Lumpectomy Lounge....let's talk!
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Gardennerd, Yes they gave me an infusion of Vancomycin and I was allergic, then I got an infusion of Dalbavancin, and that worked ok, got another one yesterday and it seems to be working. They told me to cancel the mammo til I see my BS on the 13th.. The redness has gone way down and although still painful, it is definitely getting better. It was worrying me because I've never had children, so can be associated with cancer... I'll be glad when it's over...
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Never even thought about taking out the wires. I'll be giving that a shot and increase my wardrobe selection! Several were less than a year old so that was a bummer when they had to be packed away.
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Hi Ladies,
I had my lumpectomy and SNB on 7/5, home resting and doing ok although I am trying to get used to the incision and discomfort of the SNB. I know you have all been there too and that gives me strength to know that will evenpass. I travel constantly for work (usually 2 quick regional jets to get to my destination) and my breast surgeon said I should be fine to fly this Monday. Anyone else fly right away who could share their experiences?
Many thanks and thinking of you all on your journeys.
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Playtex 18-hour and Exquisite Form soft-cups come in up to 44DDD. Avenue carries up to DDD. (That is not the same as F, by the way). I have a 42DDD non-wired Wacoal “awareness" (ugh) bra for which I was fitted before my biopsy. Elila, Glamourise and Goddess make non-wired bras in cups up to K or L. (Elila's is pretty stiff, so you need to wash it a couple of times to soften it). Chantelle also makes soft-cups up to F. Elomi might also have some (though they specialize in underwire). Lane Bryant has Cacique soft-cups in up to 40H.
Leading Lady makes front-close “leisure" or “nursing" (actually, the same thing) bras in bands up to 48 and cups up to F/G/H (they stretch a lot). I wore them for sleep and under housedresses for over a year. They're about $25-30 on BareNecessities, HerRoom, FullBeauty, WomanWithin, or Roaman's websites. To say they’re not very supportive is an understatement, and the profile is anything but flattering; but at least my L breast doesn’t hang nearly to my waist when I wear them. I've been able to stuff myself of late into a 42DDD Playtex front-close sports bra.
I was very lucky in that neither my incisions nor the radiation field were “in the path" of my underwires; and I've been wearing underwires since my late 30s. I was finally fitted properly in 2008 (went from a 44DDD to 38H/I or 40G/H), and I admit I did have to get used to the smaller band and the placement of the side boning at first; but it was the band that bothered me more. I also have very round shoulders and there isn't a bra out there—except a racerback or halter—whose straps don't slip off my shoulders. I've tried all the kludges: the hook-on back straps (they pop off like slingshots at inopportune moments); the round or heart-shaped plastic clips (I can't reach that far behind my back—my arms are too short, and I need someone to do it for me; I can't even lengthen the straps all the way, attach the clip and be able to pull the bra on over my head); those silicone grip pads with slots for the straps to pass through (they end up working their way down and off); or wardrobe tape (I get blisters from the friction). Only blouses or dresses with built-in snap-on strap holders work, and life is too short for me to install them in all my clothes.
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cc2016 - after treatment, its been my belief its all a matter of comfort. Its interesting that you comment about the pricing. I thought the pricing was ridiculous for a large breasted woman. So guess we all have a problem with the pricing. I would think whatever you feel comfortable with would be just fine. Myself personally, since 40H, I prefer an underwire sports bra for the support . . . There are limited style choices so for me the idea of just having a decent bra that supports is good. Wear what makes you feel good!!!
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VS apparently thinks that everyone who shops their wants their boobs pushed up & smushed together.
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Just popped back in. Judy, I'm so sorry for the infection! Hope you respond quickly to treatment and get to feeling better soon.
Hi Molly! Hope you're surviving this heat out here. Friday DH and I were driving near home and the car gauge registered 114! I'm just staying inside! Too hot even for the pool.
Poppy, I found my lx scar has almost disappeared after radiation. I still have a pretty good scar by lymph node incision, but it curves and just fades into the arm pit area. It's minor and inconsequential for me at this point.
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Sandy, Not only does VS smush you together but now they feel that everyone who is an A aspires to be a DDD. I don't mind some padding but I really do like bras that don't have any.
BTW, it's easy to take out the wires - at least in the VS bras. A little nick in the fabric on the underarm side of the bra and work the wire out carefully. Worth it!!! Try it on a bra you don't particularly care about first for practice (I didn't do this) if you are concerned about how the wires will come out.
HUGS!
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Well, this week I'm finishing all my 1 year anniversaries. 1 year since I finished rads and then started Tamoxifen. Other than a little tenderness at LX and SNB (underarm still a little numb) and occasional zingers, I mostly feel "normal". But I can't say that I've put BC completely out of my mind. I don't dwell on it, but still there in the back. Anyway, I couldn't have made it here without all of you! Hugs!!
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Blipkitty,
I haven't flown but can relate to your worries about travel. I have to travel about an hour and a half to and from doctor visits. Can you take any ice packs with you? If you can I would. The surgery center gave me a heart shaped pillow to use under my arm for comfort and that has helped. Remember to take pain relief medicine with you. Have a safe trip.
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I used to wonder why the heck after a couple of wearings, the wires would poke through Wacoal bras—they were so expensive (compared to Playtex, Olga, Warner’s, etc.). So after pushing them back in and sewing the casing closed, they’d pop through again, to the point where I would even cushion them with cotton pads, Band-Aids, etc. So I would finally just give up and yank the wires out—then wonder why I wasn’t getting much support. That the cups (DD and then DDD) were too small never occurred to me—except for maternity bras (when I was fitted as a 36F), I had no idea cups were made any bigger than DDD, and I assumed that if they were too small, then I had to go up a band size.
They do make non-wired bras in cups up to K or L—but they are not simply bras without underwires. You will not get much support unless the bra is constructed—and that means seams, inner fabric slings or even light padding—to make up for the absence of wires. And except for the stretchy leisure/sleep bras (which weren’t meant to support, just lift a bit and “contain” the girls and perhaps prevent skin-on-skin contact under the breast), supportive wire-free bras for large breasts will be stiffer than underwired bras. The fabric itself is in large part taking over the underwires’ job. And you will almost certainly be dealing with more hooks (at least four), whether front-or-back fastening. (I have a couple of non-wired soft cup sports bras that fasten in front—with eight hooks).
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Hi gang... have been off this site for awhile. Finished my 6 weeks of radiation. Have been taking Anastrozole for almost 3 weeks now. Minor issues like joint pain and mini hot flashes. But taking supplements that have me in a very good place. I mostly feel like it's all behind me.
My one remaining question is about my arm pit where the nodes were removed. (Clear) I never experienced real pain there and felt very fortunate for that. But my arm pit itself is swollen up like a pillow. Very round. It's been 3.5 months since surgery. I am assuming it will eventually go down. Is there any reason to be concerned?
I wonder if I should ice it
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It’s probably a seroma, especially if that’s where the nodes had been. It will eventually go down. You should be concerned only if it gets hot and red, hurts, or starts to leak. Radiation usually enlarges seromas. Ice will make it feel better but only time will shrink it.
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Thanks Sandy! I was assuming time would take care of it. Good to set my mind at ease. You're the best
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Hi Dara, yikes that's really hot! 90 degrees at 8pm here. Thankfully our new AC unit was installed on Thursday. Congratulations on finishing rads, Robin.
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You’re welcome, Robin. Did they have a bell for you to ring? My axillary seroma, which was the size of a tangerine, had burst three weeks before starting rads, but it was immediately expressed & sutured (I insisted), and healed by the time I “went under the beam.” After rads, it had partly refilled to the size of a walnut, but the incision held; by three months later it was the size of an olive and now it’s gone. OTOH, my mammary seroma started out the size of a golf ball, grew during & after rads to the size of at least a tennis ball (making my boob bulge at the side) and is now smaller than when it started. It is just large enough to make my breast look normally-shaped rather than dented or otherwise deflated.
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Just got back from the MO's office. I knew he had had a test run on my tissue but didn't know which one. Turns out it was a MammaPrint. It came back Low Risk - "97.8% of Low Risk MammaPrint patients who were treated with hormonal therapy alone are living without distant recurrence of breast cancer at 5 years (DMFI - distant metastasis free interval)." So he said unless I'm uncomfortable with that 2%, he sees no need for me to have chemo. Since the report states "no potential significant chemotherapy benefit," I agree!
I also got my DexaScan report. My lumbar spine T-score is -1.8 so I do have osteopenia (WHO guidelines are between -1 and -2.5).
The MO sent in the prescription for my Arimidex. I'll start taking it next week, after I get back from my daughter's. I forgot to ask him about medication to combat bone thinning (Fosamax or Prolia) but I'll see him in a month and can ask him then.
So it's good news for me - I've put the surgery and radiation chapters of the treatment novel behind me and am moving on to the hormonal therapy epilogue. BTW the MO expressed surprise at how red my treated breast is; I told him it's actually faded quite a bit (I finished last Friday) and the rash I had is pretty much gone. I think my skin did very well through the 33 treatments.
Hope everyone else is doing well!
MJ
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MJ, YAY for no chemo! Do something to treat yourself. Sending a happy hug!
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MJ, woo-hoo on the great MammaPrint news! I didn’t get tested beyond OncotypeDX, but my MO told me that adding chemo to letrozole would add only 1% DFS and OS benefit (she failed to mention that the letrozole alone improves my chances by only 2% over saying sayonara to treatment after rads). That 1% is all of six extra months!
How's your femoral neck (hip) score? Mine (-2.1) and my lumbar spine (-1.4) put me into osteopenia territory, but that was before letrozole and an additional 20 mos. on a PPI (which can hinder dietary calcium absorption because the cheaper forms of calcium need sufficient stomach acid). I will see my MO next month, at which time she’ll decide whether to order a repeat DEXA scan before or after my Sept. Prolia shot. The scan will show how much bone loss the AI is causing and how well the Prolia (and the Zometa, which I had 6 mos. earlier) slowed its progress.
Do you have acid reflux? If not, oral bisphosphonates such as generic Fosamax (alendronate) or Boniva (ibandronate) may be all you need—and they're cheaper by far. If you have GERD or ulcers, Zometa infusions or Prolia shots are the way to go. And some research is showing that not only do they work better at keeping osteoporosis at bay, but they also can help delay the onset & progression of bone mets. They do have some very rare but serious side effects the orals don't (horizontal thigh fractures and osteonecrosis of the jaw) and milder and commoner temporary post-infusion/shot reactions (“flu-y" feeling, bone aches), but they don't trash your esophagus the way the orals do.
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Thanks, tbalding and ChiSandy! I don't see my hip score on the report but the lumbar spine number puts me squarely in osteopenia territory. I don't have any problems with acid reflux so I imagine I'll start on oral meds to shore up my bones. I'll ask the MO next month.
I see my surgeon on Thursday for a follow-up visit, then get on a plane to spend the weekend with my grandson (that's my treat!). Can't wait to hang out with him (and my daughter and son-in-law).
MJ
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Weightbearing exercise—especially ballistic like running, jogging, basketball, aerobic dance or jumping rope—“loads” the long bones and stimulates the formation of osteoblasts (“builder” cells). I can’t do that lest I knock my knee implants loose, so I do as much standing & walking as I can (might also add low-implact Zumba if nobody in the class will make fun of my profound klutziness). Calcium supplementation (carbonate, like TUMS, is the cheapest), as well as Vit. D3, Mg, and K2, helps too.
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Thanks, Sandy. I've been going to strength training and mat Pilates classes since last October. A new Zumba instructor is starting at the gym this week so I'll be adding that now for five days of fitness classes. Now that I don't have to spend two hours every day on radiation treatments (mostly on travel), I want to add walking to my regimen (I'm begging my DH to go for walks with me - he usually takes off by himself at a time that's not convenient for me). I've been taking D3 for several years at the suggestion of my PCP; I'm adding calcium now. I've got lots of Tums in the cupboard!
I would really like to lose about 20 pounds but don't seem able to do so. I eat a healthy diet. But after my hysterectomy in 2009, I gained weight and it has remained stagnant.
MJ
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Congratulations MJ on your low score!
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hi, I had a lumpectomy and snb about two and a half weeks ago, and the site feels quite lumpy and hard, not just directly under the scars but between the two scars too. Did anyone else experience this? Not much pain, a bit of numbness and heaviness but hard and lumpy.
Thanks
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Most likely a seroma (or two adjacent ones).
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Woo-hoo, indeed, KB! Great news.
MJ
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KB: Of course you were tense! Pretty much everyone I've talked to winds up before their tests, and that first mammogram, post-treatment, was quite literally a nightmare for me, even though it was NED.
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Yay, KB!
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Tapper - yay for NO chemo!!!! It is no fun, but doable. So happy for you!!
KB - great news on NED! My son had cancer as well .... even 10 years later I get a pit in my stomach when it gets close to his MRI each year. After we hear that he is is still NED, I feel like a limp rag doll after all the built up tension drains out. We call it PMS (preMRI syndrome) ... now we will have preMammo syndrome I guess. Ugh ..... I so hate stupid cancer.
Tbalding - those anniverrsaries are something. I always tell my son that we don't celebrate the day he was dx (would love to forget that day!!), etc. BUT we do celebrate that he is still here with us on that day.
I had my 3rd radiation treatment today .... so far so good. 22 more to go. I am having some new shoulder pain so not sure abt that. My RO gave me MPM radiaplex gel to use. Anybody else used that?
Hugs and prayers all around!
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KB, Great!! Love it.
I feel like I have been a bit AWOL from the group, but the June Chemo group is where I am spending most of my time. It is odd to say this, but I don't think of the LX much, because it is healing nicely. I guess I have bigger concerns at the present time trying to stay sane through the chemo. I hope that makes sense! At least I have healed so well from it, that I can focus on my needs through the continued long treatment ahead. I am doing well, though thus far. Round #3 of A&C this Friday.
Hope everyone is doing well!
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