Miracles do happen...

Many people have asked about my surgery (1.19.18). As you know, I’m an open book and up for talking about everything so here you go....

The procedure was a sentinel node biopsy on the left with bilateral mastectomy and diep flap. They removed two lymph nodes and they were benign.  The diep (deep inferior epigastric perforators) flap is where these blood vessels and the skin and fat are removed from my abdomen and used to reconstruct my breasts (tummy tuck 😉). The left side worked perfectly, but the right side had some trouble.  When I was waking up from surgery my amazing doctor, Dr. Hijjawi was there and I remember him saying, “the left looks great, the right side is iffy.”  I asked what time it was and it was 7pm!  The surgery was about 10-11 hours.  So not really knowing what “iffy” meant and being halfway out of it, I just was grateful there was no cancer.  So back in my room, through the night, they check the blood flow with a Doppler.  They were only checking the left side because Dr Hijjawi said to the nurse there was nothing to check on the right.  They also feel to check temperature and the right breast started out cold.  These checks were done hourly.  As the night went on the right side began to get warmer, but they never checked with the Doppler because the doctor didn’t think it was necessary. The plan through the night was NPO after midnight and I would go back into surgery in the morning for an implant on the right side.  (I was starving).  Dr. Hijjawi came in Saturday morning, explained everything to me, he tried everything in the OR, heparin, TPA, microscopes, prayers, everything!!!  The right breast had no life.  So he Doppler’s the left, everything is great, he then Doppler’s the right and MIRACULOUSLY there was blood flow!!!  He said, “you’re not going to the OR!”  He called his partner, recorded the blood flow, it was really amazing.  He ordered one hour Doppler checks bilaterally for another day.  I also had Vioptics on both breasts which measured the amount of oxygen in my capillaries.  It all looked good!!  I earned myself another day of bedrest and an extra day in the hospital, but no problem, the good news was I didn’t have to go back to surgery and my doctor is a miracle worker!!  Each day things continued to look good and discharge planning progressed.  I am so grateful for the amazing team of nurses, doctor, anesthesiologist, and everyone else who spent a very long Friday in surgery.  And I’m thankful for all my family and friends who continued to send good thoughts and prayers.  And to make things even better, Dr. Reading just left me a message (1.25.18) that  said I had a complete pathological response, there is no cancer present.  I’m ready to recover and get on with my life!  Bring it on 2018!!!