Lumpectomy Lounge....let's talk!
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Rita, my wire was done immediately before surgery right in the cancer center - just had to go upstairs.
HUGS!
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Pontiac-I wish that was my case too. For some reason my surgery hospital doesn't have the ability to do the wire procedure
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That's a bummer, Rita. I was very happy that I had a cancer center only 10 minutes away. It is where I went for my mammograms (after Dx) and Dexascan. My MO was located in that building. All of the services I needed were on the hospital's campus (cancer center was separate from the hospital).
HUGS!
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Molly, I feel the same way. I come to this thread because I know it to be a safe place for me. I can get all the politics I want by looking at Facebook--OMG, my family and friends are losing their minds! It would be nice if we could all hold hands and sing Kumbayah, but that's a tricky-tricky thing. Politics is just one of those subjects that I find very personal and I am uncomfortable even talking about it with my family, let alone strangers. It's right up there with sex, spanking, music, and breast-feeding, all topics guaranteed to light up the internet. And that's not what I need from this particular thread.
There are already several threads going about how the recent election might affect the ACA, among other political things. I fear that if we take up that gauntlet here we may inadvertently drive away someone who desperately needs the kind of care and diversity this thread has to offer.
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Poodles, oh that's right, someone (Molly?) did mention the ACA thread. That definitely is the appropriate place for that discussion. Although I do disagree with you on discussing sex here. It is a valid concern and has been tastefully (and helpfully) discussed on this thread. I feel very safe here discussing most any part of my life. But not politics. I don't discuss them with most people.
HUGS!
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Rita, don't let others guilt-trip you into anything! A lot of people don't really know what a lumpectomy/SNB is, so they have unrealistic ideas about how you should react. Here are some comments that I have heard (directed at me or others):
"It's just an out-patient surgery, right? It can't be too big a deal, if you're not even staying overnight."
"It's just a lump, not your whole breast! Stop being dramatic!"
"Sigh... You don't even have cancer anymore. They took out the lump, okay?! You just want to be the center of attention all the time."
Or my personal favorite: "Your so lucky. You're gonna get a free boob job outta this!"
The truth, and you all know this, is that lumpectomy is still major surgery. Your recovery will be fast or slow depending on how much tissue was removed, how difficult the surgery was to perform, your response to anesthesia, and your general health. I was very surprised that I had difficulty recovering from my LX--I never expected to have any complications. I had no idea fatigued I would be and how sore that SNB site would be. And then I had to have re-excisions to get clean margins--once again, had complications. It was definitely NOT smooth sailing for me, although it is for others.
Rita, I recommend that you ask your BS their opinion about the Thanksgiving trip. I was very surprised when I asked mine how long I should take off work--thinking maybe 3 days, right? She looked at me like I had lost my mind. She strongly suggested taking a full week, with an option for 2 if I needed it. And she was right. I needed the extra time, every bit of it.
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LOL, Peggy, I don't have any problem with OTHER people discussing sex here. I just don't plan to discuss MY sex life.
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Poodles, LOL. It is all rather academic for me - I don't have one. But I pay attention in case I might have one someday.
HUGS!!
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Thank you, Poodles. I feel validated, and I haven't even had the surgery Yet!
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I don't feel this is the forum for sex either, Peggy. If a newbie wandered in here, it would be off putting. I was not discussing politics, but sharing my fear. If anyone read my earlier posts, I was contemplating a hysterectomy. I have perfectly good, actually fabulous working ovaries and uterus. My fear is that bc is a major pre-existing condition and an expensive one. I am trying to decide what impact that will have on me in the future.
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poodles, when you posted, all I saw were the words sex and spanking next to each other, and my mind went right to the gutter lol!
Rita, you won't know until after the surgery how you will feel. It is different for everybody. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best was my motto. I rebounded quickly, but the sentinel node site, that was the worst. It hurt FOREVER, everything rubbed it wrong, and it twinged, etc. the incision where the lumpectomy was done never even hurt. The lumpectomy site was sore and I sloshed like I had a bottle of water in there, but nothing like the sentinel node site. But I could have done a 3 and 1/2 hour road trip pretty quickly. Walk, drink, eat protein. Whatever you can do. I did a lot of fist pumping, like sticking my arm out and clenching and unclenching my fist to stimulate fluid flow.
Been on the phone off and on all day with nurses, and yelling at my father to eat! Finally got him to eat a three musketeers bar and drink a strawberry boost, and a promise he would keep it up. His arm and hand are swelled up huge with cellulitis and he feels terrible. Cat scratch got him, so I guess it is being called cat scratch disease. It's like as our parents get older, they have to be treated like little kids again. I said how are you going to heal without nutrition?
Funny how in a crisis I come here and start babbling. Xoxo to all
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Michelle, the treatments that we receive for our BC can impact our sexual experiences. And this forum is the safest and most welcoming place to discuss those issues - vaginal dryness, e.g. I would never want to cut off that discussion. I certainly understand why you brought up health insurance - that is a hugely valid concern. Good luck with your very tough decision
HUGS!
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Teresa, that's because we totally understand what you are going through and we are your friends. I know how many things I've written about here that weren't about BC per se. The gals here have come through for me every time. I'm glad you got your father to eat. That's nasty about how your Dad got that cellulitus.
HUGS!
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So, Peggy, this is the appropriate forum for discussion of health care coverage concerns? I could care less who believes in what party, but I do care about my health coverage. I defer to you and ChiSandy who has been here the longest. If not appropriate I can go somewhere else. But, it is really bothering me.
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hi RIta: yes it's a two day thing on the 16th of Nov i get wire placement at 2:00 pm then return on the 17th at 6:30 am for the lumpectomy. It's ok tho - tho i admit i am a little scared of the wire thingy. Ah well forward and onward
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Michelle, I have no problem discussing your health insurance here. Molly mentioned that there is an ACA thread on BCO. You might check it out too.
Miko, I was unhappy at having to have a wire locator done since I'd had a really bad experience about 10 years prior. However, this time was okay. Still scary but it quite doable. Lidocaine is your friend
HUGS!
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ooooo tyty Peg
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Just a little fun note... went out today and we bought a new car. So fun to do something totally normal with nothing to do with drs, bc, or treatments! I had my other car for 10 years and it was so fun to get a new one! Got a 2016 Toyota Highlander with all the bells and whistles. Very fun!
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Dara, congrats on the new car! I have a Toyota Venza, but have been looking at the Highlander. Very nice vehicle. Enjoy!
Miko, I didn't have any trouble with the wire locator. It is very small diameter. They wound it up and taped it to my side after insertion. I got it same day, but had to walk from one end of the big hospital in Indianapolis to the surgery center. I didn't have any pain, just felt pressure. Sending you positive vibes as you wait.
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Dara, so happy you got your new car! Now enjoy it
Hugs!
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I am in a fashion show, coming up in December. That is going to be fun!! It is at a happening art gallery. I come from a very dynamic family, from multiple attorneys, to designers, teachers, and even an up and coming singer. We are mostly self employed, except for my sister and her husband who work at the school district. I really love being self employed, but one downside has been health insurance. In the early 2000's, we had company health insurance through our design and construction business. My nephew was born without fingers and toes, and our health insurance rose accordingly. Since I had postpartum depression in 1998, I had to be careful not to get ridered for a pre-existing health condition. After we disbanded our company health insurance, my husband and two babies went on their own policy. I had to look for a policy that did not rider my condition. I may have seen my prescribing psychiatrist one time per year, but I never knew if I needed more coverage and wanted to be sure that I had it. I was paying $400 just for me, at first, but the year the ACA passed it was going up to $900. That is when I went to the marketplace and found my own, excellent gold plan for around $450. The following year, I added my husband and children to my plan and paid about $900 for everyone. The great thing was, I did not have to worry about having a health condition. I was so thankful to find a policy that did not discriminate against me. Next year will be my 4th year of being on a plan through the marketplace. I always buy the very best, which translates into a higher monthly premium. I was so happy to have such good insurance this year, because my son was injured and required surgery, quickly followed by my diagnosis. My insurance company paid almost 100% of all of our expenses except for the out of pocket and deductible. In total, the insurance paid over $200,000 for all of our surgeries and my radiation.
I will pay a higher premium for next year, which I don't mind, again because I am not ridered. Who knows what the future is going to bring in terms of health care law changes, but what I do know is that it will effect every person. I am giving myself one year to take care of any outstanding health issues and we will see what the ACA provides. I am one of the lucky ones, and have been fortunate in my business dealings. If something happened and it was not covered, I would pay for it. At my age, early 50's, I have a lot of years ahead of me for living. My mom is 88 and takes swim lessons, and my dad passed away at 89. I don't want to pay costs that otherwise would be absorbed by my insurance. Is anyone else in my boat?
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You're part of our BC 'Family' Molly, Always like seeing you here..
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I too had far fewer problems with the lx incision than with the SNB incision. I formed seromas beneath both of them, but the mammary seroma was painless and didn’t make sloshing noises. (After the first couple of radiation sessions, it did make my breast bulge a bit at the sides, so much so that I had to go up a cup size temporarily)! However, the axillary seroma grew to the size of a large tangerine before the incision ruptured, the seroma burst and gushed out about a cupful of blood-tinged fluid. My BS was in the OR that day, so I saw her NP, who told me it had to heal from the inside out and to change dressings several times a day for a few weeks. Nope. Not gonna happen—wasn’t about to walk around with a gaping hole in my pit that would require my full attention, delay radiation and take over my entire autumn. I demanded a second opinion, so my BS’ partner came in, took a look and said “we’d better suture that.” Well, duh. He managed to goosh out another half-cup of bloody fluid (it sounded disgusting, like my cat peeing on the furniture, which was what I’d thought happened when the seroma first burst). He declared that it would never have healed if left open and packed, because it was the weight of my breast that ruptured the incision in the first place. (I asked him if I should have been offered a reduction, and he diplomatically replied, “well, you weren’t my patient”). A week after that I was off to Iowa (drove solo) for a four-day conference.
My NP gave me something she called a P3 (protective pillow purse) the week before surgery. It was made by volunteers from a local N. Shore group called “Protect the Girls” (sadly, no website or FB page). It was a pillow with an adjustable velcro shoulder strap, worn like a purse but between the breast and arm. It had a “kangaroo pocket” that contained a small cushion to slip beneath the seat belt to keep it from hurting the breast. (Because I’m short, it moved the shoulder belt up a couple of inches, causing a red mark that looked embarrassingly like a hickey. Had a lot of ‘splainin’ to do to my husband.
“Onconvenience?” Poodles, I must remember that! Pretty much the story of our lives as bc patients.
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sex and spanking , I saw that too lol. Teresa , I went through the role reversals with my dad when he was alive . Talking about your insurance concerns isn't really political and I understand your worries . I forgot that California has had its own protection for long before ACA . As long as you get new insurance within 30 days of losing your old policy they can't discriminate . There is a lively discussion I have been following about the ACA .
Thanks , ladies . I don't want to hang around if it's going to keep someone from getting support.
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Dara... Congrats on the new car ...nothing like feeling normal for a day!
Miko..I did fine with my wires 2 days ago ..just awkward as the tech, Dr. & I all hugged close to the mammogram machine as he inserted the wires. But then t traveled to the hospital and waited a couple hours for surgery with no pain.
Teresa..sorry about your dad.
I know I am a newbie on this site and I have so appreciated all of you ladies but politics is not something I like to discuss at all.
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Should also mention that instead of a wire localization, my hospital (via its breast center) did a radioactive seed placement the morning of surgery—with the lidocaine, it was painless, nothing was sticking out of my breast, and the seed was removed during the lumpectomy.
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I had a titanium clip placed when I had a vacuum biopsy, it was supposed to make placing the wire easy. But on the morning of the op the sonographer spent ages trying to find it and had to give up in the end. So they had to use the mammogram machine, which wasn't set up or calibrated for me, while the surgeon was twiddling his thumbs waiting.
I think most of the tumour must have been very deep as they had a lot of trouble biopsying it, kept getting inadequate samples with the stereotactic core biopsy, and then couldn't find the clip with ultrasound. But the surgeon told me he was going back to the chest wall now I think about it.
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There seems to be a bit of variance with the hookwire procedure. I went to the radiologist at 7am (and ended up with 4 wires because she wasn't happy with the placement of the first two, and no local anaesthetic either!) and then got admitted to hospital at 1:30pm.
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Yikes on doing it 4 times without local Amusing Soprano! That doesn't sound like fun. Sound like a lot of you had trouble or stories at least about your wires. I didn't have one at all, and I'm 99% sure they didn't leave a chip or marker or whatever you call it for when I do radiation in the future.
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No worries, I'll stop posting. I thought this was a place of inclusiveness, not exclusiveness. Best wishes to you all.
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