THE ONE

July 9...the date that THE ONE will reveal itself fully. But before we get to that I will tell you about my pre-op appoint with the surgeon.

He finished up with me and I was heading out the exam room door and there was an elderly lady standing at the desk saying...why can't I have the first slot? The lady behind the desk looked up, saw me and said...."because she has already booked it." This elderly lady looked toward me and said "oh my....you have breast cancer, too? I am so scared, are you?" I looked her square in the eyes and said "no, I am not." "There is nothing to be afraid of, we can't change what has happened to us...the only thing we CAN change is HOW we deal with it." She then told me her name and that her surgery was the one immediately after mine. She said she was scared and could she call me. I said sure and gave her my phone number.

She called me several times prior to the surgery, we were 2 doors down from one another in the hospital and to this date we are best of friends..even with the 30 plus year age difference. HE provided me with someone to "take care" when I needed it the most! I do better when I help...I like to give, not receive!

The morning of July 9th arrived and I reported to the hospital with my husband, sister and in-laws in tow. What no one could see, but I was aware of the fact that I had an angel on each shoulder. My momma and daddy! They were with me every step of the way.

The surgeon still felt it was an early cancer but I would have lymph node mapping done prior to surgery. With the mapping done, I headed for the OR. I do not remember anything of the next few hours but started to be aware when I heard the recovery room nurses talking about JCAHO being there for a visit and what did EOC stand for. The first words out of my mouth was "Environment of Care." They starting laughing, here I was post surgery for a double mastectomy and I knew more than they did!

I spent 2 hours in the recovery room and then was sent to the floor. By 2 PM that same day, I was out of the bed with my robe on, dragging the IV pole, no pain meds on board, walking from one end to the other. The nurses were in total amazement. I tried to tell everyone that I push through pain! I bet they will believe me next time!

The day after surgery, my physician came in to tell me that even though it was a less than 1cm tumor, it had already claimed a lymph node! Only one? Great....I can handle that!

I was discharged on day 2, had all drains out by day 4. The only thing that was looming was the visit with the oncologist and what journey I would be about to take!

THE ONE....less than 1 cm with one positive lymph node. I know who I will be fighting against now. Let the battle begin!