Good News: Clear Margins After First Surgery

Good news.

This week, we received the pathology report back much sooner than we anticipated and it was filled with good news. The margins for this first surgery were clear of cancer! My team in Boston planned on needing a second, and possibly a third surgery to get clean margins, so to get this kind of news, and to get it early, is amazing!

I knew we would get clean margins in this first surgery. I can’t explain how I knew we would. It was just a deep feeling in my bones, an intuition of sorts, that told me it was a successful surgery.

I knew the good news would quickly move on to the overwhelming organizational nightmare that it is this upcoming second surgery. So I made sure to take space and relish in the moment that part one of this three-part treatment was done. 33% complete!

So what’s next?  Part two of my treatment is what is next. And part two… Is a doozy.

I will have my second, and hopefully final, surgery as part of the treatment plan.  This surgery will be with the plastic surgeon and will involve a skin graft on my elbow.  The surgery is quite intense and intricate and…very long. My surgery is expected to take 6 to 8 hours. I will be spending a week at Mass General recovering and being closely monitored to make sure the skin graft takes on my elbow.  

You heard that correctly: a one week stay at a hospital. The sheer volume of my to-do list to prepare to spend a week in Boston, while my daughter remains here in Maine is, to say the least, overwhelming.

Fingers crossed that I will be able to get fresh air each day. Being cooped up in a hospital for a week is not my idea of a good time but I understand why I need to remain there. So… Send all your good energy and vibes to Boston that I get to get outside for a little bit each day!

Once I am discharged from the hospital, I will have a 4 to 6 week long recovery here at home.  And if I’m being honest, it is this recovery that I’m looking forward to the most. To put all the surgeries behind me and to prepare my body as much as I can for the upcoming radiation feels like a good spot to be in. 

If you were looking for ways to support me and my family during this time, please click on the link here to see ways that you can help us.   Your generosity, your help, and your yummy meals mean the world to me and my family. Thank you!

As always, thank you for following along! ~Natalie