Sent: Wednesday, October 02, 2002 9:38 PM
Subject: Karla's Update


> Hi to all,
> Well, I figured it was time to write another one of these things.  Are you 
> all bored yet?  I wouldn't blame you if your were.  I have certainly had 
> enough of this whole thing.  And I still have 6 months to go!  Can you 
> tell that my "positive attitude" is waring?  Well, you are right.  I am 
> hanging in there, but I think the worst is yet to come.  I handled the 
> chemo pretty well, I have to say, but I am not looking forward to the 
> surgery.  I am having a really hard time with this part.
>
> I know I had originally told you all that the surgery was November 18th. 
> Well, that was when the mastectomy and reconstructive was going to happen 
> all at once.  Well, that's not the case anymore.  After meeting with the 
> plastic surgeon, he has strongly persuaded me to have it done later, 
> because I am still going to have to go thru radiation.  This process 
> really screws up your skin, it burns it very badly and so he wants to wait 
> until that's done, so we can see how much skin is affected by the 
> radiation.  So the schedule is this....surgery for mastectomy on Oct. 
> 24th, 3 weeks from now, recovery (could be one to 2 weeks, depending on 
> how fast I heal) and then 5 weeks of radiation (5 days a week, for 5 
> weeks) and then wait 3 months to see how everything heals and then 
> reconstructive.  Needless to say, I am not happy about waiting for the 
> reconstructive, but in the long run, it will be best.  I don't want to 
> have to do that procedure twice, which is ultimately what ends up 
> happening.  I will meet with Dr. Lee (oncologist) on the 14th to make sure 
> all my blood counts are good and Dr. Rivas (surgeon) for pre-op stuff and 
> discuss the procedure and then go under the knife the following week.
>
> So there you have it.  I am really trying to stay positive and believe 
> that this is the only way to save my life, but it's pretty tough. 
> Everyone tells you that you are strong, and that you will get through it. 
> I know that intellectually, but the emotional part doesn't seem to want to 
> cooperate.
>
> I will have more after I meet with the doctors, before I go for surgery.
>
> Thanks again for everyone that has sent back nice letters of support. 
> It's very comforting to know that you care.
>
> Bye for now,
> KJ