Caught Up in a Whirlwind

Probably one of the most difficult things whenever we face a big challenge or trial is the sheer volume of information and activity that happens in the wake of devastating news. I remember the week after my dad died five years ago, there was so much that had to be done, and it all had to be done quickly despite the fact that our whole family was completely overwhelmed. It would have been much easier to just lay down and cry than to spend time organizing a funeral, hosting friends and family who were coming to offer their support, and figuring out the final arrangements for his cremation.

Hearing the news about cancer sort of felt the same way. One the one hand, it would be much easier to just sit down and cry (and believe me, I did plenty of that for a couple of days), but there is so much that has to be done to figure out treatment, and it can't really wait. The next two weeks following my diagnosis were a whirlwind of appointments, consultations, and meetings with surgeons, oncologists, nurses, and other care providers.

I have never really been the type of person who actively sought medical treatment, and prior to August 2013 could probably count on two hands the number of times in my adult life that I have been to a doctor for something besides a routine physical. That all changed with my diagnosis, and from August 14 (the day of the mammogram and biopsy) to mid-September, I'm sure I had more tests, appointments, and scans than I have had pretty much ever.

The most important and pressing matter was to figure out what kind of surgery I wanted to do. Essentially, there are two options:
(1) A lumpectomy, where the surgeon removes only the tumor and some surrounding tissue, in an attempt to save as much of the breast tissue as possible.
(2) A mastectomy, where the surgeon removes all the breast tissue on one or both sides.

Given that my tumor had only shown up on one side, it wouldn't make much sense to do a bilateral mastectomy, so the choice was then down to a lumpectomy or a unilateral mastectomy on the right side. We sat through several doctor's visits learning all the options, as well as the projected outcomes and the potential for a cure. I spent way too much time on the internet researching all the pros and cons for each choice. I even found a YouTube video of a mastectomy surgery, and watched about 30 seconds of that before I had to turn it off (apparently it's good I didn't try to become a surgeon, since it made me a little queasy to watch).

During this time we also decided to go and get a second opinion at the Huntsman Cancer Institute and find out if I wanted to get treatment there instead of through IHC. While I am confident that both places could have provided good care, after meeting with Dr. Nelson (the surgical oncologist) and Dr. Agarwal (the reconstructive surgeon) at Huntsman, the choice to get treatment there was clearly the best choice for me.

After a few more tests, scans, pathology reports, and biopsies, Dr. Nelson explained that I was not a perfect candidate for either surgery choice--the perfect candidate for a lumpectomy is someone with a very small tumor and/or very large breasts, while the perfect candidate for a mastectomy is someone with a very large tumor and/or very small breasts. I had a medium-size tumor with basically average-size breasts. Armed with all this information, I decided to go ahead with a unilateral mastectomy, and the surgery date was set for September 30.