Houston, we have a "stage"

My surgeon removed the drain today--yay! I had no idea how much it was irritating me. No, I mean, I know it was bugging me, but I didn't realize how much of the discomfort in my armpit was due to the little plastic tube up there. Now it's out and I feel better already. :-)

Bad(ish) news--the margins on the tumor were a bit close, so he wants to go back in and remove more of the edge around the existing "cavity" (where the tumor was). (The tumor was about 2.5 cm.) Since there definitely won't be lymph node involvement this time, it actually *will* be same day surgery. But, of course, we have to go through the approval process (again) first. So, everyone be thinking positive thoughts along the lines of "surgery next week, surgery next week, surgery next week".

And of the 18 lymph nodes they removed, 3 of them were positive.

This makes me T2 and N1 in the cancer staging. We're assuming (hopinghopinghoping) that the M (metastisis) is a 0. Hopefully the CT scan taken last week confirms this. I'll know more, I'm sure, when I meet with the oncologist on Monday.

The surgeon says they're staging this as a 3A. Not fantastic, but not end of the world, by any means. And, we're lucky enough to live in a nice metropolitan area, with access to extremely fine care.

Meanwhile, we continue to be touched by the genuine help and good thoughts we're continuously receiving. We can't thank folks enough. Please just know how much we do appreciate your thoughts and words.