“The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.”
Proverbs 4:7
…I scheduled another office appointment for August 31st to discuss this mastectomy surgery. Of course, I was filled with questions, reading up on all things Breast cancer. This was especially the case concerning my lymph nodes.
Ah yes, my lymph nodes. Where do I start?
Lymphedema freaked me out. In my Breast cancer information folder, there was material on its risks and the maintenance following surgery and node removal. I was not heartened by what I read.
Some women develop this condition, creating mobility issues, pain and swelling of the arm. When you mess with the Lymphatic system, and its drainage mechanism, this is what can happen. I asked Dr. M…
“How many lymph nodes were typically removed during surgery?”
“Oh, not many. Only six or seven.”
“Six or seven? That seems like a lot. Could you only take one or two?” (Here I am, negotiating).
“Well, it’s really not that many.”
(In my mind, silently, “Well, it’s really not your body.”)
I read voraciously and spoke to women who had their own experiences with Lymphedema. “Not that many” nodes radically impacted their lives. They had to be careful not to injure, cut or scrape that “extremity arm,” (the arm corresponding with the affected breast). They had to wear compression garments, especially when they flew. There was swelling, discomfort, sometimes intense pain. They had to be hypervigilant to guard that area. Women were even warned about wearing shoulder strap purses over that affected arm.
It’s getting more terrific by the second.
So, I was dead set against the node removal. Yes, Dr. M. insisted it was the best way to test grade and stage on my cancer. I understood that, but what kind of wreckage would it visit on my quality of life in the process?
That was the essence of my priorities. I felt that was where my surgeon and I butted heads most frequently.
And it didn’t ease my mind to have recently caught an interview with actress, Kathy Bates (most famous for her role in the film, “Misery”). Bates was candid about going through Breast and Ovarian cancer having developed Lymphedema in the process.
She had twenty-two lymph nodes removed, nineteen just dealing with her Breast cancer alone. I don’t know whether it was in one fell swoop or if it was on more than one occasion, but, when you’re removing nodes in the double digits, that sounds extreme.
Bates, who promoted LE&RN, a Lymphedema awareness organization, was impassioned in her reasons in getting behind this cause.
“In medical school, they only spend, on average, a total of fifteen minutes studying the Lymphatic system. This is the system responsible for drainage. We need to study it more.”
