Follow-up with Dr. Chatson

After the bad weather and extreme  humidity of the last few days, today was beautiful.  It was all clear skis with warm dry air.  This happened to coincide with my having a 'good day' which is always welcomed.

I had an appointment with Dr. Chatson to determine if I was healing properly. After checking in, it wasn't long before I was called from the waiting room for a check of my vitals.  Great blood pressure readings, normal pulse and temperature. The nurse said, "The doctor will be right with you."

Shortly after, Dr Chatson came into the examination room and asked how I was doing and tolerating the chemo.  "Tolerating is a good word," I said then proceeded to talk about my good and bad days as well as the general experience.  He said, "The chemo is cumulative so it's expected that this round would be tolerable." [I'm beginning to have disdain for the word 'cumulative' - right now it's in the same category as 'it depends'.]

Shifting gears, he said, "Ok, take off your shirt so I can see how you are healing."  Now there's a very clear distinction between the viewer and the artist.  All things considered, I thought I was healing well and I am.  However, the artist was very quiet as he held his gaze on his future 'work'.

He pressed certain areas and asked that I hold my arms a certain way as he inspected.  He then said, "Let's look in the mirror together and I describe what I see and what I will do."

Looking at my (healthy) right side, he said he would 'liposuction' various areas (while pointing) to make that side more symmetric.  He said he may have to cut and remove some internal mass.  He said, "I would cut just below the aureola and remove mass/structures. [I should have asked if I would be needing my favorite drain.] As we shared the view he motioned to the concave breast and said he would take fat cells from (motioning to) my stomach area.  He said he didn't want to use any of the fat from the surgical area. 

Earlier I recall his saying that this would require two surgeries, but neither as massive as the mastectomy. [Thank heavens.]

We talked about timing and he reaffirmed that it would have to be after the chemo and recovery period.  He said that chemo does things to the body and that the recovery period will allow me to reach my stabilized body mass.  So he asked that I come back at the end of August.

I told him that I had a concern with insurance coverage seeing that this would be happening up to six months after receiving the first approval. He understood and said that he would create another case. To do this he would need some new pictures of the 'defect'.  He left to get his camera and returned for my photo shoot.  After about a dozen shots, he said, "That will do it."

He told me he would submit the case and let me know of the results.  In the interim, he said, "Good luck with the rest of your chemo treatments."

I scheduled an appointment for the last Wednesday in August.

More to come on this front.