Road to a Cure

Finally the road to a cure is paved. The road ends with a single mastectomy of the left breast. Dr. Silva has scheduled a consult with a Plastic Surgeon in Omaha and I will meet him at the end of August. He will go through all the options and details of the reconstruction.

Disclaimer...This is all subject to change and is dependent on the consult with the Plastic Surgeon.

The plan is for Dr. Silva to perform the mastectomy and during the same surgical setting the Plastic Surgeon will start the reconstruction process. A tissue expander will be placed under the muscle and over a period of 2-4 months, they will increase the size of the tissue expander. Once symmetry with the right breast is reached (not sure how they build a saggy boob), I will have an outpatient procedure to replace the tissue expander with an implant. Once I have had time to heal, we will explore options to tattoo a nipple. As of today, I am thinking forget the nipple, but guess I will know more as time goes on. I do not expect that to bother me (or Dan), but who knows, maybe it will!

I do want to share with you that Dr. Silva and staff indicated he worked with 3 Plastic Surgeons in Omaha and asked if we wanted the 1st one we could get in to. Dan immediately responded, "NO! We want the Best One!" We discussed for awhile and then Dan said, "On second thought, maybe you better send us to the one that will put up with us!" We all chuckled. I will wear my boxing gloves and see how the Plastic Surgeon responds.

Dr. Silva did warn me there is always a possibility that pathology will not find any DCIS in the breast tissue. He indicated that he would be devastated to share that news with me if that is how all this plays out. I tried to reassure him that I am (we are) completely comfortable with the mastectomy and are simply ready to end this journey with a testimony of the Power of Prayer! I will be completely relieved to have the cancer out of my system!

Thanks so much for the continued support and for including us in your prayers!