The radioactive seed insertion procedure is done! It involved a lot of waiting, especially for the doctor – whom everyone seemed to need. Staff interacting with me wore clear masks, but as is typical with the Communicator mask, it wasn’t always positioned correctly over their lips. “Can you pull that down a little more, please? A little more. More. Good.” Rinse, repeat.

The procedure started with an ultrasound to find the right area of concern, which was marked with, well, a marker. Then I got three shots of lidocaine. The needles themselves didn’t hurt so much as the lidocaine did going in – it burned. Then a needle with the radioactive seed was inserted. Now that was very unpleasant – it really burned.

Afterward, I had a couple of mammogram slides done so the radiologist could make sure the seed was in the right spot.

If for whatever reason I don’t have surgery tomorrow, I’m to call radiology as well as my surgeon, because the seed has to come out – and the only way that happens is with surgery. That seems ironic – if you can’t have the key surgery, you need surgery anyway? Would that even be possible? I hope never to find out!

During surgery, Dr. McAuliffe will use a handheld Geiger counter that finds radioactivity in order to see the right place in the tissue that needs to be removed. The seed (Iodine I-125) is of very low energy, and its placement is of little to no risk to me or anyone nearby. If you can’t tell, this is from the brochure I got.

I was told I’d get a call between 2-6 today informing me what time I’m to report tomorrow. Just like the cable guys… The call came just before 3. I have to be at Magee before the crack of dawn! That’s damn early, but at least it’s in the morning since I can’t eat after midnight.

I’ve been asked if I’m nervous. I’d say more than anything, I’m dreading waking up from the anesthesia (always weird), dealing with my historically poor reaction to anesthesia, the arm/hand restrictions, and going stir crazy over the next two weeks.

Whenever I’m in an operating room, it brings back memories of getting my tubes in as a kid, which I had to do many times. Back then, they put the mask over my face to knock me out, which never agreed with me. I remember at least one time they had to reschedule the procedure!

Now I don’t need tubes, and I’ll get the anesthesia through an IV with some anti-nausea medication. Progress!

Thanks for all the good wishes! I’ll see you on the flip side!