Meeting the Breast Surgeon

Today we met with a breast surgeon that was referred to us by our bishop and our doctor, I've heard she's the best.
She gave me an exam, but had a hard time feeling the lump because of the hematoma from my biopsy (bruising from the biopsy).  She didn't feel any lymph nodes. She wants to do a breast MRI to get a better picture of what is going on because on my mammogram they couldn't see my lump. So she wants to make sure there aren't any more lumps.
After she gets that back she'll have a better idea of what kind of surgery to do. We could do a lumpectomy if there's only one lump.  That means they'll take the lump and a small margin of tissue surrounding it to test the margins to see if it has spread. I think I remember her saying she'd take any lymph nodes out that are cancerous too or she'll biopsy them. If the margins come back not clear then I'll have to do radiation therapy. And there would be a possibility of more surgeries in the future.

Another option is a mastectomy. Since I'm so young and there's such a great risk of this reoccurring, a mastectomy would lessen that risk and there would be a 90% chance I wouldn't need radiation therapy. It would cut my risk even more if I had a double mastectomy. They would do reconstructive surgery at the same time as the mastectomy.
If I have a mastectomy I won't be able to breastfeed if I have another child. If I have a single mastectomy I could nurse on the other side but then I'd have to worry about a greater chance of getting cancer in that breast later on (not because of breastfeeding but just the fact that there's more breast tissue).

It is possible that I have a type of cancer that grows or spreads depending on my Estrogen levels. If I have more Estrogen then it could make it worse. So if I have that kind, I would need to not use birth control with that hormone, and she suggests I get my ovaries removed because they produce that hormone. It sounds like she wants me to get rid of my Marina birth control IUD either way (even though I think it only has progesterone in it).

She advised me to talk to my OBGYN about freezing my eggs because I told her we wanted to have more kids. But I've heard freezing eggs and invitro fertilization is spendy.
I would be fine if I couldn't breastfeed my baby but the possibility of not having any more children makes me sad. I know there's adoption but that seems expensive too and such an emotional roller coaster. But I will do whatever it takes to kick this thing no matter if I can have children in the end or not.

She didn't talk about Chemo at all. That doesn't mean it's not a possibility. I will probably have my MRI in the next week or so and then meet with the radiation oncologist, once that's done we meet with the plastic surgeon and once that's done we meet with my breast surgeon again to decide what type of surgery is best. So surgery will probably happen sometime in January. Which is nice, then I can enjoy Christmas and New Years pain free.
After the surgery is when they'll know what stage I'm at and if I need radiation or chemo.
What we're hoping of course is it hasn't spread to the lympnodes but we won't know that until after the surgery. Kinda seems a little backwards.
Her demeanor made me feel like I was in good hands and this wasn't as scary as I thought it was. Like it wasn't as urgent as I thought it was after speaking to my general practitioner. She said it's possible I've had this for the last 5 years and just didn't know it. She said if I had surgery this week or two weeks from now won't make a difference.
My pathology report says it's Intermediate grade invasive ductal carcinoma.
Tomorrow I have my appointment with my OBGYN and then I go get a chest x-ray, and blood work and Vitamin D levels done.
So that's what's up for now. I'm glad we don't have to rush stuff before Christmas and I can just enjoy that. I am glad that they aren't rushing stuff because then they can figure out exactly the best course of action and it makes me feel better that it's not so urgent. And I feel better about there being a possibility that I won't have to have radiation therepy or chemo. But there are still many tests to be done and that could all change or I could just be forgetting some things she said.

I'm feeling a little wiped out. I don't know if this is just depressing me or if I'm coming down with something. I just feel tired all the time and stomach aches. I'm usually pretty aware of my emotional health but I can't tell right now. I don't think the cancer is making me tired and hurty. I'm probably just emotionally tired and the stomach aches are from nerves. Jeff has been AMAZING. He has totally just stepped up to the plate. Right now he's laying down with B in B's bed trying to get him to go to sleep. And he's really been comforting to me when I'm not so strong or positive. He really wants to go to all my appointments with me and has gone to all but one so far. I love him so much and I couldn't ask for a better partner to go through this with.