Today I got a lot of new information to synthesize.
I learned a *lot* about breast surgery. That’s about all I need to say about *that* at this point, because if you want to learn about incisions and drains and such, you can use Mr. Google.
From my perspective, the most relevant detail was that I will likely miss about three weeks of work immediately following surgery. There will then be a bunch of follow-up appointments, but even the schedule for those will vary depending on what other treatments are going on (such as whether or not I need radiation.)
So that’s about it for my first appointment there.
The second appointment for today was my genetics one. Before they do the blood draw, there’s another detailed family tree of cancer discussion. This is now my third appointment where we’ve done this particular activity, and it does not get more fun with repetition. I am grateful to my mother for having the information I needed, as I once again pulled open the email she sent me in order to answer their questions. (I do think it’s really adorable that she listed her own status as “still living”, as if it was in any doubt.)
Then there’s a lot of conversation about what can and cannot be derived from these tests; privacy laws as apply to these tests; next steps in the process. They also warn you that most people will get at least one “unknown variant” on their results, because the science in this space is still young. I appreciate these kinds of warnings, as I tend to scrutinize my own medical data. (My initial reaction to the word “necrosis” on my pathology reports was not joyful, although in the context it was used, it turned out to be a positive finding.) We talked a little about some potential impacts to my known surgery plans if things come out poorly for me, but mostly left that for after we get the results as there are too many potential outcomes to loop through.
Then they did a blood draw, and done!
The test takes three weeks to run. Because my surgery plan depends on the outcome of the test, they expedited the shipping, the request, and will expedite the reporting out. But the test itself is 21 days to execute. So it’s back to waiting.
Next up on the medical front: The MRI. At least those results will come back quickly.
As a random observation at the end of a long day spent in various medical office waiting rooms, the music selections were extremely varied – four different types of music, none I would ever choose to listen to at home. I wonder if they do that on purpose, in order to avoid ruining your favorite songs with unpleasant memories…