CALLING ALL STAGE I SISTERS
Comments
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Can anyone tell me what I can expect from an SLN, as far as pain goes? I have to have one & I'm scared & nervous.
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The closer it gets to my surgery, the more I start to freak out. 15 days & counting. I just want this poison out of me. I'm trying to be up, but it's hard. One minute I'm fine, the next, I'm crying. One thing that keeps me up is this photo!
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oops! pic didn't come out
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Chadneyann, Talk to your BS about some kind of numbing done for the dye part of the SNB. After they locate the SNB they put you to sleep, but most of us are awake when the dye is placed. For me I had numbing placed in the shots, so felt very little, sort of like a bee sting.
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Chadneyann...................found the SNB to not be bad...............Kira is right they give you a numbing needle first (bee sting), and then they inject the dye...............Not bad at all..............Mine didn't work, so they could have not even done it, cause they still had to remove 8 nodes.........................all were clear, no cancer, but in doing it made me a candidate for LE........20-30% of women who have nodes removed get LE.................just call me lucky................haha................
I call cancer the gift that keeps on giving............................good luck, prayers............
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Chadneyann: I had the nuclear sentinel node injection the afternoon prior. Where I had it done, they don't use a numbing medication first. However, I got through it just fine. To me, felt like a little bee sting (truly) and wasn't bad at all. Each department does it differently. They'll either use a numbing shot first or they won't (you likely won't have a choice). However, many facilities seem to be open to the patient rubbing a numbing cream into the skin before the procedure. You might call ahead of time to ask.
If you're having the blue dye used, that is USUALLY done by the surgeon after you're already out. Again, each place seems to have a different protocol so could be different where you're having it done.
Ask your surgeon which type of SNL he/she will be doing...could be both. There are threads here for sentinel node localizations. Be prepared to see opinions from "it was nothing" to "it's the worst thing I've ever been through". There is great variation in protocols and also in people's pain tolerance.
Don't worry about the freaking out part - I'm pretty certain we've all been there...perfectly normal. The waiting is the worst, but you can do this!!!
All the best!
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Chadneyann - Welcome to the sisterhood but sorry you have to be here. Sounds like you already have lots of information and a surgery plan in place. It is really overwhelming in the beginning but feel like you have to be in a rush. I too wanted the cancer our quickly and found out later I could have taken more time to make decisions. I did not find this fantastic website until after I started rads so I was basically going along with what my breast surgeon and oncologist told me. I don't regret anything I have done so far. On the SNB, don't let this scare you but when I had the tracer dye injected the morning of surgery it hurt like hell. Thought I was going to pass out from the pain. This does not happen in every case. In fact, I was not made aware of this procedure ahead of time. I would definitely request some kind of numbing agent before hand.
Come here often to ask questions, make comments or vent. We all do that from time to time. You will also see that we tend to get wild and crazy at times too.. We do tend to have some fun along the way. Best of luck to you.
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Chad........the girls are right.........every hospital does it different, I happen to be in one that game me a shot first of some kind of numbing solution, then a Tech injected the blue dye...................so we are all different...........
I know ladies who after having the dye injected waited from as much as an hour or two before being taken to surgery.
In my case I had some woman the size of a gorilla......massage my right breast to spread the dye from my boob into the lymph area............................Now that was a bitch................I thought she was going to drive my boob clear into my spine.....................if I could have punched her in the face I would have..........................she was the roughest piece of money shit I ever had work on me................she did this for about 20 minutes...............I can still feel that bitch kneading my boob like she was going to turn it into a loaf of bread...........................that was worse then the biopsy...............surgery................recovery...............and Rads wrapped into one...................I wish they had just let me wait for the dye to go where it had to go...............no other ladies on here ever said their SNB was done with a massage by a gorilla.
your gonna do fine..................as long as you don't have Tech Ratchet doing your dye......haha
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Chadneyann - I think the degree of pain involved in locating the node or nodes relates to the medium used - is it a dye or a nuclear tracer. The dyes have warming and a bit of a sting but the nuclear tracer HURTS. I had the tracer. My surgeon gave me a local pain killer in a couple of places then the Dr. from nuclear medicine gave me the tracer. Even through the numbness there was a definite stinging, burning sensation that slowly moved from the area of the lump to the arm pit. Hurt enough to bring tears but almost no noise.
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I had the nuclear tracer - very painful - and the blue dye which was injected after I was in surgery and out for the count so I did not know about that until after I woke up in recovery. The only way I did know about the blue dye was when the nurse removed the catheter after I peed and the contents was blue. I remember making some off the wall comment like - I pee like Tidee Bowl. That got the nurses laughing.
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I just had the blue dye injection and mine was done by the surgeon after I was out so did not feel a thing. She did explain it ahead of time and told me I would pee blue for a while. I was out when the dye was injected so did not feel a thing, slept right through it.
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Jo...................when I came home from surgery I peed too, and saw it was all friggin blue.......................I called my daughter, and said to her.......................which one of you put TidyBowl in my toilet tank, you know I hate that shit, and this toilet is only 3 months old........................she looked at me like I was nuts, and said "Mom, why don't you go lay down"..................I went into my bedroom (I own a ranch type home), and yelled back to her......................I'll nap, but you better get that shit out of the tank right now......................who knew..........................they told me when I woke up what it was................at least it got a good laugh.
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duckyb1, I also had the nurse rub the dye into my lymph area. That was a very long 15 minutes or so. I asked her it my hubby could do it instead.
She didn't think it was very funny. I do have a question how many had their hubbies there? He had to leave for the shot but was back for the boob massage. 0 -
Hi everyone----wow 4 pages behind...belated 4th everyone....Prayers goin up for all the sistas that need it.Welcome newbes.this thread is so active.
DUCKY----you are one funny lady....i laughed soooo hard when you replied to my post 4 pages ago.we miss you on the after rads thread.come visit and see whats goin on with the genie bras!!!!!!.
JO JO---always in all our pockets and sending over comfort food.puts a smile on my face.
Melmes--please go on the shingle thread.....there is lots of very good info on there that you will need.
sending gentle huggggggggggggs to all my sistas.missed you all like crazy.
goin away to PA either tomorrow or friday for i dont know how long.doesnt matter.gonna be with my great GS.
God bless us all fighting this giant monster.huggggggs K
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kira1234: They had my husband step out for the injections as well, but he was in the room for the rest of the time. They had me do my own massage. However, I am a Nuclear Medicine Tech myself so pretty much knew the drill and they may have been making an exception in my case.0
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welcome chad....we will do all we can to help you navigate this damn road you are on. My SNB dye was injected the day before and really was not bad at all. Neither was the mastectomy. Honestly- the worst thing I have found through it all is my brain. Worry and fear hurt more than any physical discomfort....
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(((((((((((((((((ANNETTE))))))))))))))))))) prayin for ya......in your pocket with JO.0
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ducky - you crack me up - should have made that gorilla woman buy you dinner after that - or at least give you a cigerrette!...
chadneyann - my SNB was done without any numbing - four shots - three were fine and the fourth, well let's just say (bad word insertion).... but it was over quickly. took all of five minutes and cost like 900 bucks... go figure.. a totally different doctor for that - a nuclear onc.. did not EVEN know that was a profession!...
BC sucks and so does the surgery but we have no choice... you will get through it - just come here to belly ache and ask questions when you get scared... we have veterans who share their knowledge (like tinat)... so you will get through it (no choice, really, right?)
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vhshea: Yikes, I don't feel like a veteran....I'm flailing along just like everybody else! I do have a medical background so I guess I have a good foundation, but other than the nuclear sentinel node injection (been on the "other side" of that many times) I'm in totally new territory!!!0
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vhshea - I have never heard of a nuclear oncologist either. That's a new one for me.
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TinaT- we are veterans, my friend we are veterans. Always someone in front to offer some light and sadly, someone new in need of some. All standing next to each other as one. OK, that is going to make me cry....
Eh, my brain is fried like chicken.
really in a dither over tomorrow- as I posted on 2010 thread so I won't go all into it again but just can't decide if I want hubby there or not tomorrow.... Ah, I gotta do more thinking and it ticks me off at him taking up the real estate in my mind when I need every inch of it right now....
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annettek: I guess you're right...I still feel like such a newbie at all of this, partly because I was at such a standstill for so many months with my healing issues. On the other hand, December (diagnosis) and February (BXM) seem like so long ago that when asked about it I sometimes have to think pretty hard to remember things I thought I'd never forget - it's definitely a process with many phases...
I have had a very long career in healthcare so probably do delve a bit deeper into things and have a bit easier time understanding terminology, etc. I'm sure it all helps me to absorb and process the information. And you're right - very profound, I might add - some of those who posted frequently when I first signed on only check in once in a while now. Makes me feel good to think that they're moving on with their lives and not so focused on BC these days. And the newly diagnosed keep checking in. You're absolutely right - all standing together as one, some moving on and some just starting the journey....
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chadneyann - my SNB tracer injections hurt like@#@#@!!! I had more than 4 done. I'm not sure why I had more, but I think I had a total of 6. I'm not sure if they were so painful because I had in just the prior week had a biopsy done and was still very tender from that plus the MRI done with the contrast. I do know that everyone I have talked with has had a different experience. I also wasn't given any numbing prior to the injections which didn't help with the pain factor. But keep the faith you will survive and get through it. I will say that is the one and only time I've ever wanted to slap a tech
so maybe she just didn't know what she was doing. LOL!Welcome to the other newbies...
I saw my plastic surgeon today for a 6 month follow up and all is well. I go back to see him in Dec. He said we would talk about correcting the asymmetry of areola's when I go back. I'm not sure why but when I had my recon done last Dec he didn't get them exactly right. I've never mentioned it but he is fanatical about things being all even. So I guess we shall see what he says. I will consider having it corrected if I don't have to pay anything extra and I don't have to have it done in the hospital. My DH thinks I'm crazy to consider it. LOL!!
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mimi - I had 4 tracer injections done and thought I was going to pass out it hurt so bad. There were 2 techs that did them. They told me just before they started that they were going to hurt. They had tried in the past to add lidocaine to the dye but it effected the dye and couldn't do it that way anymore. There was a male tech and did the injections and a female to act as a chaperone and "support" She was a tiny thing and told me I could squeeze her hand if I needed to. I took one look at her itty-bitty hand and told her I would probably break it if I squeezed it. Maybe I should have.
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I slept through the entire process......how lucky did i get and didnt even know it!!!!!!0
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me too granny
Annette I'll be in your pocket tomorrow.
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I need a small pocket....ill be there with you!!!!!!Prayers for you too Annette...huggs K
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3 month ago my MO put me on Fosomax but I never took it. I am 49 and pre-menopausal. About a month ago my pain dr suggested I also go on it. I was a bit confused about why I needed to take it. So yesterday I asked my MO about it and he explained that there have been studies that women that take bisphosphonates have lower recurrence of breast cancer. So I decided to google and read for myself and there is an article here on BCO about it. http://www.breastcancer.org/risk/new_research/20091210.jsp
Had not heard this discussed before so I thought I would bring it up
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Ladies.....................my husband has been dead for 20 years, but I can tell you this...................when it came to my snb breast massage he would have been 1st in line to volunteer to send that dye shit wherever they wanted it to go............................and guess what................he could have done a better job, and would have done it for nothing..............................horny b---ard.......................haha
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