August 2011 Surgery Group
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Good luck todya Eema, let us know.
Got my path report today and its excellent. Clean margins in both cancerous breasts and only 3 of 9 nodes had cancer.
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Glad to hear it, RangerMom! Way to kick cancer's tushy!
So I had a suture that was trying to come out that had gotten irritated. The PS NP cut it out and said I should be good to go. DH then made me go to the supermarket. 144$ later, I'm irritated for a different reason! I'm also exhausted! Shopping is hard work! I'm going to take a nap before the kidling returns from camp. Glad to hear the good news--stay safe, ladies in Irene's way!0 -
Got my final pathology report yesterday and it was all DCIS...no microinvasions. It was in several spots however, so the mastectomy was definitely the right decision. This was a recurrence for me, but caught earlier than last time. Stay diligent, ladies!
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It's amazing what I've missed in the last few days on this thread. My prayers going out to those still struggling. Healing thoughts going out to those still healing.
I honestly have to say I've not had a bad time of it at all! Pain levels are about a 3, so I take something at bedtime for it to ensure a good rest. My power port was removed at the same time, and I have more pain there, believe it or not!
I stayed in the hospital overnight and was out the next morning. I'm draining alot (over 100cc daily on the right side), so it'll probably be a while until they can come out. Insicions look awesome and the surgeon 'spared' my tattoo!
I'm quite bruised and sore from the bruising, but as long as I stretch every now and then it seems alright. Bonus, my back is not nearly as sore as it used to be. That I noticed right away. I'm already wearing a very loose mast. bra with foam padding and that seems alright. So far it looks like I'm concave but the nurses have said all that will change as I heal. I can't say I like the concave look, but hopefully it fills in better as the nurses said.
I don't have the path. report yet, but will get that when I go in for my checkup.
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A little late but wanted to join the Aug group, I had BMX and sentinel node on aug 16th. I had a really hard time making mastectomy decision, but after surgery I feel great about decision. I did many things before surgery I had read here. I love the wedge pillow. I had a pretty uneventful recovery. Like some of you, a lot easier than I was expecting. Then last Monday I got path results. Both nodes that were removed were positive. I was so bummed, felt I was thrown back into the deep end, So I have full node surgery next Thursday. I have first appointment with med oncologist on wed and see what he thinks. I am supposed to discuss a port, does anyone have any input on using a port or not? Thanks
Sara
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I've noticed a few ladies mentioning complete node dissection. Just to inform anyone who is interested, there are many new studies that mention that it isn't completely necessary. I did not want LE, so I discussed it with my BS prior to surgery and we agreed he would only take the SN and a few that were hanging around the cancer.
Complete node dissection gives the doctors information about how much the cancer has spread within the nodes, but it doesn't change the treatment plan. Positive nodes usually means chemo. LE is a permanent condition. It's bad enough to have cancer, but then to possibly get LE and have a permanent condition was something I wasn't willing to do. Read up. Google it. Looks like it will be the new standard of care. Just wanted to throw that information out in case others aren't familiar with it.
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Hi,
I had a BMX with immediate latissimus dorsi reconstruction along with bilateral oophrectomy/salpingo on August 9. I originally had a lumpectomy when initially diagnosed in August 2009 followed by chemo and radiation. I was found to be BRCA2 positive, which led to this most recent surgery. My mom and sister-in-law came to stay with me the first two weeks after surgery, but returned home yesterday to Michigan (I live just north of Toronto, ON). I'm feeling pretty lonely, but found this site. I'm hoping it will be as helpful as I found the site when going through treatment.
Best wishes to all and speedy recovery,
Joyce
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Hey friends. I'm still doing well--it's sore where the drains are--and they are like right under my arm, so it's kind of an annoying spot. ugh. But, I'm pretty good I think--up and walking around. The laptop is so heavy though, I can't really pick it up! I'm thinking of you all though. Glad to see that no one has surgery in these few days right here around the hurricane. CRAZY. My husband never believes that these storms will really happen--I'm always the one who preps. So, now I"m asking him to INDULGE me and prep for a power outage. I was like, "You don't want ME to do it!"
He would never let me do it, but that doesn't mean he wants to do it either. I guess I'll be vindicated when we have no power and the adirondack chairs are flying through the yard. Stay safe--make sure anyone in the path of the storm has all the pain meds and other stuff you may need!
C
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Hi All:
Well 17 days post-op drains came out today!! I was still putiing out about 40cc per day so I m worried about that this weekend. The DO said my body will absorb the fluid.
Kathy: I was not offered PT. Im so glad I read your post I asked today and they are calling for insurance verification and to get me in somewhere.
I can't wait to lay down and sleep tonight. Aw the little things we so take for granted. Meet with the ONC on Monday. I want a pet scan after reading stories will insist.
Profee lived through Katrina, lost everything and lived in a fema trailer for a year. good luck with the storm!!!! We had no power for 5 weeks and it was 99 - 102 degrees.
Rockym: I had planned just a sentinal node and 1 other removed but when the dye showed cancer in those two he took the rest. I had immediate recon and radiation was out so it was a good decision he made. But wow my arm hurts so bad and I am afraid of LE.
Joyceva I can relate to you feeling alone - this site does help and I haved learned so much!!!
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OH and funny sort of story, I prayed to God to let me live to see my grandchildren. Well he listened because that next day my 23 yo unmarried daughter's boyfriend came and asked me if he could marry her and that she is pregnant. Next time I pray for something I need to be just a bit more specific. lol. God does have a sense of humor I guess. Thank goodness my son 19 yo son is to busy to date playing college football at lsu! lol They will be living with me so my house will be blessed with new life in a 8 months!!!
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I guess I belong in this group - lumpectomy on Aug. 2 for a phyllodes tumor and reexcision on Aug. 19 to try to get 1 cm margins. Still waiting for the path to see if we got the margins or if I will have to go under the knife again. I am having a little more trouble with this reexcision than I did with the original lumpectomy. Definitely more sore and swollen and I've had a tiny little bit of bleeding on the inside of my sports bra. Sigh. I don't sleep well at night even though it really doesn't hurt that much. I have an appt on Sept. 2 where I guess BS will tell me if the margins are good.
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Hi Buzziecat:
Welcome to the group none of us ever wanted to be in!!! PS it takes about 6 days to get the path report. Call and ask for the results if you want them. I know I couldn't wait that long. Of course its absolutely your choice. I had a BMX my choice was offered lumpectomy and turned out I had lymphs involved and it had spread into the tissues so I was very glad I made the decision I did. My surgery was on a wednesday and the dr called me the following Tuesday evening with the results.
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Dixiebell - I just love your Grandchildren story. It's so positive! And thanks for jogging my memory as my surgeon said she'd call with the path report, not give it to me in six weeks time. Ahhh where has my memory gone?0
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Hi all. New to the site and not actually scheduled for surgery til Sept 13th....Hope it is ok if I tag along on the August group.
TML - your post really touched me. I too am comforted that I am not insane.....I have bc on the left but a calcification cluster on the right so I have opted for BMX with t/e. Since I failed my very first mammy, not real keen on going thru one again so the peace of mind was my deciding factor. Negative BRCA and no family history. guess just rotten luck but finding comfort to be in company of such strong women.
I am nervous about surgery but more worried about the treatment after surgery. No radiation (woohoo!) but hormone therapy and likely chemo...(boo!!) Totally hate the not knowing but have to wait for pathology results from surgery to determine treatment. Guess it is a good thing I am on the east coast where I have earthquakes & hurricanes to distract me....
Appreciate all the comments more than I can say.... Really helps.
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Hi odie: blondelawyer was wonderful and started our august group. Maybe you could messgae her and find out how to start a group but you are more then welcome here. I have a friend who along with me lost everything in Hurricane Katrina who is living in New York now. She said who would ever believe a Hurricane and an earthquake in New York within a weeks time The world has gone mad. LOL. geez good luck with the storm, hope its not a direct hit for you!
blondelawyer you ok??????
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Dixiebell -- the circle of life brings such blessings with our grandchildren. When I got my IDC dx, I was grateful that my grandson who I raised is 21 and close to independence. It is so very hard on you younger ladies and your families.
Rockym - you are right about the axillary nodes - it is relatively new. My 2nd opinion BS does not take axillary nodes on first surgery. I realize that it may be necessary to go back for more surgery; but she said about 80% turn out to not need it.
Lorenar - My surgery is 8/30 and I have to go 8/29 for injection of dye and radioisotope tracer followed by a scan 2 hours later. I booked a hotel for that night.
EEma - I have a phone mentor in GA who just told me she had melanoma in addition to her BC.
What a week end in the east. I was assured my 8/30 surgery would NOT be canceled for any reason, not even the aftermath of Hurricane Irene. So, I have to unexpectedly leave for New York city tomorrow before the mayor closes down the bridges. I so wanted to be home with family and cherish the time and be reflective before surgery; but BC demands that we be flexible with our best-made plans.
It will be very different than I thought. Imagine - I am taking a coach bus to NY and not sure how I'll get home the day of surgery.. I hope I don't forget anything.
Well, ladies, August is ending, and there is one more group to go through surgery.
Those who have gone before have so inspired me - thanks for your strength, honesty, and encouragement.
Joan
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Welcome to the new ladies! You will find this a great place to be.
I have recently read the same thing that rockym says about lymph nodes removal.
Sarasowise ~ I had a port for chemo and it was very helpful for easy access during treatment. The chemo drugs are so strong that it is not good to have them just use IV access because it will collapse the veins. My port was never painful. My biggest gripes were the physical limitations. I was told by the BS, who put it in, I could not lift anything heavy, do any repetitive motion activities (I'm a kayaker...not this spring and summer ) and it interfered with yoga (no inverted poses, planks or push ups). Even with the irritating limitations, the port was good thing to have and I had no trouble with it.
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Sarasowise-definitely go for the port. makes chemo so much easier. Do you know what chemo you will be doing? I had mine neo and it went really well and was very tolerable. Flwarrior-they never told me anythig about restrictions because of my port-OOPS!! I will have mine for a really long time so maybe I better ask.
I agree about the nodes-LE scares me worse than cancer. I had NO NODES taken-I wanted to tattoo that in my armpit just to make sure they didn;t do it while I was asleep. In return I had to agree to Rads. I see the RO on Sept 2. I am armed with articles about how boosts to axilla can cause LE so it will be a huge part of our discussion. Please do some reading and maybe talk to some others before you have the full dissection. If I can dig up the stuff I ad found I will PM it to you.
On the bad side-I just got drained for the 3rd time and it was back to the original amount. BOO. Almost 100cc from the rightside. Half that on the left. I have been poked in the same little area 12times in a week and it is so sore and swollen. She keeps telling me-this whole arae should be numb. I asked her "Does my face look like I can;t feel you digging that needle in?" I have to go back again Tuesday. I have asked her if I just sit in a chair and not move will it get better and she said it doesn;t make a difference. Am I the only one filling up like this?
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EEMA, to answer you on my melanoma, the mole was on my breast to begin with, and as the Inflammatory Breast Cancer swelled up my boob and made it hurt, the mole started to look different, so I told my breast surgeon at my cancer clinic several times to be sure to get that thing off there too for the lab. Now, I had chemo first, five months, so finally when I had surgery, the doc got it off there, and the lab then said the mole was indeed melanoma, which I suspected. Both my folks have had it, and in fact I'll be seeing my Dad's same melanoma doc next week, at request of my doc.
SARASOWISE, I have a port, it's a semi-minor operation, you're out the same day. It is a small bump under the skin, that's where the chemo nurses put the I.V. needle in for the infusions you get. If you have lots of infusions, it's a good idea, becuz otherwise, as LILY and WARRIOR said, the toxins can seep out of a regular vein and create burns. I pay very little attention to it, it does not hurt, I've had it in there since February, and soon I reckon they'll take it out, I keep forgetting to ask. Oh, and taking it out does NOT require an operation, they can do it right in the doc office.
RANGERMOM, you had said you were going to get your drains out, but you didn't mention it in your last post. If you did, I know you were relieved! I'm glad your labs came out good, too. I've been reading your posts, but you seem to be getting along so well, I didn't say hello until now. Have you got radiation to do?
LILY, I did laugh at what you said to the nurse about your pain! I know you are fed up. I've heard of people still draining I think a month+ after, but gosh the drain area is SO sore to begin with! Do you have the original drains still sticking out, or did they remove them and decide to needle aspirate you after?
PROFBEE, you can put a small pillow under your arm, sort of lessens pressure on drains from arm. Even after they were pulled, when I went to bed, I'd stick a big pillow under there when I laid on the other side, becuz I had some swelling in my upper arm, it's gone down a lot, but still hurts some under armpit.
Many of my post-chemo and post-surgery pains have gone, but I cannot believe how wiped out I feel in general, especially at end of day. I tried more protein, added weekly vit/min w/iron pill once a week, but walking every other day seems to help strenghten me the most. I also feel sad sometimes, but usually that's when stuff gets to hurting, like muscle spasms in back shoulder, which I get on floor and roll out nice and easy, getting back up with unaffected arm. Best wishes to my sisters, GG
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Hi all, I've been reading everyone's stories and I wanted to comment that I'm not very good at encouraging people, especially over the internet, but I want to continue to share in case it helps someone. Reading other people's experiences certainly helps me.
I had my drains out on Thursday. All but one were under 30 cc a day but one was still at 40-50 cc output per day. The PS pulled all the drains. I took a percocet before the appointment but, WOW, it still hurt like hell. The drain sites were getting infected and were really painful so he took them all out. Well, the one was likely not ready to come out because now I have a seroma. It's unmistakable fluid under the skin with a waterbed appearance. I called yesterday and I'm supposed to use compression over the weekend and then go in on Monday to have it drained. I guess that considering my options of leaving in a very sore and possibly infected drain over the weekend vs. pulling the drain and ending up with a seroma I would pick the later. The seroma does not hurt at all. It's just weird.
My kids started back to school this week so child care is less of an issue now for me. It's so hard to care for two children after surgery. I am have a 3rd surgery on Friday. I'm having a oopherectomy outpatient. I'm really hoping that isn't too involved of a recovery. After my lumpectomy and bilateral mastectomy I had nausea and vomiting from the anesthesia. I was given medicine for the second surgery but it didn't help that much. Anyone have advice for the post-anesthesia hangover?0 -
Dogeyed - to answer your questions - I did get my 3 drains out yesterday and last night it was a major improvement in sleeping. Today I'm terribly sore and tingling from my shoulders down my torso. I know its just my nerve endings reacting to all that's gone one. I'll be glad when it all calms down. I am doing pretty good but i do have my moments where i'm so sad and wonder "what's this all for" and what's my purpose here. So I have been on an emotional rollercoaster with ups and downs. I think this in between phase of not being able to do my normal activities, but havaing to be patient for the healing to come, is giving me too much time on my hands to think. I feel unattractive and someone said it earlier, concave, right now and I don't like it. I know I need to be more patient with my body and the job its doing right now to heal.
Welcome to all who joined this week. We are here for you.
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Also, you asked about radiation. Yes, will start that soon in about 3 weeks for 6 to 7 weeks on the right side only. the PS said about 9 months after radiation I could consider reconstruction. Right now, just not sure about that and thinking there's no way in hell I want to get cut on again and go through this again and even worse I've heard. But time and healing will give me more of an educated decision on that. Maybe once I get fitted for prosthesis, I'll start to feel more normal.
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I had a breakdown yesterday. My FIL has been in town since my surgery and we ended up going through some of my husband's stuff and I totally lost it. Then at night I just lost it about this whole cancer thing. I found myself begging whomever is in charge to let me wake up and realize that this whole thing is just a terrible nightmare and that I'm really not a widow and I really don't have breast cancer. Of course, this is real.
My drains from surgery are really starting to bother me. One is pretty painful and red around it. I'm not sure if it is just irritated skin or trying to get infected. I am still getting a good amount of drainage so I'll have these darn things for awhile. I'm just tired of having cancer!
I seriously don't know how I am going to get through reconstruction--physically the surgery has been okay--much better than chemo, but mentally this whole thing is just beating me down.
Oh, and with my final pathology report I found out that I am actually Stage 3, not 2b. Not that it matters I suppose, but ugh!0 -
Hi RangerMom,
I can totally relate to your post. I was really sore the day after my drains came out. It was much better the next day. Just one more thing our bodies are going through. I have many moments where I'm sad and wonder about my purpose. Thankfully, we also know that there is a reason we are going through this in order to come out on the other side having done all that we could.
I've been telling myself today - two more weeks and you'll be that much better. It seems to be helping a bit so I'm keeping at it. Once you get your prosthesis you will feel just that much better. However, if you do make the decision to have reconstruction you'll be happy to say goodbye to it.
I can't wait to get back into a regular routine and get on with life again. This recuperating does give one to much time to think! You are much more beautiful than you believe! There is much more that makes a woman beautiful than her breast(s) and from your picture you look gorgeous!!
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Oh sweetheart, my heart goes out to you!
In getting ready for the surgery, I did all kinds of house renovations and went through some pictures that included my former husband. It was extremely painful and that relationship ended 7 years ago. This is all so recent and you've been through so much with your experience with cancer. Having cancer does get old very quickly. Hugs to you.
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Hi tlaquepaque,
I have had to have seroma drained as well. I didn't hurt at all - I couldn't even feel it. Now I'm trying to sit around alot so I don't get more of it. Someone mentioned that their doctor said that won't make you not have one. Is that right since I'm really sick of sitting around all of the time. I get tired out anyway if I do too much. Argh.
I had my oophrectomy the same time as breast surgery. I don't know how to get past the anesthesia hangover other than time and drink a lot of water. It left me feeling crampy for the past couple of weeks, but has calmed down quite a bit.
Joyce
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I have missed you all...surgery was Tuesday but today is the first day I could be on the computer and not get dizzy withing seconds. Had a rough time with meds and anestesia. Only taking Tylenol now but really only hurts when tubes get drained then I almost pass out. i really hope they come out asap as I do not know how much more i can take from them. Meet with surgeon on Wed for path report and what comes next. Considering Md Anderson in Orlando for treatment.
Mags
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Hi blondelawyer: I am sorry you had a bad few days. I had my drains for 17 days and finally got them out. You can do this. Thinking about you and can relate to wishing it was a dream!
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tlaquepaque, I too was way sick from the anesthesia. They gave me some meds that I took when I got home. They helped, but I think it was because the drug basically knocked me out. My friend told me that if I ever had to go back under to let them know to give me a lot of anti-barf meds first so it doesn't happen again.
Guess what... the next evening I had to have emergency surgery from an internal bleed and I told my anesthesiologist to give me a ton of anti-nausea meds. He did and I woke up feeling great and was able to go home that night with no problems.
Take home message... Tell someone you need more meds before going under.
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Blondlawyer - your energy is low right now and its hard to take any more additional emotional stress and I do believe losin our breasts is a kind of death in its own so having to face reliving your Husband's passing right now is bringing up all the feelings again. Cry hard as you need to and for as long as necessary and you'll take a deep breath when you are done and be stronger afterwards.
Also, if you have't tried an icepack at the drain site, that might help too. It helped for me, calmed the area down as I had a stitch that was pulling through my skin and hurt like crazy.
Joyce - thank you for the kind words. I know I will find my middle ground soon between these emotional ups and downs and only time will heal this. i've talked to women who are 10 years out from a double mastectomy and are living their best life. I know I will get there too and its like that old saying, its the journey not the destination.
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