set something up in Owensboro, KY. I told him the sooner the better. After that, we wait for the results of the pathology. If it's benign, then we do nothing. If not, we'll go from there.
So I guess if I've got to get cancer, this isn't a bad sort to get. We caught it really early, thanks to the mammogram. It typically doesn't turn into anything more deadly if removed at this stage. However, I won't rest comfortably until after I see what the pathologist has to say.
I haven't said anything to my children because I don't want them to worry. I'll do enough of that for all of us. LOL