Staging and Scheduling Surgery

February 24, 2026

Today’s the day I meet with the surgical oncology team. I’m nervous but hoping that I can come out of the appointment with a plan.

Everything starts like the appointment with the NP almost two weeks ago but thankfully they didn’t ask me to fill out paperwork identical to what is already in MyChart!

Dylan and I waited in the waiting room for about as long as we did to meet with the NP and of course as soon as Dylan decided to go to the bathroom, they bring me back to the exam room.  SMH. We’re a few doors down from the room we were in on February 12th so a very similar view. The 5th floor provides us with a sweeping view of farmland and churches. Seriously, there are churches everywhere up here like there are McDonalds everywhere else! 

As usual, my heart rate, blood pressure, and temperature are measured. I was then asked to change into a gown (a wrap shirt) from the waist up and advised that the doctor will be in shortly. My blood pressure is high as is my heart rate but nearly identical to what they’ve been throughout this ordeal. Dylan and I chat a little bit before the doctor and her entourage join us. She’s very petite and personable and she brings in what was once called an intern, but is now a resident, and a nurse. She does the standard exam sitting and laying and then she tells me the tumor staging and grade. It’s 1A and grade 2.

There are so many new acronyms that you’ll learn as well as a small cancer specific portion of medical language. I’ve been in healthcare for 20+ years and felt like I needed to carry a language guide to these appointments and to even read stuff on Reddit! You’ll see a section somewhere on this page that will include a glossary. Hopefully this will help you and your caretakers navigate things that you may read on the Internet or hear in your appointments.

The doctor stated that the tumor was small and she felt that she could get good margins (excision of the tumor with a border that has no cancer cells) and that with radiation and aromatase inhibitors (https://www.cancer.org/cancer/types/breast-cancer/risk-and-prevention/aromatase-inhibitors-for-lowering-breast-cancer-risk.html#:~:text=Aromatase%20inhibitors%20(AIs)%20lower%20estrogen,the%20ovaries%20from%20making%20estrogen.)

for 5-10 years, I wouldn’t have a recurrence. To be brutally honest, she looked horrified and almost without words when I said that I’d rather just have a full flat aesthetic mastectomy. I’ve already had a breast reduction and my breasts have done what they were biologically meant to do – feed my baby – and I simply don’t have a use for them anymore. 

Not to mention a kick-ass chest tattoo would be amazing!

It took her a while to get over the shock of what I was asking for, but she did and I acquiesced to her recommendation. It’s easier recovery and less time from work and basically the same treatment/after care to do a partial mastectomy. I will say though, that if I have to go through this later because it came back or grew elsewhere in either breast, I’m going to be pissed! (Remember this sentence)

I was very grateful that she recommended that we have genetic testing done. Since there is no family history of any cancer (less that one second cousin once removed) I’d really like to know if this is a gene mutation or some external force that caused the issue. I realize that I may never know but any information to help form a rudimentary hypothesis would make me happy.

Dylan did bring up my cough. He said that he noticed that shortly after we moved in the summer of 2024, that I was coughing regularly. Not like a deep or barking cough but more like a tickle in my throat that wouldn’t go away, so she ordered some additional scans. 

This appointment was quite a bit shorter and had less people than the Internet lead me to believe, but I’m OK with that! Being the center of attention is not within my comfort zone.

When the surgeon and her resident (I really wanted to type “minion”) left the room, the nurse stayed behind and provided me with a wonderfully thought out informative paper with my diagnosis, stage, and grade along with some drawings explaining the diagnosis. The back also has information that is helpful to someone just beginning to navigate this new reality.

Additionally she provided me with the following business card stating that there is so much information on the Internet and the site provided on the card always has the most up-to-date information.

Dylan and I sat while the nurse scheduled my surgery in the doctor’s calendar and then explained all the paperwork. Since it was an icy 12 degrees this wonderful February morning, when the nurse said I could change out of the “gown” and she’d take me to their phlebotomy room to draw blood for the genetic testing, Dylan went to start the car. Blood was drawn and when I checked out at the desk, I also provided them with the FLMA paperwork. There is one person who does this paperwork and they are off this week so I left it with the desk and I asked that I get a copy when it was completed.

I met Dylan outside and he was hungry and desperately wanted some good coffee so he suggested going to Tim Hortons. On the way there, I heard my phone ringing but it was buried in my bag at my feet and the call went to voicemail before I could get to it. 

As with most drive-thrus, there was a line of vehicles so he went inside to order while I checked my voicemail. They’d forgotten to have me sign the form for the genetic testing so I needed to go back to the cancer center. Thankfully the cancer center is less than 10 miles from home and we weren’t even home yet. 

When we finally arrived home it was just after 11, which is considerably earlier than I expected. I then sent a text to my manager to let them know that I would be working my overnight shift and my scheduled surgery date. I did follow this up later with an actual email, but I wanted to let her know as soon as possible. Like the rest of everybody’s workplace, we’re short staffed so me not working my shift puts additional strain on my coworkers.

I felt like I could breathe for the first time in weeks after this appointment. Everything still hinges on something else but as someone who doesn’t like surprises, knowing the next steps helps ease my anxiety. It might have been the Xanax … or a combination!

Seasonal insomnia, coupled with this health situation, hasn’t made it any easier to sleep. I’m regularly taking medication and still only sleep a few hours. 

When my alarm so rudely and inconsiderately woke me from a decent sleep, I popped out of bed to make dinner (my breakfast) before work. Ss stressed as I am right now (and who can blame me) work is a distraction. I’d rather have the same routine and just be able to keep that part of my brain occupied instead of dwelling on my health, or potential lack thereof. And today is good day for distraction because it is actually pretty busy. I saw the notification that my manager scheduled a meeting for her and I, which instantly skyrockets my anxiety. I haven’t done anything wrong, but we all know someone who knows someone who was fired or forced out of their position after sharing a diagnosis. 

Needless to say, I was worried about this meeting all night. I’ve been working a long time and usually when your manager calls you in for a meeting it’s not for a raise or promotion but to reprimand you for something. 

I’ve been a part of this team for 8 years and had the same manager the whole time. She is very forthright and doesn’t generally schedule a meeting to call someone out on something – at least in my experience – but will point the issue out immediately. This makes more sense in the long run and probably does a better job at stopping the behavior before it becomes a habit. 

But I’ve been conditioned over decades that being called into the manager’s office is stressful and should cause worry.