Okay, I've left the Hall of Mirrors - enough of that distortion! Time to be practical and organised - all the support I've been getting and a nudge from my good friend D to get a second opinion has got my backside into gear.
DH read the online stuff and I re-read my info pack. I had a chat with DH, the BN, my older PS and a few with the KD. The ever charming KD used his skills and organised me an appointment , next Tuesday, with the hard to get oncologist: "how did he do that!" said Herself, very impressed. KD encouraged me to ask Herself a number of penetrating questions, which she answered thus:
My survival rate is minimally, if at all, increased if I have axillary surgery (removal of lymph nodes under the armpit) and chemotherapy, as opposed to just having chemotherapy. The chances of lymphodema and complications with surgery are 20%. Since I am a very low risk to get cancer in the first place, I'm not all that impressed with figures. Herself agrees that getting the oncologist's opinion is necessary and that a team approach is most helpful. A delay until Tuesday will not make a difference. She's going to call him and talk about me and my micro-metastasis. KD is concerned that everyone bonds well over this. I know how he feels - team building is a large part of my work... which I'm missing by the way.
My blood test revealed that my iron levels are only up a few points and I'm not yet back to pre-surgery levels. This explains the tiredness and nausea, so I'm on iron supplements from today.
My sister W phoned last week. Ever direct, she asked me what no-one else has: "what does it look like?" I gave a detailed description. Obviously her mind works just like the BSS's (who drew 2 eyes) because she said : "so it's like your chest is giving a big wink then?"
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