Lumpectomy Lounge....let's talk!
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Poodles, How awful!!! I'm so glad you're home and not throwing up anymore. That had to have hurt. Do you think the pain meds were the main problem? I hope you're a bit more comfortable. Your DH has been such a rock for you. I hope dinner stays happily in your tummy. Try to rest and please hurry and feel better!
HUGS!!
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Yum! My friend had chicken parmigiana, spaghetti, and a big Mediterranean salad delivered. I didn't think I was all that hungry but I managed to eat a half of chicken breast, about 2 TBS of spaghetti, and a 1/2 cups of salad. Now I am fat and happy~!
Peggy, I think the Morphine drip is what made me so sick. I had the same reaction after my BMX, and I suspect that I was on Morphine that time, as well. My mother, grandmother, and one of my sisters gets very sick when they take Morphine, as well.
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Poodles, so glad you were able to eat and have it settle peacefully. I'd say that you and morphine should avoid each other. Is that possible?
HUGS!
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Yeah, I can take oxycodone (Percocet) orally and Dilaudid IV. I think I will request a Dilaudid pain pump next time.
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That sounds like a really good idea, Poodles. At least there are drugs you CAN take!
HUGS!
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I.V. Morphine & I have never gotten along. It didn’t nauseate me (general anesthesia did for a little while), but after a day on it after my orthopedic surgeries it would make my limbs suddenly jerk violently, sometimes waking me from my nap. I did better on oral Opana (hydromorphone BID) but weaned off it once discharged from rehab.
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That's funny Grazy! Thank you for letting me know. I won't demand my password when I see the MS on Tuesday!!!
Poodle, that sounds awful! I'm sorry you had such a hard time. Glad you are on the mend now.
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Poodles, I'm sorry you had such a bad time after your surgery... I didn't get sick, but have bleeding problems and the dr. had to come in and cauterize everything... the nurses kept changing me and not notifying him.. he was furious, but cauterizing the area took care of it.. My DH came but fell asleep, and when I went home I had to take him to the hospital where he stayed a week with pancreatitis.. always something around the corner... pray it's a good corner..
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Poodles, that sounds terrible, I am so sorry you had this. Pain and vomiting is a horrible combination, and so worrying for your DH as well.
I have the opposite reaction to opiates (though I've only had them orally, never IV) When I had a really bad tooth abscess, I asked the pharmacist for the strongest OTC painkiller I could get, and got a high-dose codeine combo. When I got to the dentist a couple of days later and told him they hadn't touched the pain, he said people have hugely different reactions to opiates, and not everyone processes it, and it was something which could be a problem if I ever needed major surgery. So I should have stuck to the ordinary stuff like Tylenol and Advil.
I tried the Oramorph they gave me after the lumpectomy, mostly hoping it would give me a good night's sleep, but it didn't have any effect as a painkiller and it didn't make me sleepy, just a bit spaced out in a not good way.
My son also has no reaction to opiates, my husband and daughter are both knocked out cold, and often have vomiting as well.
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prayers for you.
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Dizzybee, Your fears are certainly not unfounded...I would be saying worse than
"damn", I kid you not! But investigating is the right thing to do and it is the truly
"courageous" thing to do for yourself, regardless of the outcome. And it could
be just break-through bleeding post-menopausally or polyps; let's keep our
fingers crossed. As for the moles on your back or elsewhere, they could be just
spots of seborrheic keratosis; your dermatologist can easily destroy those and if
there is something more suspiscious, it can certainly be biopsied. I can understand
without a doubt how you feel....sometimes I feel that if it were not for bad luck somedays
I would have none at all, but better days somehow seem to be just around the corner or we
discover that they are right in our own backyard. I am having a bilateral mastectomy on
November 1st and I fully realize the scope of my cancer objectively as a nurse and know
what needs to be done, but it sure doesn't make it any easier. BIG HUGS FOR YOU.
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Poodles, so glad you are now home and able to both sleep and eat a little! I have the same reaction to morphine, and even avoid oxy after surgery. I usually just stick with Norco. I hope you continue to feel better every day.
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Dizzybee, Your fears are certainly not unfounded...I would be saying worse than
"damn", I kid you not! But investigating is the right thing to do and it is the truly
"courageous" thing to do for yourself, regardless of the outcome. And it could
be just break-through bleeding post-menopausally or polyps; let's keep our
fingers crossed. As for the moles on your back or elsewhere, they could be just
spots of seborrheic keratosis; your dermatologist can easily destroy those and if
there is something more suspiscious, it can certainly be biopsied. I can understand
without a doubt how you feel....sometimes I feel that if it were not for bad luck somedays
I would have none at all, but better days somehow seem to be just around the corner or we
discover that they are right in our own backyard. I am having a bilateral mastectomy on
November 1st and I fully realize the scope of my cancer objectively as a nurse and know
what needs to be done, but it sure doesn't make it any easier. BIG HUGS FOR YOU.
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mustlovepoodles, It is truly a small world !!! My oldest son graduated from UWA in
2002 and then went on to Auburn to finish his engineering degree. And it's funny
that one of the surgeons here in Huntsville, who is a urologist is from Troy....aka
LA (Lower Alabama) LOL
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Poodles, I am glad that you are doing better. There seems to be a lot of women
who cannot tolerate morphine; my mom was allergic to it (horrible rash) and I
could not tolerate it when I had my hysterctomy in 1989 ( I know, I'm three days
older than dirt). It made me nauseated, restless and caused hallucinations and did
nothing at all for the pain. My OBGYN had it DC'd and put me on Demerol IM q3 to 4 hours
for pain for the first few days and oh what a difference. I do very well with Dilaudid and/or
Demerol with a "phenergan chaser" post-operatively. I am hoping this will be the case on
November the 1st when I finally undergo bilateral mastectomy even though I have a high
threshold for pain, when I need something I want it to work.
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As a retired nurse, we were always so thankful and appreciative when our patients sent gifts.
Sisters in breast cancer,
Debbie
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B"H
MUSTLOVEPOODLES - thinking of you, may you have a swift recovery. sounds awful, but hopefully now you are on the mend. HUGS
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Dizzybee, do you have a sweet tooth? Reason I ask is that when after my left knee replacement I mentioned to my PT that I was easily satisfied by just one kids’-size scoop in the rehab center’s ice cream parlor, he told me not to get too cocky about assuming my tastes and discipline had turned a corner. He said that the endorphins released in reaction to sugar and opioids compete for the brain’s endorphin receptors (hence the buzz that accompanies the pain relief) and once I’ve weaned off them, those endorphin receptors are going to go back to craving sweets. But some people can take sweets or leave them, suggesting their need for endorphins (or ability to release them) is greatly reduced—and I’m guessing that opioid painkillers do little for their pain, in comparison to non-narcotic analgesics which work via a different pathway.
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Hey Ladies,
I have named my disease, the www disease. The wait, wait, and wait. Also could be for the internet, since I have blown my computer up doing research. I think God is teaching me the art of being patienthe
Your breast cancer sister,
Debbie..
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I am now waiting on the oncotype results, hope to know next week.
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thanks Hammer. One more AC to get thru (and prob another hospital visit with my hyponatremia), then the taxol journey starts on 11/10. Ugh.
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KD, hang in there. Keep reminding yourself only one more AC to get thru before Taxol. Only positive is that you absolutely know what to look for when reacting to it and can get to the ER quickly before things escalate.
Sandy, that's a very interesting thought on sweets and opioids. As far as I know I haven't had opioids. I really don't have much of a sweet tooth though I do eat sweets. I'm not a sit down and eat the whole carton of ice cream person. When I crave chocolate, I'm satisfied by 3 or 4 small chocolate covered pretzels or 1 square of Godiva chocolate. Now if we were talking popcorn drenched in butter - forget it. I have to eat the whole damned bowl. I pop my own since I really don't like salty popcorn. I put maybe 10 grains of salt on mine sometimes, others, not at all.
HUGS!
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I just bought a microwave popper, and figure if I want to use it I’ll buy a couple of scoops of popping corn from WF’s bulk bins. (Have an ancient jar of White Cat Corn, and I doubt if it’ll pop). More economical than buying the individual bags of Skinny Pop (I tend to eat my way through a regular bag). If I fill the popcorn bowl, I eat it all (same thing with prepacked microwave popcorn), so if I make just enough to fill my smallest mixing bowl I’ll be fine. I discovered butter-flavored salt, so I don’t have to use actual butter.
I’m not an eat-the-whole-carton ice cream eater either. I don’t know how anyone gets through a whole pint without retching. For me, one small scoop of each flavor gelato or sorbetto in the freezer (I usually keep three on hand) is plenty (and sufficiently guilt-inducing). When we go out for dinner, I don’t even get dessert—unless they have good berries or a cheese plate to accompany what’s left in my wine glass. My carb-Waterloo lately has been WF’s in-house-made tortilla chips—better than commercial or even the baskets of chips they put out when we sit down in Mexican restaurants. So I ordered a microwave chip maker so I can nuke my own sweet potato chips, supplemented by the kale and nori snacks in the cupboards.
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Sandy and Peggy, I'm that way too... eat all the popcorn, but can take or leave the sweets.. I didn't think of making chips, but that sounds like a great idea.. I like sweet potato fries, haven't tried them in chips, but would taste about the same.. I've been a week ahead of myself, thought this week was Nov... and it's not for another week... it's the waiting thing again... want to get it started, but glad insurance is kicking in on the 1st so it will be covered
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Tatatootsie & Twinsmawmaw, I know what you mean. I've been a nurse 39 years. Sometimes that's a good thing and sometimes not. I feel a little better today. Only need a Percocet about every 8 hours now. I might be able to go longer, but I find that I'm not able to walk easily after 8 hours. It really helps me sleep well, too. So glad we have a recliner.
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Sandy, I have a top of the stove popper. I use very little oil (like that makes a difference when I use a half stick of butter!). I don't particularly care for the butter-flavored salt. But whatever works. I buy jars of popcorn and generally pop 2-3 tablespoons of the yummy stuff. Tortilla chips are good! I have some in Halloween colors made by Xochitl. In Michigan I could get that brand with no salt but here haven't seen it. They also do plain and Christmas colored ones. DS and I did Mexican last night and they had great tortilla chips. I never thought of making chips either. Let me know how that works out. I haven't shopped at WF in years. And there isn't one in Spokane. TJ's is quite enough for me.
Judy, I know what you mean about being a week ahead of yourself. It's easy to lose track of time. Another week and you'll be sailing through your rads with your new insurance! Treat yourself to a big bowl of popcorn!
HUGS!
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I like TJs, except for the fact that so much of its fresh stuff is prepacked and you can’t buy only what you need (hiring personnel to, say, cut a smaller wedge of cheese or sell just a couple of tomatoes, would require raising the low prices for which they’re known). And whereas the closest TJ’s is 4 miles away in Evanston, Whole Paycheck is around the corner & across the street.
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Poodles, thank heavens you are feeling better. Now let's get you to feeling great. Painkillers are wonderful when they work. Keep right on using them so you can heal. Recliners are definitely a plus!
Sandy, TJ's is less than 10 minutes away. I don't buy produce there, just novelty items (esp. the dark chocolate crisps that look like Pringles - OMG! - KatzPJays brought some when she visited). I do not have ANY store of ANY kind in a block or 2. Closest is 3 minutes. Apparently no business is allowed near me.
HUGS!
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ChiSandy, I have a really sweet tooth and poor impulse control, which is why I have clothes in at least three different sizes. And sweet things are a real mood changer for me. Things always look better after chocolate or a dessert. So sugar definitely raises my endorphins, and a glass of wine is just the cherry on top. I've needed anti depressants in the past, and I know that wine and chocolate are an alternative form of self medicating for me. I had both fairly well under control until this BC ride began, but now it's a struggle again.
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Poodles, I used 600 mg ibuprofen in between percocet and eventually just the ibuprofen. Since I had repairs done with my hysterectomy I was in loads of pain. Have you checked out Hystersisters?
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