Deja Vu

When my mom was pregnant with me, at the "advanced maternal age" of 41, her obstetrician suggested they try this new test to make sure I didn't have any abnormalities. So, my mom was the first (or at least one of the first) to have an amniocentesis in our tiny town. This was also done without the aid of an ultrasound... I blame this for my severe needle-phobia as a child.  ;)

The sample was sent off to the prestigious University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia (or some similarly prestigious place). Then, silence. My dad wrote multiple letters asking for the results, and did finally receive them... after I was born. Thankfully I didn't have any abnormalities (despite what you may think!).

So, when my surgeon told me they were going to try a new process to see if they could get my genetic results faster, my parents were immediately skeptical and I think may have even chuckled. 

Yep, the blood I had drawn on December 22 hasn't even made it to the lab yet. My surgeon called to see what was going on, and found out that the results won't come in for another 2 weeks - a week after my scheduled lumpectomy. This matters because if I have the breast cancer gene mutation, the recommended treatment would change to a bilateral mastectomy.

So, the surgeon gave me 3 choices:

1. Cancel the surgery on the 11th to wait for the results. If positive, she would recommend a double mastectomy. Scheduling for that would take about 6 weeks - so that would mean waiting 8 weeks to get the cancer out.
2. Cancel the surgery on the 11th to wait for the results. If negative, we would reschedule the lumpectomy, which would take 3 weeks. So that would mean waiting 5 weeks to get the cancer out.
3. Go ahead with the lumpectomy on the 11th. If the results are negative, then great. If positive, I could take my time in scheduling a double mastectomy sometime in the next few months.

I'm choosing #3. It's a risk that I'll have to have 2 surgeries, but considering my family history, I think the risk is small and I don't want this cancer to keep growing for another 1-2 months. Plus, I can then take my time to decide on when and where I want to have my mastectomy and reconstruction.

So, surgery is still on for a week from today.