Shopping/packing/to-do list for surgery + recovery....
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These care packs are a standard issue here in Australia, they are made with care and love by women's groups all over the country. The attention to detail in some of them, is quite amazing, with quilting and fine embroidery. they give you a circular pillow, or 2, if a BMX a shoulder bag for paperwork and xray etc, a smaller shoulder bag for holding the drains and a note pad and pen and a little bag of Lavender tucked inside.
I was very moved, when I was given mine too! We also have Breast Care Nurses who are funded by the McGrath Foundation, which was started in memory of the Cricketer Glen McGrath's wife. These Nurses are fantastic, they visit at home, keep in touch with us, to keep us up to date with any new developments in research etc. Ours visits the BC group I belong to and does networking amongst us so that even women who live on the land in our region, are kept in the loop. There is a lot of fundraising done here in my area, with each woman who is Dx being given a voucher for fuel, for fresh organic vegetables and fruit and a lunch at a local cafe. I was quite amazed by all this, but it has apparently been going on for some time, in the area where I live. It's a beautiful gesture.
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Dragomirova - Thoughts and prayers are with you today!
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TWOAM - I annoyed the nurses the same way. I also wouldnt wait for them to come and get me from the bathroom.
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Hi everyone ... I am a left arm amputee (at elbow), due to have left side mastectomy in September. I live alone in a rural area. I am trying to gather as many tips as I can about drain maintenance, as it promises to be extra-challenging with one hand. I am thinking that the drain belt I've read about here would be particularly useful. Surgeon plans to route tubing for drain so I can (theoretically) hold it still at the skin opening with my stump while maneuvering with the drain itself. Of course, there is really no way to practice all this ahead of time to make sure it works! Any ideas or suggestions? Thanks.
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Arm- Wow, you do have a task in front of you. Use an alcohol wipe to hold the tubing. It definitely helps it slide easier when you are stripping the drain. If you can find a bulb with a tube attached, you might be able to practice. I would ask your doc for one of the JP drains so you can practice. Maybe you could tape the tube part under your arm, place the bulb on the counter and then stripp the tube. You might want to post an new thread saying that an arm amputee is asking for advice.
Wishing you all the best!
Ally
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Hello armamp and Welcome! So sorry you have had to join us, but very glad you found us!
I am thinking about how you're going to manage the drain, but haven't come up with anything that would really help you, with stripping the tube, it is just a matter of holding it firmly at the exit point and using the other hand to pinch it all the way down to the bulb or bag. You'll get at least a little practice time in the Hospital
I used a simple lanyard for holding mine for showering, that worked great and a light weight cotton shoulder bag was how I carried it around, most of the time. It does hurt a bit if the tube gets pulled or jiggled about, other than that the drain is just a nuisance.
I am sure there will be others along who will think of something I have missed, where you can strip the drain with one hand. I am sorry I couldn't be of more help to you.
I wish you all the very best! Please let us know how you get on!
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Thank you Twoam- Apparently surgery went well, and I have little pain with the meds I am on. My left breast and underarm have really severe ugly dark red bruising all over- it's scary to look at (haven't seen much under the bra yet- that must be even scarier). Anyone else have this?0 -
Dear Armamp95, welcome to BCO.
We hope you work out a way to strip the tube if required by possibly just using your stump to stop top from pulling then strip with good hand. We are sure you'll find a way to adapt your methods to suit your limitation - there is usually a way, just take your time and try things carefully so as to not pull on the drain. A lot will depend upon how long and mobile your stump is after surgery and where drain exits.
We wish you the best and a rapid recovery.
The Mods
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Drago- I think that bruising is normal but others may know more than me. You will hear many say "step away from the mirror" for awhile. Best wishes for a great recovery!!
Ally
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Drago - So good to hear from you! Sorry to hear that you are so bruised. Get lots of rest, take your pain meds and let us know how you are doing, ok? (((gentle hugs)))
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hold bulb gently with knees as you are sitting, press stump to your side to hold tube still, then strip with your hand? The with hand can pop open bulb top and empty. Maybe that can work...
And...you will not be able to open cat food cans etc after bmx.I couldn't even hold a coffee mug or open fridge... try to prepare those type of things ahead so you can just empty a baggie of food into their bowls? Etc... Put out things on a near counter ahead of surgery.. empty pills into a bag or out on pLate if no kids etc...your arm, pec and chest muscles will be useless the first week or so.
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Thanks Twoam and all for your replies and best wishes. Here I am 3 days post-op. One of the drains has only straw coloured discharge, the other, still bright red- no pain or anything else. Also some small bleeding spots once in a while showing up on the bra- anyone else have this happen?take care al of you and Armap esp!
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I dont think anyone in the hospital ever stripped the drains when I had 4 of them. Do you really have to strip them at all? what if you just let the suction pull what it can? Visiting nurse came to my home as well a few times the first week I was home. Maybe a visiting nurse can do the stripping while you just empty the drains.
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If you are getting drains:
- Comfortable shirt or top that goes on easy - either easy enough to pull overhead (if you can lift your arms) or one that snaps or buttons on, so you can access the drains.
- A drain holder so you aren't dealing with pinning or taping anything, or uncomfortable lanyards. Three friends have used the Marsupial, which was really nice. It was terrycloth, so it could be washed easily and the pouches held 2 or 3 drains each and the tubes. Velcro, so no buttons or pins or anything. My one friend had neuropathy, so this made it easy for her. And she was able to get it on under or over her clothes, by herself. Another friend was able to shower with it on, and made life easier with the slippery soap - she had both hands free. Friend #1 got it from her doctor, but friend #2 went to their website, marsupialpouch.com and found it. Friend #3 got it from Amazon.
- Ask your doc for a drain stripper if they don't give you one. It looks like a little plastic clamp and helps get all of the stuff draining out down and into the drain and out of the tubes. You'll have to measure and empty the drains daily and write down the measurements.
- Your nurse should instruct you on cleaning the drain wound - it will have a little stitch or two.
- Don't pull or tug the drain tubes (friend #1 said it really hurt!).
After surgery:
- Frozen peas work even better than some of the ice packs, and are more easily shaped to how you need it to fit. I wore "peas" over my dressing / bra and under the shirt and was able to sit at the computer, carefully and it really helped. The more you can ice, the better for the swelling and bruising.
- Arnica. I was told about this from a midwife friend and I found it at a health food store. Little tabs go under the tongue. It helped with the bruising.
- Vitamin E oil - when you are able to rub it on your scars. Really helped, even with a port scar that had keloided a bit.
Good luck, everyone!
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Please be careful using icepacks. There are some people on the board who have had very bad experiences with this. I hope that one of them will chime in.
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twoam, The ice packs need to be monitored closely, you are numb after Mx, so you won't feel them burn, if you have had them on too long.
I had the visiting nurse come to strip my drain. It is important to measure and get rid of the contents of the bulb every day. When it reaches a certain output, it does differ with different Doctors, and countries, it's time for it to come out.
My drain had a small plastic hook thing built in, so the lanyard was simple to use, I just kept it over the tap in the shower, it went over my head and the tube of the drain clipped on when I got into the shower, leaving my hands free. The pouches chelev mentioned, may be better for you under your clothing, I found the cloth shoulder bag easy to manouver. I also found washing and drying my hair was easy, if I just locked my elbow into my side and bent over at the waist, I could use my arm from the elbow down without disturbing the upper arm.
As chelev mentioned, Arnica is good for bruising, I use aromatherapy oils in a carrier base of Wheatgerm, Macadamia and Sweet Almond oil to massage my chest, I have done it from day 1, I massaged around the bandages and then when the wound was healed, I started to massage the scar a couple of times a day to make sure there wasn't any adhesion, the Essential oils are antibacterial and also analgesic and the carrier oils have lots of vitamins and are good for the skin.
If you are concerned about the scar itself, silicone scar strips are really good for flattening and taking the redness out. I have used them on many surgical scars, including this one for a great result. There is one called Scar FX it comes in a 22" long strip which can be cut in half to give you 2 long ones that will cover most Mx scars. I does take some commitment, using these every day for months, but I think it is worth it.
All the best!
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I was told NOT to use ice -- too risky when you're numb.
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Janett - I was told the same thing, and have read some posts on here about people having some bad experiences with it.
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Drains:
1) I was given a bag at the hospital w/ stuff made and donated. Among other things it contained two cloth bags w/ strings that wold hold 2 drains each. I only used them a couple of days becasue teh strings rubbed at a mole on my neck, but they're a great idea.
2) I bought a plain lanyard at Walmart and used big safety pins through the tabs on the drains. I couldn't find the diaper pins mentioned here, but they had a big pack of pins (30 maybe???) over in the craft section like you would use in quilting for like two bucks.
3) If like me you have lots of Mardi Gras beads, they work great in the shower. Heck, if you don't mind the drains showing, yu could use them all the time and clor coordinate them to your clothes.
4) The earlier tip about keeping the drain bulb in your pants pockets only works if you're thinish and have loose-y pants. Ask me how I know, LOL! Luckily there was not very much drainage and it only dampened my pants (and I was at home
).5) Using the alcohol pads for stripping is the bomb!!!! My box of 100 at WM was like three bucks - worth every penny.
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armamp - ask your doc about using a hemostat to clamp onto the upper part of the drain and you might be able to hold that with the stump and then strip with your other hand. You might need to use some gauze or fabric to pad the tubing before you clamp as the hemostat may have little teeth.
For those with bruising - this works well, you can also take oral arnica montana:
Important to increase your protein intake - after surgery smoothies made with protein powder are probably the easiest. Protein helps you heal - aim for 100g a day.
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Hi Cheley,
I didn't have any instruction on cleaning the drain sites- and they are bothering me a bit. 1 week post op and 1 of them's bleeding a bit/ Volume in the bulbs is low, but that little stitch needs some attention I think- what did you do with yours?
Thanks!
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Dragomirova, I had the visiting nurse look after mine, but she used an alcohol wipe on the drain site each time, then she ran it down the tubing.
If there isn't much output, it may be time to have them removed. I didn't have any bleeding from the site.
Keep an eye on that area to make sure it doesn't get hot, or turn red, also make sure you aren't running a temp, just to be sure, some of us get infections post op. Not meant to frighten you, just be aware that it is possible and get onto it straight away if you have any symptoms.
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I love making lists. I find it very relaxing lol. This thread was a blessing while preparing for BMX. I tweeked my list to suit my needs, but having a place to start was a blessing, and made the hospital stay, and coming home, much, much easier. So a big "Thank You" to all who have contributed from your own experience. It is very much appreciated. One quick question...after exchange, will it be difficult to put my arms over my head again? I still have 2 weeks to go, but I am already packing my hospital bag lol. Can you tell I cant wait?
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I wore a loose button-up shirt to the hospital for my exchange surgery, but I wouldn't have needed to. My arm range of motion was probably 90% right after exchange. It took a few more days to be at 100%. Remember though that everyone is different.
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Thanks ladies for all your helpful posts. I am now at almost 3 weeks post op, and drains came out last week. Didn't think they were bothering me except for the bleeding on one side, but boy what a difference! As soon as the drains were removed, bleeding from that one drain site stopped. This probably sounds crazy, but I was actually afraid to shower- didn't until 3 days after the drains came out!Next question for you guys- how long did you take pain meds, especially those of you on valium for muscle spasms? My surgeon told me to just use up what was left in the bottles, but no more Rx's after that (shucks...). My pain level is quite good without the meds, but was wondering if not being on muscle relaxants long enough causes any problems later on, like capsular contracture?
Next apt is with the oncologist on Weds, hopefully he just puts me on tams and no chemo
best to all you wonderful brave ladies
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Hi Janett2014,Was reading your history, with all those family members with cancer, and I kind of wondered same thing myself- all my gene tests were negative, and my brother also had cancer just 2 years before I was diagnosed. We grew up on LI sound (full of toxins I think), but all of my other family is in the EU, and several cousins had all different types of cancer.
Wonder just how useful those genetic tests are...
Best to you
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drago - Will be praying that your oncologist appointment goes well. I had 4 drains after BMX, and also waited a few days after they where removed to shower. Used baby whipes. I dont think I was ready to look at myself. But it sure does feel good getting those drains out! My BRAC test came back negative. My BS said he believes my sister and I have a gene that has not yet been identified. Basically all we used the results for, was to determine if I should have my ovaries removed at the time of BMX. I didnt, but it does worry me sometimes.
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Hi dragomirova,
My BS is the one who pushed for the testing. She was SURE that something would show up. Well it didn't. I realize that there may be a test in the future that would possibly show up something for my family. For now though, for my children's sakes, it's nice to think that maybe it's not genetic. Sometimes I wonder if it had something to do with second-hand smoke. If that's the case though, my whole generation (baby boomers) would have cancer because almost all of us had one or more parents who smoked when we were young, and there we were breathing it in, unfiltered! Apparently there are some articles out there about a link between second-hand smoke and breast cancer. I personally think it's one of those mysteries that will probably not be solved.
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OK, I am getting bored and I realize I am being a big chatterbox on this discussion board. I finally looked up my implant specs (they gave me a card with lot #s, etc). I got immediate implants, not expanders. Mentor brand smooth round moderate plus profile, They are 250 cc- now I am a bit disappointed they will not be a little bigger than what I had before. My plastics already told me she would do some fat grafting later (looking forward to the liposuction from the spare tire) Anyone else out there have "small"ish ones?Peace to all
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Mine are smallish compared to my natural breasts. At first that was odd, but within a very short time I was happy to be smaller. Clothes fit better, and I feel like I look better.
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