Good News For Harper!

I just found out today that I do NOT have the breast cancer gene! So that means I wasn't genetically predisposed to this fate, I was just extremely unlucky. 0.44% remember? This is good news for Harper. While me having breast cancer at a young age makes her risk go up, at least I didn't pass a gene on to her that will basically guarantee that she will get breast or ovarian cancer. Soooo yay!!! I definitely celebrate every small victory in this battle!

On Friday I spent the afternoon at HMC doing preop appointments and testing. I met with the anesthesiologist who assured me that they can legally make me high. I signed on the dotted line right away. I'm sure he mentioned other less appealing risks and complications but all I could think of was the "happy juice". If I could get an IV started right now it would be ideal. I've never had a surgery before so my first reaction to this impending amputation was one of complete fear, even though I've never wanted anything removed from my body more. But the more I think of it, I'm really excited to be unconscious. I've wanted to be unconscious since I found out I had breast cancer so I'm looking forward to a Michael Jackson-esque nap.

I then gave a urine and blood sample. After that, I went across the hall to do a chest xray. The old lady who worked at the desk, looked at my preop paper work and whispered "I just had that done last year". So it was nice to talk to someone who just went through what I would. She said it's really not as bad as you would imagine it to be and assured me that if I choose not to have nipple reconstruction, then I can enjoy the benefits of never having to buy another bra!

Surgery is scheduled for 3/22. I'm saying my prayers every night that the cancer is just contained in the breast and that there is no cancer in the lymph nodes or anywhere else in my body. And of course I'm praying for an uncomplicated surgery that allows me to spend as little time in the hospital as possible. Smelling the purell hand sanitizer at my appointment on Friday brought me to tears. There is no doubt that smell is the strongest sense tied to memory. Because HMC's hand sanitizer smells like July to me and that's a month that I never want to relive again.