4 Bee Stings in my Boob

Brett & I woke up at a very early am hour to head to the hospital for our BIG day. All showered up with my surgical soap, dressed up in my "Fight like a Girl" attire, no make-up, no jewelry and a front zip-up change of clothes for after. All set and gorgeous, let me tell you! After our 6 am check-in time and changing into my new beautimus Paws Suit (a hospital gown that can connect to a tube allowing warm air to be shot into it), we answered questions from Nurse Leah. She was way nice! She did an excellent job at getting my IV all hooked up. That was way important to me today. So, thank you, Leah!

The Beautimus Paws Suit

Nurse Leah

Over the next couple hours, we were visited by several of our doctors for the day. We met with Dr. Split, our Anesthesiologist. He went over his plan and said he was going to try to not use a tube down my throat while I was under. How nice. Because of that, I think he's great! ;) Dr. Hightower, one of the Surgical Residents (later known as Dr. Tall, Dark and Handsome) and Dr. Bouton also made a visit to talk about the surgery. They were all very kind and understanding. Dr. Stover never made it by that morning but he was my Dr. Left Boob Remover. He made a visit to me later the next day. So a big thank you to him as well.

Dr. Bouton gave me his autograph right on my chest. I didn't request it but he must have thought I was a fan of his. [He was right! I might add]

At 8 am, they wheeled me down to Imaging for an X-Ray. I was sent there to do testing on my Sentinel Node in something they called Lymphodema Imaging.  Unfortunately, the nurse that wheeled me down must have not passed on the info that I was there because I sat alone waiting for a long time. I figured they must have forgotten about me. So mean!!!! But the Imaging Nurse finally came out and found me. She took me in a room, laid me down on a super skinny table and gave me 4 bee stings in my right breast.

OUCH! So rude. And I am not kidding! There was the actually poke of the needle and then it felt exactly like a bee sting. Ouchy WhaWha, people! The sharp, stinging pain lasted for about 30 seconds to a minute for each "sting" I got. So like 2 whole minutes of constant pain while I tried to hold really still. Not fun at all!!!!
Then the nurse moved me into position under a rotating camera machine that took shots of where the dye was headed. My nodes cooperated fully and she got a great shot. At least that's what she told me cuz it just looked like a fuzzy old black & white TV screen to me. But if they got what they needed, I'm happy! Right after that, they wheeled me upstairs and I got one last kiss from Brett before they rolled me through the big scary doors to the operating rooms. Holy cow! Here we go!

Here's what the actual Lymph Node procedure is all about.{I stole the info from the Internet} You know-this is what the medical team says happens.:

Definition: Lymphoscintigraphy is a technique that is used to determine the sentinel lymph node (first lymph nodes the tumor is draining into).
Pronunciation: LIM-foh-sin-TIH-gra-fee
Procedure: During lymphoscintigraphy, a radiologist will locate your tumor, and inject a small, non-toxic amount of the radioactive element technetium and a blue dye into it. While you lie still, a computer records the path of the radioactive material towards the draining lymph nodes. The substance flows through the lymph system into the sentinel node, the first lymph node to which any cancer would spread in a given area. The blue dye will assist the surgeon in finding the sentinel lymph nodes (the sentinel node and one or two others), which will be removed and tested for metastasis.
Sentinel node biopsy is a technique that helps determine if a cancer has spread. When a cancer has been detected, often the next step is to find the lymph node closest to the tumor site and retrieve it for analysis. The concept of the "sentinel" node, or the first node to drain the area of the cancer, allows a more accurate staging of the cancer, and leaves unaffected nodes behind to continue the important job of draining fluids. The sentinel lymph node and possibly one or two other nodes are removed and biopsied. The results of the biopsy can help doctors decide whether or not to remove other lymph nodes: If the sentinel node and other nodes show signs of cancer, the nearby lymph nodes are removed. If they do not show signs of cancer, the rest of the lymph nodes will likely be cancer-free, and further surgery is not needed.