Pathology is in and I get TWO gold stars!

So happy and thankful to be sharing this wonderful news – the pathology reports on the ALL the breast tissue they could remove showed NO cancer cells and even NO abnormal cells!!  As Bill had mentioned on my immediate post-surgery update, this certainly wasn’t completely unexpected since my surgeon said she didn’t see anything suspicious in the removed tissue the day of its removal.

We celebrated this great news in style – at the spa! I was planning on surprising Bill with a massage yesterday anyway, as a small thank you for all he’s done and continues to do for me throughout this lengthy process. I couldn’t let him go alone, of course, so I had a short facial since massages still aren’t possible for me. That whole lying on your chest thing, ya know.

On Friday, I had more expander fills, so thanks to being back on the “good” meds, no celebration drink for me this weekend, but I’m pretty sure a cocktail will be calling my name later this week.

In my research, several pre-vivors (BRCA gene, but no cancer diagnosis) had said their pathology came back either with suspicious or cancerous cells, which they said really helped with making peace with their mastectomy decision. Admittedly, a teeny tiny part of me kinda, just a little bit, wishes they had found one single cell that didn’t look so good, so I could better justify my decision to myself. But I know I don’t need that.

With the prior chance of me getting breast cancer in my lifetime almost 90%, the fact that there wasn’t anything there yet makes me feel so. much. better. Had they found something, I’d then be worried that maybe they didn’t get it all and I’d have to continue to live in fear of getting it. Of course, I still could – the mastectomy brought my chances down to the regular populations chances of getting breast cancer (ages 0-85) of about 12%, according to the Susan G Komen Foundation. The older you are the likelier your chances are. AND while they remove as much tissue as they can, because I had nipple sparing, that means there’s a slightly greater risk. (Sorry if this is too much TMI, but I figured I’ve already laid myself pretty bare so hopefully you’re unlikely to be bothered by it.) Because there’s such a  small chance though, when you have a preventative mastectomy, surgeons often recommend, like mine did, to do nipple sparing and I am so glad I did AND that I had that choice. Many people do not.

So, about those gold stars, they just might be the perfect size to cover….nah….I’m not planning on dancing in a “club” anytime soon. Or, um, yea, EVER.

Thank you again for following us along on this journey and for continuing to send your love, support, and warm thoughts our way. It’s made all the difference in the world. To both of us. <3

BEFORE:

AFTER: Ahhh…..

LOVE this guy!