[Sparkle]

Hi Everyone, and thanks Dapper for pointing this thread out to me.

I'm caring for my best friend who has breast cancer.

She had her double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery yesterday. Everything went really well in the surgeries and her lymph nodes were clear. It was a really really long day. Her wife and I wept with relief when the oncologist surgeon called to say the nodes were clear and that her part of the surgery went beautifully. The tumor was contained and the tissue surrounding it looked very healthy.

The surgeons are a dream team, among the very best of their peers (in their specialities) at one of the best hospitals in Massachusetts. I'm grateful she has health insurance that is robust enough to allow her to go there.

It's all been such a roller coaster, I didn't anticipate that.

I'm exhausted, I feel like I could sleep for a week and we've not even begun the long at home recovery process or learned the pathology of the tumor and what that will mean for her post-surgical treatment options.

I can already see how hard it is going to be to balance caring for her and her family, and taking good care of myself at the same time. I'll have to work on figuring out how to do that. Luckily she has many family members and friends who love her and live near enough to help. I've set up a care calendar. I'm struggling to manage competing priorities right now though.

Thanks again to Dapper for directing me here, and to Tantalizing for reaching out to me and sharing your experiences.