BOOBS!

Boobs are huge! Everybody has feelings about boobs. Whether those feelings are tender or mean, self-conscious or confident: men, women and children alike feel something for boobs. I remember wanting to have boobs, and I remember wanting to give away my boobs. I have been embarrassed by and proud of them. They've been burdensome and pleasurable... handy, even!

My boobs have been around for a pretty long time. Twenty years, at least! Since the biopsy I often find myself holding them tenderly. I let them out of their bras more often, I am no longer shy to handle them if there is any pain. There's been talk of fast finding a man to love them up, of photo shoots, of molds being made. Yes, I love these boobs!

In a week or so, I'll be going under the knife for a partial-mastectomy which sounds scary for anyone attached to boobs. Lumpectomy sounds friendlier to me (not to Lump). A radiologist will inject radio-isotopes into the area around my nipple. I think a Geiger counter will then be used to locate their path to my lymphatic system. Lump and some surrounding boob, and the nearest lymph nodes, will be removed for examination. It should all happen in one day, with a good night of sleep in a familiar bed at the end. Mom and Dad will be here, and I'm confident about my doctor and the students at the KGH Cancer Clinic.

The key term in the preceeding pathology report is "Invasive Mammary Carcimoma". Lump is not benign and nobody is sure why it is there. At this point, the lumpectomy is the best way to learn how aggressively the cancer has been behaving. From the second pathology report, we will determine how to proceed with treatment. The lumpectomy could be the end of it! There could follow radiation therapy, which is a localized treatment. There could follow chemotherapy, which is a full-body treatment. A mastectomy, a double mastectomy may be necessary! The possibilities are dizzying.

It seems the best thing to do is to take this step by step. It is what it is!