Date for Surgery

We saw Dr. Malay today. She was thrilled with Mom's progress and said how good Mom looks. We absolutely love Dr. Malay. If every doctor had her bedside manner, we would all be so very lucky. She and her staff are very professional, as well as compassionate. They have numerous hugs to give out and are so good at lifting your spirits.

We have a surgery date of November 4th tentatively scheduled, pending no complications with the rest of Mom's chemo sessions. If everything goes as planned, her last chemo treatment will be the 1st week of October. We have to wait 3 weeks before surgery; Dr. Malay is on vacation the last week of October, so 1st week of November it is.

After surgery Mom will have 6 1/2 weeks of radiation. That is 5 days a week for 6 1/2 weeks. We are looking at early 2009 before this whole process is overwith. And even then it isn't over.....Mom will have to take meds for 5 years to help prevent the cancer from occuring in the right breast. Mom would like Dr. Malay to just take them both at once, but Dr. doesn't think that is necessary.

Mom will only stay overnight 1 evening, then come home with 2 drains. They will arrange for a visiting nurse to help us take care of her. All of her stitches will be on the inside. Which makes me very happy. I am going to take that week of work, so that I can be there to take care of her. Dad gets so nervous that he simply cannot do it all be himself. And it will take two of us to hold her down when she tries to do too much too fast! She is a stubborn one.

Dad & I took Mom to lunch after the Dr. visit. Brittany wanted them to see her apartment today, as we were already 1/2 way to Pitt, but Mom was exhausted. Her back was hurting, too. When we arrived home, she immediately put her comfies on and reclined her chair with a blanket over her. She was out of energy for the day.

It is amazing how worn out she gets now. All of her energy was spent on the Dr. visit. That was it. Done.

She goes to Dr. Simon's office for her weekly bloodwork. Hopefully her counts will be o.k.

Thanks for listening. and praying.

Maureen