One step implant procedure with Alloderm - Anyone?
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Hello ladies!
My daughter sent me this link today
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/health/17cancer.html?_r=2&hp
"Most women should start regular breast cancer screening at age 50, not 40, according to new guidelines released Monday by an influential group that provides guidance to doctors, insurance companies and policy makers. It also says women age 50 to 74 should have mammograms less frequently - every two years, rather than every year. And it said doctors should stop teaching women to examine their breasts on a regular basis."
What do you think?
Tracy, how are you feeling? Are you done with radiation treatment?
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I found this article unbelievable. It took years to educate women the importance of going for mamo and self exams. Many lives have been saved by EARLY DETECTION!!! I think this is a giant step backward.
Maybe they should have read some the forums at bc.org. They would know the real numbers of younger women who are afflicted or who have passed from bc in their 30's and 40's. This is definitely bad news for women.
I hope this is not because of the governments future health care policies. It would definitely cost the government less if we were not being tested and visiting specialists!
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Hi everyone!
I'm busy working on a home improvement project with my sister and haven't had much time to check in. I read the article and had some of the same thoughts as you, Meg9. Especially the part about doctors not encouraging women to do monthly breast self exams. Where's the harm in that? Does it cause too many women to see their doctor and get a mammogram? When is it that a woman should begin to think she needs to see her doctor?
I think this goverment group is suggesting that the current method of screening isn't "catching enough" for the price and effort required. In simpler terms, it's not cost effective and it causes too many women too much anxiety and that we are overtreating breast cancer in general. If this is true, what sort of more effective or accurate screening are they suggesting? What has me upset is that they have nothing to offer. They are saying let's turn back the clock and "do nothing". Medicare, Medicaid, any other forms of government health insurance and all health insurance companies are bound to save lots of money.
On another note, Liz000, I'm hoping you are coming home today and feeling better soon!!!
Ally1234, I too, had my little melt down moments about this or that, but have never had an enormous crying jag. I really think that coming out of surgery "complete" helps us bypass a lot of the emotional pain of a mastectomy.
TracyAnne, hope your pain is gone soon. Carol, my sister wants dating advice for a soon to be 50 year old! Fortuante1, glad to hear you had some sales.
Must go....the construction project awaits....I have holes to patch.
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i am so upset abt this whole mamo thing this "independent panal" (that of course gets Gov"t funding has announced. How dare they? How many women lives have been saved. I am taping GMA , but heard part of it today & this "dr" said that out of thousands of womens lives, maybe 1 can be saved if we continue to screen from age 40 1x a yr. So who is this 1 woman thats life is spared? Is it their wife, sister, other...Who the H*** r they to tell us this? i voted for Obama , but if Obama is for this, i am even more upset. I must find the US NEWS article w/ Michelle Obama & Masectomies. She said to many women are going for uneccessary masectomies. Now u tell me, if it was her that had cancer or her daughter (g-d forbid), would she be saying this too? I am so sorry to ramble, but i am outraged. We women MUST stand together & fight this...so what n 10 yrs from now after so many women have either died or have invasive cancer, will they realize they r wrong?0
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As usual, Okiegal states it so clearly. It does seem like its 'turn back the clock and do nothing". And Breast self exams! That's how my tumor was found, by me. What could possibly be wrong with knowing your own breasts? If they think very early cancers are being over-treated, that should be a totally separate and very important concern. But I don't read anything about how they would detect BC in younger women without using mammos and breast self exams. Are they going to rely on PCP exams? Sure didn't work for me. Are they to be thrown away as an insignificant 3%?
Mammos failed me. Since I'm part of a minority too, the 15% that get un-mammogramable Lobular BC, I think we need more and better detection tools, not less.
Tracy, Ally, Liz, hope you are all feeling strong and well. Especially Liz, recovering well?
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Hi again!!! When I saw my "PS" on Fri. I've had uneasy feeling since. He did not take measurments (is this normal) & took pix 1/ his cell phone b/c something was wrong or the camera wasn't there. Left message w/ my BS saying I want someone else..am I wrong? I have no one else to share w/ both u guys..I have a b/f, but she has not been thru this & well $y "DH"mmthat's another story!! LOL any responses would be g8t!!
Thx!! I'm writing this on my Bb, so if u do not understand let me know!!0 -
Shoshi, is this your first meeting with this PS? If so I say go with your gut and get another opinion. Anyone who is unprofessional in their office probably can't be counted on to act in a professional manner in surgery. Good enough is just not good enough. You only want to do this once, right? It appears that you can take a little time if you need to as you don'y have invasive BC. Correct? You're an intelligent woman. If you think that something is wrong it's probasbly because something is wrong. I'll be interested to hear what your BS has to say about it.
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has anyone here had the 1 step w/out Allorderm? the ps office today told me he does not use it....do u think it matters
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Shoshi, my PS didn't take measurments at all. I asked her why and she told me she saw my breasts and that is enough for her. She took picture only at pre-op room, I believe she needed it for her before and after album. At that time she also drew lines under my breasts. That was all she did, so I am kind of impressed I have matching breasts now, especially one of them is my own with small implant inserted and another is implant with alloderm.
But if you don't feel confident just go ahead and get another opinion.
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shoshi, my PS explained me that Alloderm is brand name for europian allograft. In the USA we have american brand FlexHD, the latest generation of allograft, for the same purpose. She used FlexHD for my surgery, but called it Alloderm anyway
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tracyanne....thanks so much for that info. i think i was being too optimistic regarding going back to work in 2 wks. i'm a nurse supervisor for a home health care agency. i dont do strenuous (cant spell that) work but it will still be too much ....i know that now after chatting with you gals. my surgery is this friday and i'm assuming i'll go home on sunday. my 16 yr old son will stay home with me on monday, and then my daughter will be home from college on tuesday and she will be staying until sunday. i'm sure my friends will be over quite a bit...i hope i can figure out the shower and hair wash thing......i hope liz is doing well.....good luck to her.
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shoshi....i didnt go with the first ps that i saw...he came highly recommended and i went to sloan kettering to see him.....he just wasnt for me. do u live in maryland? john hopkins should have some good ps.
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Shoshi, I'm sorry you're tossed back into confusion. Did your PS specifically say he was going to do a one-step reconstruction without Alloderm? The mother of one of our women here (Okiegal?, Carole?) had that as a reconstruction, but I don't think it's done anymore as Alloderm makes it so much easier. Maybe it is the name difference.... FlexHD?, new to me. Or maybe another language confusion. The TE to implant process is called immediate reconstruction, even though it takes quite a while to complete.
And yes, it matters. You need to be well informed. Make sure you take notes at your PS visits, and confirm what you understand before you leave. If the lack of communication between you continues, maybe another PS would be better. Isn't this the same PS that you gave a long list of questions to?
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okiegal......patching holes .......it's so nice to hear that life goes on after this horrible ordeal.....ally
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Ally, I was in the hospital 2 nights. I had my drains in for 2 weeks. Two weeks is way too soon to return to work. I still had pain after two weeks. My BS wanted to stop my pain med after one week. My PS gave me a lesser dose for a few more days. After that I took Tylenol. When the drains were removed I felt much better.
I was not allowed to shower until the drains came out. My brother is a hair stylist and came over to wash my hair in the kitchen sink. I slept sleeping with pillows against my headboard...in an upright position. I had smaller pillows under my arms. It will be difficult for you to lie on your back for a while.
I did not drive or lift anything for about a month. This was my first surgery and I was careful not to overdo it... I gave myself time to heal. After a few days, I took walks in my back yard. I am OK took a hike! We are all different!
You will be Ok. I think you will be surprised how quickly you will recover. Let us know how you are doing. We'll be here waiting. I'll say a prayer for you.
Liz, I hope you are doing well. (((HUGS)))
Carole, Where are you!
Okiegal, What's your home project?
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meg....thanks so much. the way you describe your recovery.....it sounds realistic to me......i don't know what i was thinking......ally
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meg....thanks so much. the way you describe your recovery.....it sounds realistic to me......i don't know what i was thinking......ally
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Hi, everybody. This week is very busy. This afternoon dh and I went to a hospital to visit my newly born great niece, Olivia. She is so beautiful! The delivery was C section, so it was fairly easy for her. Her skin is just perfect. She weighs 7 lbs and 10 oz. Looking at her, just 4 hours old, I marvelled at the whole reproductive cycle. The poor mother, Rebecca, didn't look good at all. The last month of pregnancy she began to swell up with fluid. It had nothing to do with eating. She was watching her diet, but she gained more than 40 lbs. Her mother is staying with her all night at the hospital. The baby is in the room in her own little bed. On Sat. I'm supposed to stay with Rebecca--she'll probably be discharged by then--and help her. That should be interesting, Aunt Carolyn helping out with a newborn.
Tomorrow I'm going with a group of former classmates, all female, to visit another classmate who is very ill with Melanoma cancer. It will be about an hour's drive. I hadn't seen most of these former classmates for 50 years. Then in Oct. we had a little class reunion. The old bonds of familiarity were still there. Amazing.
Today was just gorgeous. Sunny. High in the low 60's. I played very badly in a women's golf tournament at another club and enjoyed myself immensely. One of my group was a Korean woman named Myong. She was delightful. When I met her, she said to pronounce her name with M and young and that it means bright light.
Now that it's cool, I'm wearing the molded foam bras I purchased back in Sept. They make me more well-endowed than I'm used to! This is the first time I can wear a cotton turtleneck and a pullover sweater and still have boobs! Hey, I'm starting to like it! When you're almost flat-chested, you have to be thin. With boobs you can be a little less thin.
Liz, I hope you're getting along well. Shoshi, I think you should follow your own instincts about the PS. I would hate to go into surgery not feeling fully confident. Okiegal, you're tickling my curiosity. What is this big project? Fortunate, glad you made some sales. That's good for the ego as well as the bank account.
Good night all.
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Have to jump in really quick. Shoshi. My PS took measurements. How else is he supposed to know what size you are or want to be? There won't be another any other land marks to judge against (you're replacing both....right?) He won't have the difficult task of matching the other one...you and he need to be absoulutely, 100% clear about what will be done. A camera phone.... Please! You don't want to wake up to find something you didn't order. It isn't a cheeseburger....you can't take it back! As I said to my sister....I do have skin in this game!
As Fortunate1 mentioned...my mother had a BMX with reconstruction 25 years ago without Alloderm. I understand that this is still an option and it works well for some women, but I think the reason surgeons like to use Alloderm is because it allows them to insure that the implant will stay in place/won't drift up or to the side. This is a problem for implants in general, but is lessened substantially with the use of Alloderm.
Ally, life certainly goes on and quickly! I was hosting well wishers one day after returning home from the hospital and air conditioning repair guys at 2.5 weeks. You will be up and about very quickly, but not really ready for "prime time" for a few weeks. You'll just have to take it at your own pace and only you can decide. Don't try to be a hero, be the "sick girl" for a few days, take the pain meds if you need to and you'll be fine! I will say a prayer(s) too!
Meg9, the laundry room is our focus. We designed some flat paneled cabinets (built by a cabinet guy). It's very modern looking. I painted them before my surgery and they are in use, but the sink and countertop need to be installed. That has necessitated moving two outlets and patching holes. Because everyone of my family members are perfectionsists, this is a glacial endevor. No complaints, however, it will look great when it's done!
Congrats Carol! And yes, this whole "no mammograms" thing sound like a bunch of BS to me (and my BC surviving mom!) Best to all...guess this wasn't such a quick post afterall!
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This one will have to be quick and back to work.
Mainly, I'm always happy to find you all here, and am wondering what's happening with our missing members. Hugs and good night to all.
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The much-touted author of a breast cancer book, Dr. Susan Love, (I think I got her name right) was on one of the network nightly news shows endorsing the new guidelines. These guidelines were in the works long before Obama was elected President. But his administration will probably get credit (blame) because of the timing.
It's only in recent years that most insurance companies are covering colonoscopies for screening after age 50. Before that, screening was the partial procedure whose name I can't remember. Sigmoidoscopy? One reason ovarian cancer is so deadly is that it often isn't detected in the early stages because there is no approved screening. My gyn and I got around that by my complaining about pain in my ovaries so that she could order ultrasound every other year. It's unfortunate but lying is a necessary strategy in our current health care system. You have to report symptoms to your dr. so that he/she can justify a test.
Okiegal, good post to Shoshi. I agree with everything you said.
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Hi Everybody,
Okiegal, Good luck with the project. I totally understand the perfection remark. Same around here! How great is it that life is back to normal...home projects!
Carole, How nice that you and your classmates are visiting an old friend. I'm sure it will mean a lot to her.
I was used to having boobs. Now I'm flat by comparison. I have put on a few pounds and I find it very noticeable. It's depressing! I am going to Weight Watchers on Saturday. I wanted to join a couple of weeks ago, but I haven't had the time. I am a lifetime member. Now is the best time to rejoin with Thanksgiving and Christmas approaching!
Shoshi, You will need confidence in your doctors to get through this. My doctors have good reputations and I spoke to friends who had their surgery with them. They had a pleasant experience and that made me comfortable with my decision to use them.
My PS did not measure me until the morning of bmx. She said she would have different size implants the morning of surgery and decide then what size she would use. The NP took a picture of me on my first visit. They never took an after picture. I had one visit with my PS and left with an instruction booklet. After a couple of days, I called her office and made arrangement for the surgery with the NP. The next time I saw my PS was the morning of bmx. Any questions I had was discussed with the NP. All follow up visits were with the PS. This is important, because you want to be seen by your doctor to make sure you are healing well and to have any questions answered. You will have questions about the healing process!
Ally and Liz, I am thinking of you.
It looks like another beautiful fall day. It is sunny and in the 40s this morning. It will warm up to 50s in the afternoon. Sweater weather! I'm working on my newsletter and a million other things.
I hope everyone has a good day!
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Gorgeous morning to all of you.
How are you doing Ally? I think on the comparable day for me, I realized I was going to have visitors and did some house cleaning. There is a little thing that was done for me in the hospital that charmed me and really helped when I came home. I was given a "breast pillow", a soft little pillow to cushion my breast against too much pressure from a seat belt. I used it a lot. It was made by a girl scout troop. You might want to ask.
Okiegal, I love the image of the family of perfectionists making your laundry room (slowly) perfect.
Carole, it's wonderful that you have school friends to get together with. I bet its going to be a marvelous gift to your ill classmate.
Wonderful news here. We have found a fill in weekend caregiver for Dad. I won't meet her until Sat afternoon. After a lot of pressure filled days and lying awake nights, I slept right through last night. What a difference! The sale is done, the class is working reasonably well, Dad is cared for, the next sale is shaping up well.......whoopee! People often say, "you're a potter, oh, that must be so relaxing!". Ha.
Tracy, how are you doing?
More healing prayers to Liz.
A day for sweaters even here in San Diego. Brrrrr and off to work.
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ok Ladies spoke w/ my BS & she agrees this guy was unprofessional & is sending me to someone who is much better!! My appt if Fri morning...wish me luck!! he also does the 1 step w/ Allorderm
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Shoshi, that's great! Get your questions ready! Best of luck with the new PS, it just has to get better.
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Hello all--
Awful rib pain started last night. The radiologist explained it to me today. Each rib is made up of cartilage (the half nearest the heart) and bone (the half nearest the arms) and those two halves are connected with an actual "joint" of more cartilage. Radiation can inflame that cartilage, and that is what is hurting so badly. Breathing in is painful. I'm to take 600 mg of ibuprofen two or three times a day and the hydrocodone he prescribed as needed. He explained the the anti-inflammatory property of the ibuprofen builds up over time and that I need to keep up the regimen for about two weeks. He said this would get worse before it gets better, and even though I have only four treatments left, the following two weeks will be difficult as the burn deepens.
The burn is a reddish purple and especially hurts where it extends up under the arm. I was given an aluminum acetate solution to use in a compress held to the area four times a day for fifteen minutes each time. Am staying home from work tomorrow to take the pain medicine, treat the skin, and rest (and grade essays, but I think I will enjoy doing it from bed, propped up on a pillow wearing my pajamas).
The alloderm is holding up and the overall shape of my breast is unchanged. just fine. Not hardening or shrinking as happens sometimes with the tissue expanders. The nausea comes and goes...a half day here and a few hours there. I keep crackers and 7 Up handy.
I appreciate the support you all have given me here. This radiation stuff is becoming more painful than I had anticipated, and the fatigue I was told to expect is setting in. So glad to have a five-day Thanksgiving holiday coming up. Dh loves to cook and I won't have to lift a finger to help him.
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Tracy, people dismiss rads as no big deal, but it is a big deal. In its own way, rads is an ordeal just like chemo. I'll be thinking about you and hoping you get the healing rest you need. Soon this will be over and you can get back to normal.
Hi to everybody. Hope things are going well in your lives.
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Tracy, I'm so sorry you're hurting. Just a little while longer and you will have gotten through this. Healing, comforting thoughts coming your way from here too. Its hard to imagine you working under these conditions and I'm glad you'll have some time off.
Carole, I found your books. I am very impressed at your achievement. What a career you've had.
Good night everyone, sweet gentle dreams.
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Tracey, I'm so sorry that you are in pain. I wish there was something I could do to make you feel better. Hang in there...soon it will be over.
Have a peaceful night.
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tracyanne....u definetely need to take a day off....and rest from the effects of radiation.....feel better soon
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