Lumpectomy Lounge....let's talk!
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I have Xanax which makes me feel even more out of it than I already do. Path report won't be ready until Tuesday.
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I agree, Shelley. If nothing else, some Ativan to get you through the next few days is almost a must. And some moral support as well. I know that this is grueling - and most people don't have a clue just how awful it is. Hang in there, but do ask for some help.
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hi everyone I was diagnosed with stage 1 invasive ductal with no lymphnode involvement 4 years ago I underwent a lumpectomy and 21 radiation treatments and am now taking arimidex to arrest all production of estrogen. My question is... My breast is still quite tender and my yearly mammogram is really painful. Does anyone else have this level of tenderness and pain during mammogram 4 years later?
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shelleym1....I'm sorry you're having to wait so long. It helped me to remind myself that the cancer had been removed. I also walked everyday just to walk off the tension and then I took Xanax at night to help me sleep. It was still stinking hard in the beginning, but I can tell you that I'm doing great now. I didn't think it would ever get better...but it did. Hang in there.
Praying you get a good path report!!!
(((hugs)))
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Shelley - waiting is the worst part but everything takes so much time - recovering from surgery, coming to terms with what has happened, dealing with recovery, seeing oneself as someone somehow different now one has bc, BUT I know you can do it and it will come right in its way. I feel for you - my results took nearly two weeks to arrive but I considered what will be will be and worrying doesn't change anything. The cold and sore arm will pass but it took quite a bit of time and I massage it gently a few times a day to help it along. Try to sleep as much as you can - difficult when anxious but it is what your body needs. A week or two from now you won't know yourself! Promise!
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So, I have filled in my profile now so my story's there, but so far it's a pretty short story! I'm really feeling pretty good in terms of pain now, it's just the anxiety and uncertainty getting to me. That and adjusting to the reality that my body is now visibly changed by this disease, no matter what happens from here on out. I'll get used to it. I do feel very lucky to be able to get my treatment at Johns Hopkins, but it's still hard, as everyone here knows. It will be hard to get through this weekend before I get my results, but I'll get through it. So glad to have found you all.
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thank you.
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KayFry, waiting sucks. But as someone said, what is isn't going to change by worrying about it (easy to say, isn't it?). Just remember we're here for you. Try to do things that you enjoy, read, watch great tv, be with family and friends who are supportive. And yes, we'll always be visibly reminded of BC but it's part of the price of getting rid of it and, for me, that's all that matters. HUGS and more HUGS!
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I'm going to sound REALLY cranky - but the price we pay to get rid of it is pretty darn high, so visible reminders of it - on the front the the body where we can't help but see them every, single day really do suck - big time. I don't think it's fair to whitewash that.
Nor do I think it's helpful for everyone on this board (it seems) to keep preaching about the pointlessness of worry. For heaven's sake, it's even the tag line of one one the forums. We ALL KNOW that it's pointless to worry. None of us thinks that results will come back faster, or better if we worry. Some of us are worriers by nature. Some of us are just impatient, which I think is fine, given how much waiting around we're called upon to do.
So, could we just call a moratorium on preaching to members about worry? I am not calling out any single person on this board and I KNOW that it's always offered with the best of intentions. But it's not helpful. We're all adults and we all know it and we all cope in our own ways.
Specific strategies to turn down the worry-meter, distraction techniques, etc., might be more helpful in the long run.
End of rant and apologies to anyone whose feelings are hurt. This is NOT meant that way. I've just seen that phrase too many times this week and, as one who has a LONG wait ahead, I'm getting burned out on it. Pace (Peace)
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Hopeful, I think what most of us are saying is that our minds keep going in circles and it's hard to get out of that rut. Sometimes we can derail all those worrisome thought, sometimes medication helps but it is worth trying. If you can achieve some sort of peace of mind it does help. We all do worry. For myself, I keep it in a cubby hole and don't let it out very often. That works for me. Perhaps it will work for someone else.
You have to be going crazy waiting so long for your LX. I don't envy you and you are so entitled to worry. How can you not? Perhaps we've just tried to erase how worried we were before our LX because it was so painful (not the surgery) and we don't want to re-visit those feelings. But we understand them. Rant away! Sometimes what really tees off one person, another will find helpful - we do try to keep that in mind.
HUGS. And MORE HUGS!!!
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did anyone start having pain on day 4? My armpit and below around to my back is tender and my upper ribs.
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shelleym1...my armpit was sore for awhile....due to the SNB. I'm still having some numbing in my back area that comes and goes. Not painful just annoying...I'm going on almost 4 months out. Can't remember if my ribs hurt. I know I had weird pains for awhile.
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Yes, just the same for me - I had extensive bruising to the ribs at the back and I think the pain it is all part of the healing process. It went on for a few days but faded away slowly. My armpit was very swollen had what felt like a golf ball there which pressed on the incision. All part of the fun of the fair I regret to say. Hope it gets better quickly for you - I had just about forgotten it all until lI saw your post! Best of luck.
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Hi Ladies,
I am considering joining you, I have a surgery date in Feb, rt now Feb 19th but that could change depending on when some test results come in but one of my options is lumpectomy and I am leaning that way. I have a question though.... My PS says that he can reconstruct what the BS takes out with my remaining breast tissue and I will look basicly the same as I do now. Has anyone had this experience? Tumor is approx. 2 cm and its in the bottom rt part of the breast not close to the nipple so PS thinks this is my best route. Also, while I know recovery is easier than with a MX, what is the down time? Would I be able to continue my workouts within a week or so?
thanks so much!
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I have a lot of bruising under my breast
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I have a question regarding scar tissue...
What does it feel like where it was removed. My lumpectomy was on Oct 22/14...one 5 inch scar kinda at an angle on my right breast. The incision sight is slightly raised...I feel a lump still...a small ball. Not that different from when I found the cancer...
I will ask my oncologist when I see him next week...I'm just wondering if this is a...dare I say..."normal" or if any other ladies out there are feeling this too.
I have had two chemo rounds since...any information you may have would be MOST helpful!
Thanks
Connie
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Leigh...everyone is different but I was fine the next day. You can't lift anything heavy for a few weeks. Definitely keep working out up until your surgery date. I didn't require any recon.
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Leigh, to expand on Nash's info, above, the issue of workouts is one you'd need to raise with your surgeon, as it would depend in part on what kind of workouts you do and what their guidelines are in regard to stretching, range of motion, etc. Many women continue with their yoga practice, walking, biking, etc. You'll probably feel best if you can minimize any breast motion during workouts.
As a rule of thumb, you'll be back to working out much faster after a lumpectomy than a mastectomy.
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BB, our stories seem very similar. I had my lumpectomy (also left) the day after yours, and it was a very long day for my husband and me, too. My surgery had been scheduled for 9 am at Johns Hopkins, which is an hour from our home, but we were to arrive at 5:30, which meant up at 3:45. But my surgery had been rescheduled for 11:30, only no one called the day before as promised, so we didn't know that. Other than that, pretty much the same experience, except that I have to say that for me, the wire localization was pretty brutal and definitely the most difficult part of the day, other than just the many hours of waiting. Also, I didn't have to have any nodes removed, for which I'm grateful (but it's a provisional gratitude, until that scary pathology report comes back). All told, I think we were in the hospital about 10 hours, but then there were the 2 hours of driving to and from the hospital, making for a 12-hour day.
I'm feeling remarkably good now from a physical standpoint, just a little bit of discomfort in the incision area but nothing much. I've only taken the occasional Tylenol, no more oxycodone since I took one to help me sleep the night after surgery. Just a little bit fatigued, but not bad. The bigger problem is worry over that report—I don't think I'll learn the results until probably Monday or Tuesday. While it's true, as has been said, that worrying won't help, it's also try that one can't help worrying. Or anyway, I can't. I want certainty—a plan—and I really can't have that until I know what the pathology finds. I hope everyone waiting gets good news!
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Kay I know how you feel. I had surgery Monday and I won't have path report back until Tuesdays check up. I'm tired of being stuck in limbo.
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Dear Peggy - Thank you for your thoughtful and understanding response. Yes, I am going a bit crazy - it's the not knowing and not being able to plan, rather than concern about pain. I guess I really think it's going to work out fine but I'm ready for that to be validated, if that makes sense.
And I think it's that not knowing that is so hard for women on this board, especially once we start to think that just maybe this isn't going to kill us right away (black humor). So our minds try to figure it all out for us. And that's pretty natural, given that we have so many roles to juggle and responsibilities to so many others and we're ALWAYS thinking of what has to be done, what has to be scheduled, how to make it all work out as smoothly as possible.
I think "Don't Worry" is in part short-hand for "Don't Obsess" as well as "don't worry - you'll probably get through this o.k." but it sort of feels as though we're telling others to ignore their own feelings. That's why I think that sharing techniques (such as your cubby where you keep worry) is so much more valuable.
With some issues I've been able to schedule times to worry/fret/obsess - I put it in my day planner! It looks pretty silly in black and white but it helps.
Now, controlling the mind in the middle of the night - that's another issue.
Your hugs are much appreciate and returned, Peggy.
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Leigh, my workout of choice is riding my horse (though I also do a lot of walking and workouts on an elliptical machine), and prior to my lumpectomy there were differences of opinion as to how soon I could return to riding (which I normally do about 4 times a week, at least). My BS said I could probably get back to riding as soon as 3 days after surgery, while my nurse navigator was appalled at that idea and suggested I should plan to wait a lot longer, as in, several weeks. Other opinions were everywhere in between. Now, 3 days post-LX, I'm thinking I'll do a brief, easy ride in about 2 days, and see how that goes. Everyone was most concerned with bouncing problems, but since I have really small breasts even before I lost part of one this week, that's not a big concern, especially since I'll be wearing my comfy Coobie sport-type bra. Lifting my saddle off its rack and onto my tall horse's back is more of an issue, and I plan to get friends to help me with that for a week or so, at least. I think the therapeutic aspect of returning to activities that feed your body and soul as soon as you can is very important.
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Now, controlling the mind in the middle of the night - that's another issue.
Hopeful, no truer words could be said. I have family health worries on several fronts right now, in addition to this very unwelcome worry about my own cancer that showed up out of the blue a few weeks ago. And keeping all these worries at bay in the middle of the night is probably a bigger reason I'm feeling a little tired right now than the fact that I had a long day of surgery and general anesthesia 3 days ago!
All of which is to say, I totally get what you're feeling.
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I have struggled with this issue of lumpectomy vs. mastectomy ever since the reality of what I had ahead of me really began to sink in—the reality that "lumpectomy" does not necessarily mean "minor" or even, "less disfiguring" than mastectomy. Mind you, neither the local doctor who diagnosed my Grade 3 DCIS nor the BS I chose to do my surgery ever suggested mastectomy, though my BS acknowledged it was an option when I asked. I got the feeling they thought this would be overkill for my relatively small lesion, and maybe it would. But as it turns out, there was a bit more DCIS scattered around in there than I was told at first, and it looks to me as if a fairly big chunk was removed from my very small breast. So I can already tell that I'm going to have a sizable dent on the underside—the incision runs all the way from the lower edge of the nipple to what's left of the "fold" under my breast. I'm wondering if radiation will further reduce the size of my treated breast, and also wondering what I should do if my margins turn out not to be clear and I need re-excision. In my case, I think I almost might as well have a mastectomy, because what little bit of breast remaining would be so deformed that I'm not sure MX and reconstruction might not be a better option. On the third hand, I have no appetite for more, and more extensive surgery, and more recovery time, and I've never thought I wanted implants. If the pathology shows clean margins and no invasive cells, I'm thinking I need to talk to my BS about possible PS options to fill in the defect left by LX prior to radiation—and I also wonder how much additional shrinkage and change in texture will result from radiation.
This is the obsessive loop I find myself in. Time to take the dogs for a long walk!!
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KayFry, It sounds like our lumpies are about in the same spot. I certainly didn't notice any shrinkage from my radiation treatments nor change in texture - it's just me minus a chunk (and I think that most of the hole left has filled in with something so I'm not hollow particularly). I've found that things "settle" a bit and fill in that void. I'm six months out. Perhaps things will change over the next year. I wasn't allowed to lift more than 10 lbs for 3 weeks post-surgery. Even after that I found I didn't really want to lift that much.
I'd had a wire locator several years ago and swore I'd never have another - it was a horrid experience. I am pleased to say my experience this time was vastly different. Lots of lidocaine and it did not hurt. There was a nurse with me and I held her hand, very comforting but it was all okay. I'm sorry your experience was different. I totally get it.
Whatever the path results, listen to your BS and the rest of your doctors. Find out WHY they feel the way they do. If you're concerned about the shape of your breast, ask them what can be done and when.
I've been documenting my treatment with text and photos. Only for me. Next week I'll take photos - my 6 month mark. I see no sign of anything from the radiation.
KayFry and Hopeful, middle of the night does suck. The mind seems to wander away from you. I get it. Try to think positive. And I understand that you want to plan (me too) and can't. That's very difficult. I always want a plan even if I have to change it. I feel better when I've made a decision.
HUGS!!!!!!!!!
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Hailey, in my non-cancer life (which it helps to remember there is!), I'm a writer and currently revising a book about human-dog coevolution. It's a known fact that dogs can smell cancer, often before most human tests can pick it up. The Penn Working Dog Center of the U. of Pennsylvania is doing a lot of research on this, as well as training detection dogs for cancer (as well as diabetes, epilepsy, and other human ailments). I have to say, neither of my two dogs alerted me to my cancer before the routine mammogram picked it up. Or maybe I just wasn't listening?
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Kayfry, I've also heard about dogs detecting cancer. My rat terrier mix didn't notice anything either (but let ANYTHING move ANYWHERE on our block and she's all over it
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Peggy, thank you yet again. I can't tell you how much your perspective, a few months beyond where I am now and sharing a similar surgery and body type, has been helping me. Now that you mention it, I believe someone, maybe my BS?, told me that the surgical area does tend to fill in over time, so I know you're right that I just need to be patient. But knowing that you've had no noticeable ill effects on your radiated breast is extremely reassuring. During my pre-op meeting with the radiation oncologists, I was told that women with smaller breasts generally do better and have fewer ill effects on the tissue than the well-endowed ladies, though I have no idea why that's the case. Also, because it's the left side, I was given all the disclaimers about the slight potential risk to lung, heart valves, and slightly increased susceptibility to rib fractures after radiation. But the ROs said all of those risks are very slight, that they take great care to protect everything they can, that the radiation is very targeted. And I'm lucky in that I can get the 3-week protocol at Hopkins rather than the standard 7-week protocol that was outlined for me here by the local small-town RO. They tell me to "plan on 4 weeks," but I think that's just allowing for the occasional missed day. So good to know radiation was relatively easy for you. I think possibly the reason I feel I can do almost anything so quickly after surgery is that I didn't have a node dissection. Yet. And I hope not ever, but that's one of the questions to be answered with pathology. I do definitely plan to follow my doctors' advice. I did my due diligence in selecting my Hopkins BS, and I have great confidence in him.
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Haha, that's a terrier for you. I have one of those, too. She didn't find my DCIS, but she's hell on groundhogs.
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OMG,, KayFry. #1 Doggie goes nose-to-nose with possums (groundhogs too). And of course, she doesn't listen when I yell at her to stop. I do worry about her.
I'm a lefty BC, also. I did the 33 treatments. I also didn't have to travel as far as you do, only 10 minutes and 3 weeks of that DH was in the hospital desperately ill. Radiation center was right next to the hospital so that was helpful. I had some punctation (reddened hair follicles - barely red) and a little tan over the general area. I used Aquaphor to keep everything happy starting about Day 19. Some itching. All minor.
I've no clue what "fills in" that empty space but doesn't matter. I do have a bit of a dent plus that downward facing nipple. Since I have a choice, right now I'm not real interested in doing anything. I'm 69, DH is in a nursing and that probably influences my decision, too,
You have to do what's right for you. None of us can tell you that. Only what we each have found works for us, that we can live with.
HUGS!!!! (BTW, don't be lifting that saddle for awhile
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