sheesh1961

Hey ladies, I haven't posted in a week or so and figured it was WAY past time to check in -- I'm at work so this will be quick but I had to give a big WOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! to Annie and Sandy!!! I am SO happy for you both!!

Tracey -- I was told no rads by the radiation oncologist -- but breast surgeon and medical oncologist were both waffling on it. It was all CYA, if you ask me. Bottom line is whether benefit outweighs risk. I hear you on not wanting to go through it, esp. after what you've been through already! Good karma coming your way on that decision -- I hope you get a clear recommendation after the meeting. I hate that "Well, it's up to you ..." stuff they throw at us! :)

Good to see others posting too -- wondering7, Karen, Brittania Annie -- best wishes for continuing recoveries and feeling better and better every day!

More later -- when I'm not at work ... :)

Sheila 

Hi lovely October ladies!

Tracey -- you are an inspiration to me! I am SO happy for you about your path report!! That's fantastic!!! Good karma coming your way on the drains! :)

My PS hasn't said anything about exercise -- he just emphasizes nothing extreme. He's so funny -- he tells me no mud wrestling, no heavy construction ... :) But I didn't think to ask him about running. Frankly, I'm not feeling like I should run yet -- too much bouncing with foobs that still feel a bit tender. But I definitely power walk. I do 2 miles in about 20-25 mins. Frankly, that helped a LOT with that tight chest feeling when I had my expanders. I swing my arms and I'm sure I get my heart rate up, but not sure what it goes up to.

Mona, no personal experience on tamoxifen, although a friend of mine has been on it for four years now. Her biggest complaint is that you're supposed to avoid alcohol while you're on it (apparently increased risk of liver problems, I think?). She says night sweats bother her a bit, but she also says it's no big deal.

Annie, I've gotten UTIs several times and have always cured them with mega-doses of cranberry juice. It works REALLY well for me. I noticed some ripples today too -- unfortunately on the "inside" side of my left foob, where it would show in a low-cut shirt. I also noticed that the incision on my right foob is starting to pucker in a bit, like the skin is stretching but the incision isn't. I saw my PS yesterday and mentioned it to him. He just says that there will be a lot of changes over the next four months, and at that point we'll reevaluate and see if anything else needs to be done. I'm still really debating the whole nipple/areola thing -- my PS wants to take tummy skin for my nipples and then tattoo the areolas. He says the added bennie is that I get a tummy tuck at the same time. I'm still not sure, though -- but at least have plenty of time to decide.

Sheila

Hi everyone,

All good wishes and prayers to ladyredlocks, dunyana and wondering tomorrow ... 

Angela -- so glad you're doing well!

Tracey, it definitely could be the antibiotics that are making your stomach upset. They almost all do that -- taking those with food helps too. Usually you just have to power through it -- the benefits outweigh the discomfort. And speaking of discomfort, I'm with Sandy -- it was 2-3 weeks before I started feeling comfortable again (relatively speaking), and even then I couldn't stand to wear a bra or some types of shirts if they weren't soft enough. I went back to work after 3 weeks and had to wear a bra to look OK, but as soon as I'd get in the car to go home I'd rip that puppy off! 

Annie/Sandy -- can I ask why you opted for ooph/hysterectomy? Did you do genetic testing? I know that having BC means your risk of ovarian cancer is higher, so now I'm more than a little worried about that. If this is prophy surgery, is your insurance covering it?

Linda -- yay for a good night's sleep!! 

Mykidsmom -- glad we could be of help, soon enough you'll all be doing the same for the January and February ladies! I love that you're popping in here from time to time -- please keep us updated when you have your surgery!

Sheila

I'll say right up front that I know I'm going to miss someone that I wanted to reply to here ... :)

Sharon -- sounds like it was a little rough but glad the DIEP worked for you and most important you're doing fine now!

Linda -- also had that tight bra feeling after my exchange. I'm at about 2-1/2 weeks now, and it's just the past maybe 2-3 days that it's starting to go away. My implants were same size as my expanders were filled to (400cc), so maybe that's why. 

Tracey, I waited 3 weeks til first fill. My PS told me that he would start when I felt comfortable enough for it, but didn't want to wait too long because scar tissue forming could then cause problems with expansion. Never found out what "too long" might be because I felt good to start at 3 weeks.

Marilyn -- woohoo on the hour hike! I'm about to go out for my 2-mile walk in the 'burbs right now. :) I'd take the Red Rocks over my subdivision anyday! Was there last August and loved it -- stayed in the cutest motel up by the airport. I can't wait to be able to run again, but may not be doing that til next spring -- I'm afraid that by the time my foobs are up to a run, we'll have snow here!

Lisa -- so glad all went well! Sandbags are a good description. I always told people it felt like wearing an iron bra 3 sizes too small. At least it's temporary, but knowing that doesn't really make it any more fun. I always took motrin, but in reading posts since then I bet muscle relaxers would have worked far better for me.

Good luck to the Monday surgery ladies -- you'll do great, and please check in with us when you feel up to it!

Sheila

Karen, do you have someone you could talk over the free flap decision with? You might also want to start a new thread to talk to women who've had the same recon as you're planning, to find out more details on what you might be dealing with immediately after. How many days will you be in the hospital? If your dr. knows that you don't have anyone immediately available to help at home, he/she might decide to have you stay longer.

I slept in my recliner for more than a week after my bi-mast (I had immediate recon with expanders). I found I could get out of that by myself, but I'm not sure how different flap surgery will be. Other tips for getting ready ahead of time -- have lots of ice so you can easily get ice water. Buy straws if you don't have them -- sometimes just sitting forward to drink out of a glass is more than you want to do. Make sure you have a bedside table or side table for your chair, and make sure have the TV remote, a good book, mp3 player (if you have one) and headphones, your prescript pain meds (see if your dr. will give you the script ahead of time so you can get it and have it ready), tylenol or motrin (in case you don't want to always take the prescript stuff), and your phone. I also kept some hard candies there. Buy some prune juice ahead of time -- you'll probably get constipated from the anesthesia. I like black licorice, and that works too. :)

That's all I can think of right now. Mainly, don't feel like you have to be locked into the flap recon right away just because you already made the decision. Go with your gut feeling. See if you can set up another appt with your surgeon to talk about other options. I changed my mind from lumpectomy to bi-mast a week before my surgery, and my surgeon squeezed in an office visit for me between surgeries (I must have sounded a bit panicked on the phone, lol!).

Will post more if I think of anything else. A friend of mine who had a bi-mast several years ago told me right after I was diagnosed that the weeks BEFORE surgery are the hardest part, and I think she was right! So it will only get better from here on! ((((((((((HUGS))))))))))))

Sheila

Marilyn - great news! Hope you enjoyed Olive Garden takeout!!

Lilyj - that was so sweet of you to post! It seems like every day I notice a difference where I feel more and more "normal."

Speaking of ice -- Linda, I used ice bags a lot on the side where my PS had to tack it in and place some sutures. That really seemed to help.

Tracey - you go, girl!! Lots of hugs and good wishes coming your way!

Am I the only exchange girl who didn't come home wrapped in ace bandages? I actually came home in just my t-shirt (oh, and jeans! LOL). My PS told me to get a good-fitting bra, but he never told me to bring it to the hospital -- I figured I'd get the hospital bra. He was NOT happy I didn't bring it to the hospital -- like my implants were going to get messed up on the 10-minute drive home! But I just had some gauze paper-taped over the incisions, and that was it.

Sheila

Quick posting from work (yeah, I'm back to work - yuck!) -- Marilyn, all best wishes for you tomorrow and you should know I did NOT have drains with my exchange!! My PS said that risk for infection outweighed risk for fluid buildup. Yay! I'm now 11 days out from exchange and no problems whatsoever (other than that being back to work thing). Hoping the same for you.

Sheila 

Movin, so glad it went well, and congrats on the new girl! :)

Deltagirl, that's great you're doing so well -- wow, esp. since you had TRAM -- awesome!

Barb, no real advice on kicking a cold here either. I try to take Zycam when I feel one coming on, but you have to catch it early, plus you want to be careful you're not taking anything that is "banned" for the surgery. Just crossing fingers you'll be over it by then!

Mona, more crossed fingers the antibiotic works fast!

I went back to the PS today for first visit since my exchange. He's happy with how I'm healing, told me I can put some vaseline on the steristrips tonight and they should come off in the morning. My bad side never looked as good as my prophy side with the expanders, and it still doesn't have the "droop" that my good side does, so he said I can put some pressure on the top of the implant and that will help it stretch down. I don't want it lower than my good side, tho! I don't have to go back for two weeks, then we'll start talking fipples ... still no idea what I want to do there.

Sheila

Sue and lovelife, I'm sure you're both already off to the hospital as I type this, but good luck today and here's to a beautiful result!!

Tracey, I'm not sure there is an average time for expanders to implants. It depends on so much -- do you need radiation and/or chemo, how much were the expanders filled at mast, how big do you want to be, how much can you take at each fill, does the PS want to wait several weeks/months after the last fill to do the exchange... I'm sure I was on the low end, with my bimast on Aug. 13 and my exchange on Oct. 9. Some women are a year or more. Just so many variables, so each situation is very individual. Hang in there!

Marilyn -- I'm sure you'll choose the most beautiful implants your PS has! :)

Mary - that's just amazing that someone would be so clueless, even after a nurse tells her to leave. It's great you had someone to advocate for you. Handling all those notifications gets tough. An email list is a great idea. I have a Facebook page, and I sent a quick status update from my cell and told people to check that. :)

Sheila

Hi encoremom -- I didn't realize you had to have expanders for DIEP. I hope you don't have to wait too long for your surgery! My guess is what you're feeling on the right side is the "empty" part of the expander moving around. Mine also felt like they were moving in weird ways, more so as I got to the end of my two-week between-fills period. As they were filled, though, that movement got to be less and less.

If you feel like you can walk a couple miles and you don't mind the drains while you're walking, you could at least try it. Maybe take a cell phone with you and have your husband pick you up if you start to feel too tired? I can't remember when I started walking a few miles again -- but I got back out there as soon as I wasn't too uncomfortable anymore, and it really helped my energy level. I got my drains out fast, though -- 5 days after surgery -- so I didn't have to worry about that.