Part 3: Like my then 8-year-old said "Never stand on a swively chair"
- Lisa Fitch
- Aug 12, 2022
- 2 min read
8.12.2022
I heard something funny. Here you go.
Women: Do I look fat?
Friend: No! You look great!
Men: Do I look fat?
Friend: Bro, I have like 4 fat friends and you're 3 of them.
Next stop, Dr. Park, the surgical oncologist. This time, they let my mother in the building.
Dr. P is a straight shooter, just what you’re looking for when you’re shopping for someone to slice away vital body parts.
<insert Gene Wilder as the Waco Kid here>
“Steady as a rock!”
“Yeah, but I shoot with this hand”
She gave us a diagram with a lot of explanations. I felt very confident listening to her.
When my mom and I tried to repeat what Dr. P said, we didn’t do as well as S2 did the day before.
<insert Mom gush here>
You know those people that, no matter how much crap they get dealt, still shine? Life throws stuff at them, they take it on the chin, dust off, and dye their hair a fun color. That’s my S2. There is nothing that can dim the happy in her, and Christ knows, life has tried. It may be that she looks so much like me, like my mom, but I see a bright light when I look at her. She is an authentic, beautiful, true, devoted, swanky, stylish, and passionate human. She’s also scary smart.
<Mom gush over>
So if S2 had been there, we may have walked out with more facts, but we got the gist.
Dr. P recommended a double mastectomy and lymph node dissection. She would perform this, and if I so choose, at the same time, reconstruction will be done by Dr. Fusi.
Dr. P and her team raved about Dr. Fusi. Again, I got a confident feeling about this doctor. I’m three for three.
Tough to break this kind of news to people. No one knows what to say. Shit, I don’t know what to say. Am I attached to my boobs? I mean, I’ve carted them around for 40 years. Would I give them up if it means Stayin’ Alive?
They’re coming off quicker than John Travolta’s toupee.
Dr. P sent me for a breast MRI. I haaaaaaated it. It’s like if you’re pretending to fly like Superman, while Kingpin does the steamroller on your back. (Yes, I know I’m mixing DC and Marvel, but I stand by my descriptions. Shut up, nerd.)
Howevahhh.... from this ass of a procedure, we learned good things.
MRI BI-RADS: 6 known, biopsy-proven, malignancies (grammar and spelling updated by me)
I again went to MyChart for info. No one has given me official results yet, but in my book, that’s a WIN. There are no more malignancies in either breast than the six originally biopsied. FUCK YEAH!
Seeing Dr. P on the 16th and Dr. F, the plastics guy (heh) later that same day. That’s when shit’s gonna get real.
IFYKYK
AND NOW WE WAIT.....
Lisa,
Have the plastics doc go over everything with you. As involved as my cancer was, I was able to have a lumpectomy and reconstruction to the non cancerous breast. My onco surgeon said if during surgery, the margins were positive, then she would do a mastectomy and the plastics doc would do reconstruction right there just as she did for my lumpectomy. Just saying mastectomy isn't always needed. I had 3 lumps in my breast removed and 13 axillary lymph nodes removed as well and they were able to save my breasts. I have to say they look great. I went from a DD to a nice C cup. Most importantly, they felt all the cancer was removed, however…