I decided today was the last day of my armpit drain. I have an appointment to have it removed on Wednesday, but the drainage has dropped off significantly. And since I accidentally removed the other one, I knew there wasn't much to it. Just pull.
So I did. It bled a fair amount, and my medical professional sister didn't answer my call, so we were forced to wing it. Balto the cat helped by hiding in my bag of sterile bandages. I considered just standing in the shower while my side finished bleeding and draining whatever I'd stirred up, but Dr. Nasty (Bob's rock name) pointed out I don't want water and soap trickling into the giant open hole.
It's totally fine. Probably. The other news is that I got my oncotype number back. My number is 30. The most recent research (the TAILORx study published in The New England Journal of Medicine in June), says that for an oncotype number of 25 and below, no chemo; 26 and above, chemo.
So chemo for me. We'll see Dr. Trottier again January 10, but I already know that he'll spend that appointment further explaining why I need to do it, and scheduling my first course of IV chemo to happen before the end of the January.
https://www.cancer.gov/news-events/press-releases/2018/tailorx-breast-cancer-chemotherapy