Shopping/packing/to-do list for surgery + recovery....
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Hi all! ok.. very new. ugg. getting both removed on Thurs.14th. been so so busy here, I only have a moment or 2 to focus on what's really going on. another thread suggested I check out your discussion.. ooooh I think I'll freak out now!
getting my hair cut this afternoon. what's this about a recliner? ?? I have one, but will have to have it moved to my room if that's the idea ? why? thanks.
I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. I'm only supposed to be in hosp for 2 days, & don't want to borrow trouble, but have pretty rotten lungs, so nervous about that. nervous about everything. have had 9 surgeries, so now I get major anxiety attacks.. had one just at the pre-op admitting appt.
So I get the idea I need NO books (lol), music/earpads/eyepads/portable dvd player/fanny pack or pins or something for drains.. the work with drains is freaky.. I too have severe IBS, & can ONLY take morphine (no codiene) so hopefully constipation wont' occur, or big troubles.. major pain there..don't need extra. Have a bunch of other illness's/RA/FM/CFS/OA/IBS/ +++++
did I just rant & whine? sorry.. but good grief. ok, button up shirts I get. Have my Dad here to help (he's 78 & in great health)
does it hurt to raise your arms? Am praying I don't have to have disection of nodes in underarm! I think all this is quite enough...lol
thanks gals!!
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Cher56: You're sounding somewhat overwhelmed, love! You will be FINE. Just take it a day at a time and if that gets too much, ONE HOUR at a time. Remember to breathe! Do what feels right for you. You're allowed to rant and whine! Just don't let negativity or fear get the better of you. You might want to check out my blog: http://MarnieClark.com for some ideas on how to keep anxiety at bay (I wrote an article about that). Just remember: FEAR actually stands for False Evidence Appearing Real. Sending along lots of love and hugs and healing to you today.
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Here's how I dealt with my drains : canvas belts. Easy to slide on and off. You can position the drains anywhere on the belt you want. You can shower with one, then change it out for a dry one. No pinning, dealing with pockets, no interruptions changing clothes or going to the bathroom, no switching between ways of holding them. If I still lived in Texas I would have gone shopping for pistol holders to store them on the belt
You can tie a scarf around your waist and hide the whole contraption and even feel pretty! oh and $18 husband pillow at Target - awesome. It pisses me off that there is such a predatory commercial machine that takes advantage of terrified cancer patients. There are so many creative and inexpensive solutions!!!0 -
Lol...thanks rhymeblue..thanks ...but no actually not overwhelmed at all..was just letting y'all know what happened
The positions of drains no biggy its just they're ripped a bit just inside the drain hole..so just another way I have yo deal with They won'tstay deflatedto do their job..so I manual push the fluid down & into the bulbs...& I'm prone tiling lung problems after. ...appreciate the feedback tho.0 -
rhymeblue: predatory commercial machine? What do you mean?
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well, when I left hospital no one showed me stretches etc for underarms. I`ve been doing what feels right.. and doing what I think is helpful for stretches etc.. Icing (with a cover over ice) for my underarms. boy they`ve hurt. but will get better I`m sure.
Was in ER Sunday, fever & pain (couldn`t get a handle on it, but realized I needed to take more), lungs were pretty icky
sure enough, infection, so antibiotics, but now am worndering if that`s whats making me so nanuseated.
have gravol.
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Cher56: having an infection can definitely make you feel nauseated. So sorry you're having so much trouble. Try slicing up ginger root and put it (peeled) into a cup of hot water, that helps nausea quite a bit. It's also a fine anti-inflammatory and will help with the infection. Sending you cyber hugs and hope you heal quickly.
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Thanks McClark55. Been taking gravol..now hopefully the antibiotics will work fast.
All the best.0 -
Cher56: How are you feeling today? Been thinking about you!
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Thanks Mclark.. well... pretty lousy to be honest. back to the 'sweats' again (its only 23 here today)... I can't believe HOW STUPID I AM!!! My g/f of 45yrs said, oh, so who's coming in to change your dressing (no nurses ordered, dr's say it's privately paid)the ER Doc changed my dressing on Sunday, but, I've not changed it since!! how stupid is that! reason being the special tape that was covering my sites for drains were supposed to stop the air leaks (since hosp, but they work, then they dont'), ER Doc said oh, we don't wanna change that. but.. why on earth did I think I didn't need to change the incision dressings.. perhaps I've been so doped up this week, so much pain at drain sites, now looks like the skin has split. so terribily inflammed. so got a portion of incision dressing off (ER doc ripped a chuck of my skin off when he did it) to take a peak at incision.. oh my very very red. I'd already planned on seeing my gp tomorrow, so will talk more with him about it.
No one told me when to change dressings, but they did give me the dressing. but I'm having trouble with that type.. the pain is up & new pain.. those sharp little things..& well, just feel a mess my gals.
I hate this whining i'm doing so will stop now.
hope you & all are doing well too.
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Skin ER doc ripped & other parts of my insicion is black!! crap crap! grr
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Cher56: You are entitled to whine, dear! I'm feeling for you. Being a natural therapist, I'm tempted to make suggestions for getting the area to heal a bit more quickly for you. I wrote an article about that very thing a few weeks back: http://marnieclark.com/my-top-favorite-things-to-promote-surgery-recovery/ . If you don't feel comfortable with any of those suggestions, it might be a very good idea to visit your doctor's office and demand that they have a look at the area to make sure there isn't an infection present.
Don't beat yourself up - you're going through quite a lot at the moment and if you weren't warned to change the dressings yourself, it's definitely understandable that you wouldn't think to do it!
Sending you lots of hugs today - get some rest!
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aww thanks Mclark55. i did indeed go to my doc.. I guess also pain pills were wearing off.. so umm a little noisy I was! the DAMN drain sites. omg. through the roof. so ok, yep what a messy looking place ..he put new bandages (no real tape.. just a little paper tape) man I'm oozing everywhere but into my drains.. they're acting up again today. so my temp was up last night.. then down a smidge. then up at doc's office. so he says, ok, if it's any worse or your temp goes up.. go to ER for IV antibiotics. I said.. you said that Tuesday! geesh. so my temp keeps creeping up. but i'm not ready to go yet.. but will in a little bit. I finally fell asleep to wake thinking my grenade was leaking, nope, was my incision near underarm.. lots of stuff coming out. so I put lots of gauze & as I say will head up shortly.
ok.. so .. I had to stop at london drugs for a minute, then in the middle of it all almost freaked out.. omg.. what am I supposed to wear when I'm out.. it's so noticable that I'm flat.. & no way a heavy person like me should be flat. too hot for a coat, so .. what all did everyone wear when you had to go out? no ive not yet gotten looking for the bras.. too sick. & the thought of putting something on me.. well I'm sure you ALL know that feeling.
were any of you feeling a bit out of sorts being out n about without a chest? would love to hear your ideas & experiences.
thanks
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thank you all for posting - such helpful advice. I would never have known about or thought of 90% of these things. My surgery is 6/9. BMX. I will use this list. a lot.
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cher56: How's it going today? Sorry I wasn't here for a couple of days, Colorado is in the grips of a heat wave, the like of which I've never seen before. 14 places on fire in the state and it's a little like living in hell (esp in my office!). Just trying to keep cool. You asked about garments, I'm not sure whether the garments I wrote about in this article will help you or not, but they might point you in the right direction: http://marnieclark.com/preparing-for-breast-surgery-check-out-this-great-garment/ . Try not to worry about being "flat", my dear. No one is worried about it except for you. If they don't like the way it looks, they don't have to look! I do understand your concerns though, we all want to look our best when we go out into the world. Right now, it just doesn't matter. You have enough to deal with in just getting better. Did you get yourself off to the ER or did you end up not needing to go?0
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Hi everyone! hope your all doing as good as you possibly can. really need to get more time to read everything,
thanks Mclard55 for asking after me hun. how sweet.
well, if maybe I'll do up a manuscript for a movie for this horror show.
yes went to ER Friday night (last) came home yesterday.
there is so much to say & I'm a bit wobbily with long acting kick butt morphine & quick release morphine, 2000mg of Keflex ++++
where my breasts once were are now two giant cavaties. more than 8''Wx 5"Hx 2"D. I still have breakthrough crying.
I was sick when I left ICU, turned into staph infect, 1st surgery ever I wasnt' on antibiotics. too many screw ups with my 'case'
awww.. hons.. I have to sleep, nodding at the puter.
will write more later... hope everyones doing better than expected (ps.. good news... .NOT INTO LYMPHNODES!!!)
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Cher..so glad not in the nodes. You have had a rough time so it is nice you got some good news!!
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Cher i've just been reading this and I'm glad it wasn't in u'r nodes, but I'm sorry u've been going thru all of this--It sounds painful for u and I was hoping it wouldn't be. There are so many people who can help u so much here so continue to post and someone will give u a good answer.
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Thanks Ladies AGAIN... well, back home again from the ER.. they know me far too well there...lol.
the antiobiotics (keeflex 2000mg a day) werent strong or right enough, so infection got worse. thank goodness for home care nursing. feels right now like square 1 with the fluids built up in my upper part of chest, but at least I feel as though I'm getting great care
right away! had IV treatment & will do outpatient 2x's a day. I don't care.. just want to get onto the healing part, as I was told
yesterday that my treatment has to be put on hold until I'm healed. make sense. but what is running amock inside mybody is anyone's guess & was really looking forward to treatment to kill any that are trying to take hold.
Hopeyou all have a great weekend.
good stuff all around & in my prayers! 0 -
Cher56: That darned infection just needs to have its butt kicked! Hope the antibiotics work for you. Soon! I had a staph infection too when I went for a nipple reconstruction (how I wish I hadn't been talked into that by my surgeon!) and it caused me more agony than everything else I did. Just know you need to look after your total self while your body fights the infection. Get lots of rest and don't feel guilty about it! I had home care nursing too - aren't they wonderful?
Sending you loads of healing today, hope you heal quickly.
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Thanks Mclark55. lol.. my Dad just asked what I was doing, 'just rinsing my dishes for dishwasher' , yes well dear you get a bit wonky & forget & do what your not supposed to ..lol. yep. I do. lifted garbage bag out of can.. oops.
am trying to get rest hun, but with the running to/from hosp & then nurses, play on puter a few minutes, rest rest rest. sorry to hear you went through the hell too. did your nipple turn out good after all that? hope so.
off to my IV therapy again. this could take a long time....
ttus
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I have only read the first page of posts and already it has helped me. Thanks. I have never had any kind of surgery before and am going in for a lumpectomy July 20th.
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Cher56: No, the nipple couldn't be saved. The infection just wouldn't allow it to heal - my PS was extremely annoyed I think because he'd promised me I was gonna love the results! In the end (as nice of a guy as he was), it was more about his image being tarnished than the nasty golden staph infection! In fact, as I recall, he tried to argue with me and tell me it wasn't infected! I had to see my regular doctor who took a swab of it so a pathologist could see what was wrong - that's how I found out I had a golden staph infection. Then had to go back to the PS and he had to remove it. Not nice but I lived through it! Live and learn, I guess.
Hope you're healing well and feel better today - are the antibiotics working yet?
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Mc, so sorry you had to face that. I had an infection and had a te removed, was on iv antibiotics for three weeks. Not fun. But you will get through it. I have a cavern on my left too. And they had to postpone my chemo. However, I am now done with the big chemo and just on herceptin, so you will get there too, much love to you.
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I would recommend a Marsupial Pouch (www.marsupialpouch.com) if you are having surgery that will require drains. I did not need drains for my sx, but a good friend just had a bmx and wore drains (4) for 21 days. She ordered the Marsupial belt with 2 pouches (actually she was allowed to shower after a few days, so she ordered 2 belts with 2 pouches each) and she loved it. It's a thick terry cloth that was soft on the skin, has elastic inside for stretching and fit, and the pouches slide on and go where the drains are. She never had to use pins or tape and when she was able to shower, she could wear it in there, then change out for a dry belt and pouch afterwards. She loved them.
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Hi chelev - just checked out the marsupialpouch - that's great! Wish they'd had them when I was going through all of this! I especially love the name (I used to live in Australia). I will recommend them on my website. Thanks for the info.
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Hi all - just found this thread, as I'm 4 days and counting before surgery. Haven't read through it in full yet - but will before I head to the drug store this weekend for some other supplies on my list. I had a question for those of you who have already gone through the surgery. I'm having a BMX with all nodes out on the left and a sentinal biopsy on the right. My pre-surg nurse told me she thinks I'll have 3 drains. Did any of you opt to have a skilled nurse come to your house to empty your drains and check on you? My insurance kind of pays for it, but not completely. And my step-mom (former nurse) and mother-in-law are pushing hard for it saying I'll really need it. Curious how others dealt with this when they got home - since the hospitals kick you out the door the next day... Thanks!
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Drains are a pain! I hady daughters help for the first week. After that I did it myself. I had a BMX with SNB, but no other nodes removed. Since you are having a AND, if you can afford it, I say get the help. The first week will be hard, after that you can do it on your own . Good luck.
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Thanks for the info moonflwr!
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darn it anyways on infections & Doc's that worry about their 'reputation' infuriates me as well as it does all you too I guess.
No the ABX doesnt' seem to be getting it so far. I'm on a good dose. but after 8 days it's still green! damn!
were any of you told the reason that infection is so common with BC surgery is due to when they have to take so much tissue and leave the skin really thin and with little blood supply etc because it's scraped away? (or something to that effect) but add in staph that likes to eat everything.. man o man!
I see the infectious control dr on monday & surgeon on tuesday. I have a sneaking suspision I may have PS involved sooner due to the slow start on grasping the infection. the surrounding areas are still red/purple, so VAC dressing isn't soon which would help the healing way faster.
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