Two steps forward - one step back?

Hi, I just got back from the surgeon and thought I would report on the meeting. They took the drain out :) and my stitches and incisions all look good. The pathology of my lymph nodes was good - they removed 24 and only 2 (the sentinel node and one other) tested positive for cancer. My surgeon also thought that it was highly unlikely I would need more chemo - she said that the lymph nodes aren't a gateway to the rest of the body but give a good picture of whether cancer has gone beyond the breast. I need to check in with my oncologist to confirm that no more chemo is in my near future but that seems correct. So it looks like my hair growth (just currently stubble) can continue unabated.

The main negative news was that the margins of the area removed were not large enough. They want there to be a 4mm margin around the tumor in the tissue excised and on some edges (they know which ones by dyeing each side a different color) the margin was 1mm or less. This means more surgery for me but my doctor was optimistic that doing a limited surgery would produce the margins needed to go forward.

I'm somewhat bummed that every step seems to be more complicated than under the best scenario but I'm getting used to it and am happy for forward progress. The next surgery will be easier - no lymph nodes to radiate, dye and remove and no wires to place and I should be home that afternoon. The lack of a drain and involvement of my underarm area will also help. The timing is a little unfortunate as I am having surgery next Friday, the day of a national conference I co-organized. Everything should be set but I'm sad to miss the panels we worked to set up. I hope I still get my thank you gift :).

Anyway, having surgery sooner rather than later will make it easier and keep things moving along. I'm supposed to go to Cambridge the following weekend ( for another conference) and my doctor seemed to think that would still work. She even thought I could have potentially had the surgery that Friday (5/29) and still have gone to a Monday-Tuesday conference the following week. All indications that the surgery next week should be straight forward and easy.

I do try to keep reminding myself that this will be over in a little while - things are taking longer than I would like but I am moving forward.

Kim