Surgery and Genetic Mistakes

I'm feeling much better after the last chemo, the only residual issue is really sore eyes. I get to go through it all again next week, so not really looking forward to that, but at least I know that the pain does go away - last time I was worried it was going to be like that for the remaining months of chemo.

This week I met with the specialist/surgeon. He had a bit of a feel and announced that he is very pleased with the response to chemo ("excellent, excellent"), since there is no longer really a lump to feel, which is good news. He is still recommending a masectomy though, given how big it was and the fact it is in the lymph nodes (they have to come out too). Apparently they can reconstruct on the same day though - after the specialist does the removal, a plastic surgeon would take fat from my stomach and use it to rebuild. I asked how much fat he could take, while he is there, get rid of the excess would be nice... Bet I'm not the first person to have asked that! I think that a reconstruction at the same time would be psychologically better than waking up from surgery with no boob, especially if it is only on one side. I keep thinking of being in primary school, typing 55378008 into a calculator and then turn it upside down to show "boobless" - hilarious when you are eight, now a little more sensitive...

Anyway, it would be almost a whole day operation. I thought it might be like getting my wisdom teeth out, so I asked if I go home that night - "er, no". It would be a week in hospital. There is something about having "drains",which I am not yet sure on the details of, but doesn't sound appealing. I asked how much surgery would cost and didn't get a straight answer - "quite expensive", "you have to negotiate with the plastic surgeon" - hmm, I'm guessing plastic surgeons drive flash cars for a reason... 

This week I also had an interesting chat with a genetic counsellor. Apparently we have about 30,000 genes, but so far they (scientists) have identified two as potentially causing breast cancer (imaginatively named BRCA1 and BRCA2, breast cancer 1 and 2, although they also cover ovarian cancer). Everyone has these genes and usually the code sequence is the same for everyone, which tells the body how to operate. However, some people have a genetic "mistake" or "mutation", perhaps a missing or additional piece of code, which can mess up the instructions to the body and cause cancer. I am at a high risk of having a genetic mistake because (i) I have breast cancer at a relatively young age and (ii) there are more than two instances in the family history. So my blood is being tested and I will get the results in 4-6 weeks. If the result is positive, it means a 50% chance of developing cancer in the other breast (and/or ovaries, but that would probably be at a later stage). I don't really like those odds and I don't like the thought of waiting to go through all this again at some point in the future, so I think I would opt for a bilateral(double) masectomy - on the plus side it would mean removing more fat from my stomach and it should be easier to get them nice and even :)