The Results are In

The results are in from Wednesday’s surgery, and unfortunately it’s not the news we wanted to hear.

The surgeon was able to remove 3 lymph nodes, and all three were positive for cancer cells. So while there’s still a lot of questions about what that means, here’s what we do know…
*During this week’s mastectomy, they will remove the remaining lymph nodes. This has a few side effects, one of which is I’ll be permanently numb in a portion of my arm, which is weird.
*If just one more node if positive – ie 4 or more – then it means automatic radiation. Which let’s just say I’m not thrilled about.
*In addition to the side effects of radiation, adding this to the treatment plan also means the reconstruction process has to wait until after radiation is finished, which prolongs the whole process.
*We won’t know how this affects the possibility of chemo until after we speak with the oncologist, which is post-surgery.

So all that to say, this wasn’t a post I was looking forward to writing. However, as I’ve posted before, it’s not about the news we receive, but the report we believe. I believe that these three lymph nodes can be the only three affected, and there’s still hope for no additional treatments! And just because there are cells in the lymph nodes, that doesn’t necessarily mean it has spread elsewhere, (there will be more tests post-surgery to find that out later) but I am believing that it hasn’t spread. And I ask that you believe those things with me too.

In similar news, besides that information, the surgery itself went well. Prior to the surgery, I asked for a moment for Matt and I to pray and my surgeon stayed and prayed with us, which was awesome. And as of today, I finally got most of the drugs out of my system which were making me really nauseous, which was really my biggest complaint over anything else.

Here’s what I’d love for you to pray for between now and the next surgery, which is Wednesday the 23rd at 11:30am:
1) That these first three nodes are the only ones affected and the remaining lymph nodes are all clear, and no radiation or chemo treatments are needed.
2) That nothing has spread anywhere else in my body.
3) Peace and strength for Wednesday. To manage the pain, they will give me an epidural, and I am SUPER scared of this. (Please, no stories about your previous epidurals unless you just want to tell me that it doesn’t hurt. I can’t handle hearing the details on this one.)
4) That the surgery go smooth, and recovery is as pain-free and nausea-free as possible.
5) And of course, complete healing so that we never see this return!

Thank you for your prayers, and for all of the AWESOME social media posts and pictures wearing your Team Crys shirts! That was so encouraging to see and really boosted my spirits! Surgery #2…we’re coming for ya!