Lumpectomy Lounge....let's talk!
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I buy earplugs by the jar-ful! Never go anywhere w/o at least one pair in my purse. Healing thoughts for niece’s ankle (RICE*, RICE, baby).
*Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. The cast takes care of the ice & compression, but the other two are just as important.
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Michelle, sorry about your niece and lack of rest
I've done the grocery shopping and the guys are here to install a humidifier on my furnace - something that is quite rare in Spokane. Wednesday they start putting in LOTS of lights in the ceiling - YES!! Thursday is my first Dexascan since I started Anastrozole (I had one prior to starting) two years ago.HUGS!
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Thank you all . My boy is very handsome and sweet! He is doing better today but still very weak and coughs for long periods, poor guy.
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I am really blaming myself for having bc. I took progesterone at age 38, after my daughter was born at 37. My body stopped making it. My mom had a similar situation, except that her doctors let her go into a menopausal state at 36. I took it for many years and had regular cycles. If I did this to myself, I will be so sad. My endocrine doctor wanted me on progesterone to prevent endometrial hyperplasia. Should I have said something in my 40's? Looking back now being in my early 50's, I wonder, "how I could be so oblivious?"
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Michelle, stop blaming yourself. You don't know what caused your cancer and your doctor was doing the best he could.
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Michelle, you got breast cancer because you have breasts and got older (lifetime risk till age 80 is 1 in 8, increasing with age). Nobody can pin down a cause other than that. Other factors only increase chances but are not necessarily causational: estrogen exposure over your lifetime (and mostly endogenous, i.e., produced by your body), heredity & ethnicity (most breast cancers are not hereditary and not all genetic mutation carriers will develop breast cancer), etc. Basically the main reason is........shit happens.
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Well, I hate shit happening, Sandy. I still am in shock that it happened to me. I accept that I have bc, but cannot line it up in my head as to how it happened. Being a person of logic and methods, I just did not see it coming.
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I too am an empiricist, Michelle. I figured that since my Framingham score was so low (i.e., very little heart attack/stroke risk over 10 yrs), something was gonna get me eventually. It gets everyone. Life'll kill ya (apologies to Warren Zevon). And Stage 1A at 65 beats the crap out of COPD or CHF at any age. (Watched that happen to my mom over 20 yrs., and I don't recommend it).
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Michelle, I figure stressed caused mine. Was there anything I could do about the stress? No. I was caring for DH and that was what I wanted to do (and had to do). I had a couple years of HRT. Did that matter? Who knows? Like Sandy said, Shit happens. Very few of us can pinpoint what causes our BC. So we just muddle forward and treat it and try to live a pretty good lifestyle and hope that does the trick. Don't go look backward and say "if only I'd done this or not done that" - you can't change the past but you can drive yourself crazy. And to what end? None. That's why we say when you make a treatment decision about your BC, never look back. You do what is right at the time with the information you have. No one can do more. You did what was right for you after your daughter was born. It may not have a thing to do with your BC. I recommend shutting the door on those thoughts. Lots less stress.
HUGS!
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Pain Three months after lumpectomy. I had a lumpectomy on June 28. I recovered very quickly. The scar of my incision looks good and I've had no problems. Prior to my surgery I slept on my ride side (my incision side). After my surgery I tried to avoid my sleeping on my ride side, however, once I'm asleep I can't not control what side I end. For the last week I have been waking up with a shooting pain below my incision site. Has anyone experienced this before. Any suggestions on how to prevent? Thanks for the help.
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Briannek, Welcome! Sorry that you're and glad you found us! You haven't made your profile public so I don't know if you had SLNB. I find that my "bad" side has been re-arranged somehow and I have to regularly stretch all those muscles or they annoy me. Sometimes a pain, mostly discomfort. But stretching helps me. Usually when I do have pain it is on the side of my breast, my side, even my back. It's all weird. Someone may be answer your question more specifically.
Do help us help you by filling out your profile and making it public. Also we'd love to know where you are located. We are EVERYWHERE
HUGS!
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It has been one month and ten days since I was diagnosed and three weeks since my surgery. I cannot express how important you are to me, girls. Sandy, Peggy, IHGJan, TBlanche, Dara, Elizabeth, BeeBazBoobs (herein I am calling you Boobs), and Molly. You girls are my Rose, Sophia, Blanche and Dorothy online!! Thank you so much. If I have forgotten anyone I apologize. Never in one million years would I have thought I would have cancer. I feel like there should be a breast cancer's anonymous. Hi, my name is Michelle, and I have abnormal cells.
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Michelle, I think each of us has discovered how important the ladies here are. They have been my lifeline. While I did have questions (and got answers) on BC, I had so much support during DH's last year, supporting me when I decided to put him in a nursing home, and holding my hand (virtually) during his last days. This group is priceless and worth its weight in gold. I am so thankful I found it and the wonderful women here - some of whom I've been lucky enough to meet in real life.
HUGS!
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Briannek_ so sorry you are having that pain, but, yes, I think it happens. My BS actually told me to massage the breast and scar area, daily, to help the nerves regenerate and reconnect. She said to do it for at least a total of a year after lx. I'm doing it and it has helped! Hope you can get relief...hugs!
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Michelle- it can be mind boggling to think about having BC and to try to figure out the "why"...there just isn't any one reason. Give yourself a break and know that the thing to focus on now is dealing with it and enjoying your life. This group is great...glad you are here!
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Brienne, yes those zingers hurt for sure. If the pain gets too much to tolerate please call your breast surgeon. ((((Michelle))) Even with my family history I never saw this coming. I'm too busy for cancer! This group is such a blessing.
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I hear you (((((((((((( MOLLY ))))))))))).
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Michelle, my sister was the first in my family, so i thought since i didn't have children, i wouldn't get it.. i always thought it would be heart or lung issues... but like everyone else... got that 'you have BC' call... and now that i have it just want to finish what needs to be done and get past it.
and i saw my MO today.. he is doing a oncotype dx and will let me know what it shows.. he said i could have chemo, rads, and hormone therapy... or no chemo... great choice.. and i see my RO thursday..
my brother has copd and chf as well as gene that blocks iron and leukemia and he went in this morning with another heart attack.. did find out his potassium level was too high, but the medicine he was supposed to take a few weeks ago he just started taking and it was a potassium sparing diuretic.. anyway, they are keeping him overnight and stopping the medicine so he should be ok by tomorrow..
Peggy, and everyone else not mentioned... I too am so glad I found this site... it's been invaluable and i don't think i would have done as well without everyone of you
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Judy, keeping your brother in my thoughts. I'll bet it is really tricky balancing all the meds he needs to take so they don't counteract each other. Hope he comes home soon. Glad it's looking positive. Happy we've been able to help you. That's what we want to do.
HUGS!
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IHGJAnn49, You are not alone. My MO is running an oncotype test as well. I just want to get the radiation over with because it is 16 days with 4 days of booster. I could have that done before oncotype results are back. But, none the less, we are in a holding pattern until results are final. Just knowing we are not facing this alone, and that we will be okay, is enough reassurance. I wonder how many lumpectomies are done in the US every year, how many are doing radiation treatments, how many are doing chemo?
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Hugs, Judy & Michelle! I was told I had to wait until I had both my genetic and OncotypeDX results back before starting radiation: had I been BRCA-1 or 2+, I’d have been looking at a BMX; and had I scored >intermediate risk on the ODX and opted for chemo, that is done before radiation. It was also explained to me that were I to go ahead with radiation and then get a genetic test result for which MX was indicated, the only type of reconstruction that can be done on an irradiated breast is autologous (DIEP, Lat, TRAM etc.). So it’s frustrating to have to wait, but better sure than sorry.
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Michelle, you can almost make yourself dizzy thinking about all of it... Well praying we all have low scores...
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Definitely VERY LOW scores, Judy & Michelle. Like Sandy, said, you need that Oncotype result before proceeding with any other treatment. Fingers crossed!
HUGS!
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Judy and Michelle - sending you hugs and wishes for low scores!
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Judy, I am sorry about your brother. I hope he recovers quickly.
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Thanks, girls!!! Praying for all women waiting to hear diagnosis, scores, treatments that will sustain them and shore them up for the future.
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This is my first post though I joined this site soon after my initial diagnosis. I had a lumpectomy on July 22 of this year. I developed a seroma which I've had to get aspirated x5 now. I finally stopped working on September 1 and am home resting. I thought it would be enough to not be working and not deal with that stress and continue with light duties around the house, however I had to go get it aspirated once more last Friday. Since then, I've been doing nothing other than elevating my arm, watching TV and reading. I've missed 2 support group meeting because of the sermon and pain. I've also missed going to a local breast cancer organization which provides exercise and other classes for patients with breast cancer. I haven't been able to participate so far due to this pain. I do have pain medication which help but I am wondering if there is something more I can do to help the seroma resolve? Do many people have this have this complication?This is the second time a medical issues has knocked me on my butt- the first was in 2007 when I fell down a flight of stairs and had a compound fracture of both the bones in my lower leg. I had many complications from this one of which necessitated me having muscle removed from my back to use as a graft on my leg. The muscle tissue removed was my latissimus muscle - from the left side- same side as lumpectomy. I'm wondering if the previous trauma to the area is potentially complicating my healing from this surgery? I keep meaning to ask the surgeon but I've been in so much pain when I see him again that I forget to ask.
I am a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner- this has been tough on me physically but emotionally as well. I'm thankful for this organization- since i've not been able to leave the house much yet and develop connections with other breast cancer people, I'm hoping this will help.
Thank you,
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Shumba, seromas are very common. How the Breast Surgeon (BS) treats them differs from surgeon to surgeon. I developed a seroma and my skin turned a little red. The school of thought where I live is that you don't drain a seroma ever after a lumpectomy. You have to give it time on its own to heal and harden. The hardened area will break down as you go. But, seromas really depend on how much tissue was taken out, compared to the amount of skin covering the area. If the tissue is much smaller than the skin, the tissue will cause a seroma to form to fill the void. How large was your mass that your surgeon removed and how much skin did they take? How did your surgeon wrap you after surgery? My BS personally wraps all of her patients tight with about 5 yards of fabric. You have to stay in that bandage for three days following surgery and then shower. I had very little pain and swelling due to the tight wrap. Right now I am wearing two walmart genie type bra's for support. Keeping compression on the breast does not allow it to freely swell and create pockets of fluid.
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Shumba, sorry to hear what you’re going through. Is the seroma in your tumor cavity or at the sentinel node biopsy site (or did you have an axillary node dissection)? How many nodes did they have to remove? It’s possible that when your lat was removed some lymph nodes may have been compromised as well.
I still have a tumor cavity seroma that swelled and got fibrosed during & for awhile following radiation, but it’s shrinking and the fibrosis has softened. It’s asymptomatic and keeping me symmetrical, but my BS wants to keep tabs on it every 6 mos. via mammo to make sure it’s behaving itself. I did have a relatively large seroma at my SNB site--I had only 2 nodes “light up” as sentinels but they had to take the 2 “hitchhikers” that were hanging on to them. (All 4 negative). The seroma grew to the size of a large tangerine/small orange before the incision (only steri-stripped) burst 3 wks post-op. The BS’ NP wanted to just pack the wound and let it “heal from the inside” but I refused to walk around with a gaping hole in my pit for weeks. The BS’ partner was on duty that day and agreed to suture it, saying that because the breast was so big & heavy its weight pulled the incision open. He expressed about another cupful of fluid out before suturing it, and it resolved on its own. I’d asked about draining it, and he and the NP felt that could lead to infection at worst and spontaneous refilling at best.
Have they mentioned the possibility of using a wound vac? Several here have used them for poorly-healing wounds after mastectomy or infections.
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Hi ladies
Well the waiting continues called my MO office this am Ki-67 results are back but they will not give me the results I have an appointment with the MO on Thursday and she will give me results. I argued with the nurse but according to her only the MO can give me the results and in her mind 2 days is not that long to wait she seemed to think the 2 weeks of waiting I have l ready endured was not that bad !
I m fuming I am 60 years old not a child it was my test on my tumor and the waiting has me so stressed out and I hate being treated like a child nurse says I could give you the results but I would not be able to explain what the results mean. I told her that I would know but she still refused. So 2 more sleepless nights before I know the answer to the Chemo question.
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