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Lumpectomy Lounge....let's talk!

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  • Sweetmamaj
    Sweetmamaj Member Posts: 174

    Peggy ((Hugs and shared tears)), You are so amazing and strong to let DH know that he could let go. Such a loving, compassionate, and selfless act --that so reflects your giving nature! We are all still in your pockets, and sending hugs!

    Outrunning, Great news on the nodes!! Yay! My stereotactic bx was face down, as was the MRI, but my wire locator placement was while sitting in a comfy chair. I was also warned about the blue pee, but was so out of it from the anesthesia, that I never noticed! Hope you get some good rest and take it easy.

    BJclaywell, I think I may have bragging rights re: wire placement stories--apologies to those who already heard this: after my wire placement, and injections with nuclear med, they taped the wires and then asked me to put on my blouse without my bra. That was confusing because I had on a short hospital gown, my next stop was surgery, so I could just let the girls hang loose in the gown, right? Wrong. As it turned out, the surgery building was several long blocks away. So the tech walked me outside to the street corner, and instructed me to wait for the hospital shuttle BUS.Sitting on a bus stop bench, at 8:00am, my bra is inside the large CLEAR plastic bag that says, Personal Belongings--Patient________Room No_____. I wondered why I shooed DH away after we got to mammography at 6:45am-saying there was no need for him to wait as they would page him when I was in post-op.

    Oh, it was the middle of July, blazing hot and I wore the only non-white (didn't want blood stains) button-front (per RN's request) top in my closet that wasn't flannel or silk--just a very THIN gauzy top. Right, as an dignified adult I decide to try and pass as a typical commuter, despite clutching that telltale bag in front of my chest because hey, maybe the giant bag is clear-but my bra is opaque, right? I started to dig my phone out of my pants pocket to call DH when I felt the tape move!...broke into a cold sweat and worried that I loosened the tape, and the wires would come springing out and stab anyone unfortunate enough to sit to my immediate left!

    Lessons learned? Bring Ativan just in case, and read the pile of paperwork carefully-before the surgery.

    Molly, glad your seromas were removed, but hate to hear the drain is giving you problems! Do you know when the BS might remove it? Very Gentle Hugs!

    Octo, love the strong attitude! and Horay!! 1/4 of the way and so far so good! Hope the remaining infusions go well!!

    Hugs to all and again, especially to you Dear Peggy. You are loved by so many.

  • Sweetmamaj
    Sweetmamaj Member Posts: 174

    Molly, I see that your followup is tomorrow. Good luck with that. My heart goes out to you! It must be crazy hard to try and adjust to your missing lefty. :(. I'll be thinking about you tomorrow! Hugs again!!

  • PoppyK
    PoppyK Member Posts: 1,275

    I've been away from the board for about a month in order to visit my family in North Carolina.

    Oh, Peggy! I am praying for you, your DH and your family. I am glad your boys are there with you. I'm sure they are a blessing to you and your DH. ((Hugs))

  • Molly50
    Molly50 Member Posts: 3,008

    We missed you, PoppyK! So glad you had some time away.

  • Keys-Plez
    Keys-Plez Member Posts: 190

    Peggy...HUGS to you and your family in this tough time.

  • Outrunning
    Outrunning Member Posts: 157

    Sweetmama My MRI was face down but that was almost like being on a message table. Not sure why the mammo table can't have a face cradle too. My neck was killing me by the time I got up. Your story about the wires is hysterical in that macabre medical sort of way. I can't believe they'd put you on the shuttle and leave you alone. Thankfully they've set up the imaging and outpatient surgical right across from each other in the new medical building at my hospital. And they gave me a long gown and a robe. I did have to pass through the waiting area. But was happy too. Because that's how I knew my pastor was there, and was able to introduce her to my friend who had driven me.

    BJclaywell the curb feelers is perfect. I'll have to tell DH that one. Dye was blue but also radio active. And I noticed a peak under my bandage last night that I had a a really blue patch of skin.

    Molly Hope the doc gives you some relief today.

    Octogirl yay on 25% done with chemo and feeling okay.

    I'm feeling like I have insufficient info about what do to and not to do today. It says remove dressing after 24 hours then I can shower. No info on what to do after removing the dressing. I have glue instead of steristrips since the strips gave me a blister after my second biopsy. I'm thinking it is going to look ugly so I sent DH for paper tape and gauze to cover it again. Otherwise it says no driving until I'm cleared by doctor and no heavy lifting (but no weight noted. Nurse said 10 lbs)

    Cool things is I can now get into "my chart" to see the info about my tumor. Or at least the malignant one. It seems the info from the outside radiology isn't there. Nothing from yesterday yet of course, but from the August biopsy:

    Biopsy for left side says:
    INFILTRATING CARCINOMA WITH DUCT AND LOBULAR FEATURES

    ESTROGEN RECEPTOR: Positive, 95% strong intensity
    PROGESTERONE RECEPTOR: Positive, 80% moderate to strong intensity
    HERCEPTEST SCORE: 1+
    HER-2 OVEREXPRESSION ASSESSMENT: Negative


    I woke up at 5 and even another Oxycodone didn't knock me out again. Hoping for a nap after breakfast. Then I've got a big list of stuff I'd like to get done on my computer, plus magazines to read, movies to watch. I don't think I'm going to have enough days of recovery to do all the relaxing I want to do. :)


  • octogirl
    octogirl Member Posts: 2,434

    Outrunning, glad it went well overall, now go get some rest! HUGS!

    Octogirl

  • plumster1
    plumster1 Member Posts: 100
    Outrunning- sounds like you are doing well! Relax and heal :)
  • Molly50
    Molly50 Member Posts: 3,008

    Outrunning, I had no post op instructions after my Lx except to ice the area and shower after two days. Fortunately my BS told me ahead of time that she would remove the bandages.

  • Sweetmamaj
    Sweetmamaj Member Posts: 174

    Outrunning, i had the steristrips over glue and after 24 hrs just showered very gently. Was told no baths, pools, ocean, hot tubs etc. until BS cleared me The gauze and papertape sounds like a good idea. I was also told no lifting over 10# (your body will tell you if it feels too heavy), and no driving for a week-mainly in case you have to make a fast turn. I was allow to return to work because I sit in.a chair all day. I did not use ice, but I really wish I had. If you have ice packs or bag offrozen peas, it might reduce some of the swelling. Take it easy today!! Hugs

  • Sweetmamaj
    Sweetmamaj Member Posts: 174

    BJclaywell, btw, still chuckling over the curb feelers but it just dawned on me that I know what curb feelers are, because I remember the scraping sound as a kid! Whatever happened to them and when did they go away? Wonder if some of our younger sisters (Plumster?) remembers them.

  • quirky74747
    quirky74747 Member Posts: 3

    I just got my lab results back from my lumpectomy on 9/4/15. I was so relieved! No invasive cancer, all DCIS, was the first good news. Also I had clean margins (10 mm). I was dreading having to have a re-excision. Even though the surgery went very smoothly and I am healing well, it's obviously not something I am raring to do again! My surgeon recommending doing oncotyping to help decide about radiation. I'm 47 so most would say definitely do it based on my age alone, she said, but she thought it was worth finding out a little more info and discussing it with my RO. I will probably definitely do tamoxifen. She said I should definitely not do nothing, which I wasn't planning on anyway. One interesting thing she said was that she recommends waiting 4-6 weeks after lumpectomy before starting radiation. She said I'll get better cosmetic results if I wait.

    Good luck to everyone waiting for lab results!

    Kirsten


  • gypsyjo
    gypsyjo Member Posts: 112

    So happy for you, Kirsten! You couldn't have better news. Sounds like you have a great BS wanting to treat but not to excess. Hope the rest of your treatment goes as well!


  • Sweetmamaj
    Sweetmamaj Member Posts: 174

    Hi Quirky! Welcome to the Lounge! That's wonderful news about your Lx!!! I agree with your BS--discuss the rad tx with your RO. You'll also find a lot of good information about the different types of treatments on the homepage of this website. Look under the heading of Treatments and Side Effects. Here in the lounge, you'll get tons of great, caring support and information from an awesome group of women. Glad you are healing well!

  • moderators
    moderators Posts: 8,644

    Hi Quirky, and welcome to BCO. The results are good, and we are anxious to hear how treatment goes, along with the others in the "lounge". Hang in there, and glad you found us.

  • Outrunning
    Outrunning Member Posts: 157

    Quirky Wonderful news. And I'll be right there with you on the rads. My surgery was yesterday (9/9) and I'm expected 4 weeks to heal and then 4 week of rads.

    My day is going well. I'm wasting lots of time with my computer on my lap doing not much useful. I took off the wrap and took a shower. Right side is mostly okay. Incision is in my areola and is small. The left incision is right where the outside underwire would run. I'm definitely going to have to find a bra or two without a wire while this heals. Only ones I own are sports bras. I have one of those on now. It hooks in back and the shoulder straps hook together for make a race back so I could do the hook in front turn it to back trick to get it on. I have three of these but all black and a color so not great for under most clothes.

    My neighbor took me for a pedi mid-day. The hospital called to follow up. And another neighbor came for a visit. I'm going to try for a nap now before the family gets home. I'm thinking I wished I had one more day to this week without kids. Saturday is going to come too soon and DH is supposed to be gone all day for a gig. Secretly i hope it will rain so it will be postponed until Sunday at least.

  • Molly50
    Molly50 Member Posts: 3,008

    Welcome Quirky, so happy you found us. This is an amazing site and this group is like family. I am happy you got good news! It sounds like you have a good BS. Have you met your oncologist yet? Take it easy and best wishes on your continued healing.


    Peggy sending hugs your way.

  • mustlovepoodles
    mustlovepoodles Member Posts: 1,248

    Got word from my BS this morning--clear margins from the re-excision. Yay! The breast seroma is refilling (I can hear it sloshing--so disconcerting!) Pain is minimal now. I'll see the BS tomorrow afternoon to have the seroma reduced again.

    I met with the genetics counselor yesterday. Unfortunately, she really couldn't give me any definitive information regarding treatment, so that left me feeling disappointed. Apparently there just aren't enough studies of PALB2 and Chek2 to make recommendations for someone who already has breast cancer.

    I saw the hem-onc this afternoon. He is pretty funny, which I like--you have to have a pretty wicked sense of humor to work in this field. Just from my history, he doesn't think I have a bleeding disorder. He says the excessive bleeding I had during surgery may be caused by meds that I take for another disorder. If that's the case, the doctor's will just have to figure out how to work around them, because I can't stop the meds, short of a life or death event. Anyway, he ordered an Oncotype (and this may have already been ordered by my BS), plus a boatload of blood tests--15 tubes! I have another appt the end of Sept. to go over the results .

    So, I don't feel like I am one bit closer to knowing what the plan is. I was hoping that by Friday (tomorrow), I would be seeing my BS for the post-op quick & dirty, and then talk about what happens next. After today's appt, I don't think that's going to happen. It appears that this will drag on and on and on and on, endlessly. (Oh, I know it will resolve sooner or later, but I'm just feeling rather dramatic tonight.)

    Sigh....I keep having these deep, long sighs come out of my mouth. I think it must be a sign of anxiety. I can stop them if I am paying attention, but someties they just slip out. My DH calls them "significant sighs".

  • pontiacpeggy
    pontiacpeggy Member Posts: 6,338

    Now, I'm older than most of you at 70 and never had curb feelers. HOWEVER, my mother loved having a continental tired kit on the back of her Buick. The driveway up to my high school had about a 2 foot 45° incline. Unless you went at it crosswise, you were guaranteed to drag that continental rear end. And boy did it grate on the nerves!

    Things proceeding slowly with DH. Today he asked the tough question (which he already knew the answer to, anyway): Am I dying. I chose to answer honestly and said, yes, I think you are. If he feels something is left undone that he needs to wind up, then he should know his time is limited.

    We're all doing okay. Just hoping to make his transition as smooth and loving as possible.

    HUGS!

  • pontiacpeggy
    pontiacpeggy Member Posts: 6,338

    Quirky, I think that 4-6 weeks post-op prior to rads is rather normal. Mine was about that. By then it probably won't be uncomfortable holding your arm above your head and things will be fairly settled.

    Poodles, I think you've earned the right to significant sighs. A whole lot of waiting ahead it seems. Nice to know you don't have a bleeding disorder. Amazing you could manage to walk out of the hemo-onc's office after 15 tubes. Pretty draining :) Definitely good to have an oncotype done.

    HUGS!

  • Nash54
    Nash54 Member Posts: 699

    Quirky greats news and welcome to the lounge! 😀

    Mustlovepoodles...so glad you don't have to have re-excision !!!  Sorry things are dragging out for you.  I think all the deep sighs are so you don't explode😏.  Not knowing the next step is excruciating.  

  • mustlovepoodles
    mustlovepoodles Member Posts: 1,248

    Yes ,I think 2 surgeries in 2 weeks is enough for now! And now, in the last 15 min, that seroma has opened up and there is a constant dribble down my side. Yuck!

    Peggy, I think you did the right thing by being honest with your husband. You don't know how many times I have witnessed family members tell their dying loved ones that, no, they're not dying. They just need to hold on. They just need to eat more or drink something. They need to try harder to stay awake, to believe in a miracle, do anything and everything they can to stay in this world. Which, as a nurse, makes me very uncomfortable. People know when they are dying. When I see families doing that song & dance, I just feel sick. I know they feel afraid, that by admitting that their loved one is dying they are giving up hope and somehow betraying their loved one and themselves. But it's my opinion that honesty is the best policy, for everyone. You have proven to your husband that he can trust you to be strong for him. By being honest with your husband, he knows he can say the things he wants and needs to say. Or he can choose to say nothing more because he's already said it all. Be strong now. Be kind to yourselves now. It isn't easy for the family to have to sit at the bedside of one who is dying. You are in my prayers and thoughts tonight.

  • Sweetmamaj
    Sweetmamaj Member Posts: 174

    Nash....I like your point about exploding! Poodles description of her sighs sound like some of my epic sighs--which I call my "slow leaks!" --otherwise I just might explode! :)

  • pontiacpeggy
    pontiacpeggy Member Posts: 6,338

    Poodles, thank you. I think the hospice nurse was rather surprised how I answered DH, not that she thought I was wrong. DH knows he is dying, he understood that when HE decided for hospice. And a couple days ago he said he wasn't "quite ready" to let go. I will say this, he does not always remember things (heart attack screwed his short term memory), especially things he doesn't want to remember (don't do this or don't do that, always do this - not gonna remember that), so he may have not remembered. But I don't think that was the case. And as you said, it is unfair. If there is something that he feels he needs to do (even just enjoying having the boys and me surrounding him), then he needs to know it is time to do it.

    The support I've gotten here has been amazing. I know many of you have walked this path and that it is different for each of us But it is nice to know we are on the right road to handling this. I'm so glad we have the support of the hospice team.

    HUGS!!

  • queenmomcat
    queenmomcat Member Posts: 2,020

    As with determining treatment for breast cancer, there is not always one right answer. Often there's only what you can live with.

  • BT828
    BT828 Member Posts: 29

    Amen to that QMC!

    Been thinking about you all day Peggy. It could be awhile so get your rest along the way.


  • plumster1
    plumster1 Member Posts: 100
    Hi all- just wanted to check in. I have been following everything going on in the lounge. I haven't had a ton of time to comment. But wanted everyone to know I have been cheering you, chuckling with you, welcoming you, and thinking of you all!!! Xo
  • octogirl
    octogirl Member Posts: 2,434

    Peggy, you have been in my thoughts during this time. I would have answered hubby the same way, and I think he would have appreciated it. You will be strong with your family with you. SENDING HUGS!!!!

    Today was Day One post chemo. I walked a mile and a half this am, put in a full day at work, so far no real issues. Other than the fact that I can't sleep (the steroids)...so expecting a crash just in time for the weekend.

    xoxox to all of you

    Octogirl

  • pontiacpeggy
    pontiacpeggy Member Posts: 6,338

    Octogirl, good for getting that first chemo out of the way and managing to do a good walk and even work! Sorry that sleep seems elusive. Hope you finally were able to catch a few zzz's! Try to rest over the weekend even if you don't sleep. There's a whole lot going on in your body so rest is good. Keep your eye on the goal and tell that chemo mix to KILL CANCER!

    Thanks again for the encouraging words. The boys and I are feeling rather depleted emotionally. I felt it would be wrong to lie to DH, too.

    HUGS!

  • octogirl
    octogirl Member Posts: 2,434

    got a whole whole five hours sleep....Peggy, I hope you got your share of rest too. Don't forget to go outside and listen for the (((((Hugs))))!

    Octogirl