Mastectomies and Pathology - 05/14/05

 
Robin's Mastectomies and Pathology - Written 05/14/05

I only have a little time, so this will be short.

Robin had her mastectomies on Thursday, May 12th. Dr. Mason, her surgeon, removed both breasts and the first tier of lymph nodes on both sides. He said the surgery went bout as planned, taking about five hours. They moved her to a room in Christus St. John's hospital in Nassau Bay (Houston, across from NASA/JSC).

Robin's parents, Hal and Johnnie Gilbert, arrived Thursday and have been a great help and a great source of comfort for Robin. Many of our "Family in Christ" were there for us throughout this difficult day. Alexis stayed with me from the time we arrived at the hospital until late that evening. Mrs. Gerken, a volunteer at St. John's and "renegade" at St. Luke's, checked on us and asked Sr. Edwin to find out how things were going in the operating room. Fayellen picked up Hal and Johnnie at the airport, and picked up John from school. Eileen brought us all food that evening (and had to go back to work afterwards). In addition to all that support, there were many concerned "family members" called to check on her and many others were praying for Robin and her surgeon. I know God heard those prayers.

Robin was pretty doped up the rest of that day. She was better on Friday, but her blood counts were a little low, she had a very low-grade fever (about 99.2) and she started puking (technical term for throwing-up) about noon. Based on these minor issues, Dr. Mason decided to keep her under observation another night. If her blood counts are better today, she should be allowed to come home.

We got the pathologist report late Friday. The dissection showed that the margins around the cancer were good. The lymph nodes on the left side, where the Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC) was located, were found to be negative for cancer. GOOD NEWS. Since IBC is so aggressive, we expected to see some spreading there. On the right side, the breast contained a 1.5 cm tumor, and about half the lymph nodes from the right side were found to be positive for cancer (meaning that there was some spreading of cancer. We do not know for sure what this means in terms of treatment, but we suspect there will be additional chemo, at a minimum. We will need to speak to Robin's oncologist (Dr. McClure) to find out for sure. Robin has an appointment with her on My 31st.

I will write more when I know more. I'm headed back to the hospital now. Please continue to keep Robin in your prayers. It feels like we are over the hump, but the journey is not done yet.

With love and thanksgiving for all the prayers and support,

Larry and Robin

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