Lumpectomy Lounge....let's talk!
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Hi Talley76- I don't know much about your diagnosis. Look thru the main site here, you might find others with your diagnosis or similar, and get some further insight. It is not the greatest way to start the new year, but you're being proactive seeking info. I wish you the best!
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Hi Moth and GB - thanks for the reply, my brother thinks it's depression and still recovering from the surgeries. I know there is depression for sure, with not being able to exercise and with the extreme cold right now I don't want to leave the house! It's just frustrating sitting around all day and when I do feel the energy it's gone almost as fast as it showed up. I am so desperate I was contemplating the new Thrive fad, but I know it's not good for you, a nurse friend looked into it.
Talley - Prayers that you do not have cancer. I knew two days after my biopsy that I had cancer, hopefully your results are fast and good!
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Talley76 - Hopefully your hyperplasia can be treated with just a hormone therapy regimen. My sister had this diagnosis in her early 50s, and her bs put her on a 5 year hormone treatment plan as a precaution. Hyperplasia is usually pre cancerous, but your lab results will make sure it’s only that. My sister’s bs felt in her case, that she was very borderline in becoming invasive cancer, so she put her on a 5-year plan. She is still cancer free today after 15 years. She has been watched very closely since then.
It’s her sister (moi) that had to get the full guns of cancer! Life is strange, and this did not run in the family
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im worried, BC runs on both sides 2 aunts and a 1st cousin. I've read the younger you are with adh the higher risk you are of getting BC. Hopefully resukts come soon. Thank you for the response. How were thevside effects of hormone therapy?
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Talley76 - my journey started with what was suspected to be ADH too. Pathology came back DCIS grade 3 - my breast specialist came in the room to deliver this news by staying "I'm sure glad we did the lumpectomy, because the biopsy wasn't telling us what was really going on." My advice, is to breathe and take one day at a time - don't speculate on the what if's because you can really stress yourself out. Ask lots of questions of your doctors, be your own advocate. You'll find lots of support here - no matter what the outcome.
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vampeyes- same old same old, everyone is different. I was working out 11 days after 2nd lmx. Very much at my own pace, trainer modifying things I shouldn't be doing. Just getting to the gym to see & talk with others was a blessing. Maybe try to go walk the treadmill, at your own pace. If depression has got you, speak to your Dr, you may need some meds to help you get through. HUGS!
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vampeyes, I think it's pretty common for us to go through a period of depression while we're dealing with cancer. I know I did. I actually hung in there through the lumpectomies and chemo. I had a BMX about 6 weeks after chemo ended and THAT put me over the edge. My doctor diagnosed me with PTSD and said that it was very common among people who undergo serious health issues, like cancer or heart attacks. Medication helped me get my groove back.
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Talley - my sister took Arimidex. She had no side effects with it, but everyone is different. Like any new drug, you never know how you will react to it. There are different types, but I don’t think they are huge problem drugs
Vampeyes - my going through chemo is making me a couch potato and I too am missing exercising which I know makes me feel better. I’m probably depressed, but I’m more tired than anything else. I just want this to get over with. I’m also suffering back pain which has somewhat debilitated me in that if I stand for more than 30 mins. I hurt too much, so shopping errands get done quickly. It has been addressed by OM, and it is inflammation that I just have to deal with. BC drives us all crazy, but we are a sisterhood that helps keep us sane by venting our worries, pain and fears. So don’t feel alone - I’m right there with you.
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Talley, I've been taking Femara for almost 2 years with very few side effects. I guess the most bothersome thing has been muscle cramps. It's not all the time, but is more likely to happen at night ,for some reason. I started taking a little potassium and magnesium at night, plus sleeping under an electric blanket. That has taken care of the worst of the cramping. I also take a long hot bath every morning to get everything loosened up. After that I really don't have much joint pain, just some stiffness. But I am 61 and I have arthritis, so it's hard to know which came first, the chicken or the egg.
My sister has taken Arimidex for 5 years with NO side effects at all.
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Blair2 - I finished radiation the first week of August. My radiated breast is a bit smaller than it was, but nothing that I can't live with. Not obvious in clothing. Yes - I would say it looks perkier now
. Make sure once the redness etc. is gone that you massage and keep the breast moisturized. I was told to do this for a good while past radiation - My LE therapist says massage, massage, massage. Obviously you will wait until it is not so sensitive and the redness is gone. Do you have an LE therapist? They can teach you how to massage etc. 0 -
Here's something interesting FDA Clears Stereotactic Radiotherapy System for Use in Treating Breast Cancer
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vampeyes, I am still tired from surgery on 12/5. I keep hearing about how many people are able to work through treatment, but I'm not seeing how that will be possible. I'm always tired. Part of that could be from having my kids home from college, and part could be from taking care of my husband, who is also ill (Multiple Myeloma and Amyloidosis). But the lumpectomy threw me for a loop. I think it's important to listen to our bodies, and rest when we think we should rest.
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Hello All,
Wondering if any of u had extreme pain / sensitivity in your nipple after lumpectomy? My tumour was on the side of my breast and my incision scar ends a good 2 cm away from my nipple, yet my nipple continues to be very painful 2.5 weeks after my re-excision. The incision itself appears to be healing well; I can press firmly on the scar with no pain at all. However, I can hardly stand running water or cloth touching my nipple, and I have to hug my husband or kids in an awkward sideways stance. No swelling or discolouration evident on the nipple, though I can what look like a few raised ducts at the top of my areola?
Dance
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DanceSmartly, it's been about 5 weeks since my lumpectomy and I still shower with my back to the water because once one of the streams of water hit my nipple and it was painful! Also, it's still difficult to hug anyone. I wouldn't say it's extreme pain, I just feel it and it's sore so I do the awkward sideways stance too. I hope you get to go in for a check up soon!
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Dance, the nipple is enervated by the 3rd, 4th and 5th intercostal nerves which come in to the breast from the chest, on the lateral aspect of the breast. If your surgery was in that region, it is quite possible that some of those nerves were touched during the surgery & that can lead to weird sensations while healing occurs. Personally, I'd try to massage it as much as you can. Experiment with the type of pressure. Grazing touch can sometimes be excrutiating but firm pressure might be tolearable; the point of the massage would be to try to retrain the nerves and their signal pathways.
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Gosh, nobody told me to message anything after surgery. I guess I’ll ask come radiation time if it’s for that. I can feel around both nipples as far as that’s concerned and that’s after one being completely removed and relocated. I don’t know how they keep them alive! I just don’t like the unmatching shapes. I’m using scar strips to help heal the scars. Coming up on January 12, will be three months post surgery. Still slightly bruised on cancer side (probably due to blood thinners), but they are painless. Never had lymphoma pain. The lymph node scar was painful for a long time, but irritated from bras crossing over it. I do remember the nipples shooting out periodic pain from time to time, but it didn’t last long. By 6 weeks that disappeared. My lumpectomy was a breast reduction. Quite a bit of tissue was removed. Other than the unmatched shapes, I think I faired pretty well. I think they still have a lot of healing to do too, so who knows what to expect by radiation time.
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Emily: good to know I am not alone, but sorry u r going through this too!
Moth: interesting info; thanks! My tumour was indeed on the lateral side of my breast. And you hit the nail on the head (no pun intended!) re: brushing contact being more painful than direct, sustained contact (though that does hurt too). I have also noticed the areola immediately above the nipple hurts nearly as bad when touched, but isn't so prone to being snagged. Hope your seroma is healing!
Dance
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Blair2, I saved the pads from a Genie bra that was too small for me (bought the XL size at CVS and apparently there isn't a Genie or Coobie that fits me). Back when my R breast was much bigger due to a radiation-aggravated seroma and I needed to wear a 38J or 40I, I would put one of the pads into the L cup to even things out. Now that I'm a 40F, instead of discarding those old larger "tanks for the mammaries" I put the pad into the R cup instead. But the holidays and these bitterly cold temps that make me want to eat as if I'm preparing to hibernate (and sleep as if I am hibernating) are causing a bit of the weight to creep back up, and I'm wearing the old bras without concern as to the slight wrinkling in the R cup. I figure that in winter layers (even indoors) nobody can really tell anyway.
Took about a year before those nerve-reconnection "zaps" abated. As to "anointing" one's radiated breast, my RO offered to give me a steroid ointment if I needed it, but Aquaphor (still have a couple of free sample tubes) applied right after each session before getting re-dressed, and 100% pure aloe vera gel (Fruit of the Earth brand, without dyes, alcohol or scent) followed by calendula cream (Boiron seemed better for me than Jason's) at bedtime worked best for me. I showered before each session, and carried a travel-size deodorant/antiperspirant with me to put on afterward. I finished with no itching, irritation or broken or peeling skin, but the irradiated area was quite pink. My dermatologist (whom I visited for a different issue) prescribed a steroid ointment (triamcinolone) to apply every day for three weeks, then a week off, then restart the cycle. The pinkness was gone within a couple of months, replaced by a slight tan over the lumpectomy scar.
As to ADH, it is generally not considered a pre-cancer but rather an elevated risk of developing a ductal cancer (whether DCIS or IDC). LCIS isn't even considered cancer by most doctors, but is considered a high risk for developing invasive lobular (ILC) cancer. I have a friend who had an excisional rather than core-needle biopsy, which diagnosed ADH. SInce the lump had already been excised, she's been on Arimidex for three years, two to go.
I've been on letrozole (Femara) for two years now. I too get nocturnal leg cramps, but they're more likely caused by electrolyte imbalance (L calf & both soles) and nerve root irritation (R shin, due to hardware holding my tibia together for 21 yrs irritating the nerves, and perhaps basal ganglia impingement--it's a form of dystonia, with my foot and big toe dorsiflexing and other toes splaying), not the AI. I try to get enough water & sodium, and I take magnesium at bedtime. (Sometimes a potassium gluconate cap, as I am not much of a fruit eater; I especially detest bananas). I also follow the old-wive's tale of keeping a bar of soap on the bed by my feet. Occasionally, if all else fails and I'm in agony, I will take a Lyrica--but not if I can't devote a solid 8 hrs, afterward to sleeping, no matter how much sleep I've gotten before the dystonia awakens me. That stuff drops me like a plugged buffalo and gives me such long and realistic dreams that I want to "follow the story" as if I'm living it. (They're so vivid, with specific recurring combined geography of the three cities I've lived in--Brooklyn, Seattle, & Chicago, that I might eventually use them as the basis for a novella. Sort of like Scott Turow's fictional city and county of "Kindle"--a mishmash of Chicago/Cook County, Joliet, Waukegan and St. Louis).
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Sandy, I'll buy your book! I'll bet it is really cool.
HUGS!
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Hi everyone. Having a lumpectomy on Jan 12. I'm wondering if any of you had a problem with bending over after your lumpectomy. I have kitties to care for, with the related bending to feed, clean kitty box, etc. I know this is a little problem to overcome, but any tips, info would be much appreciated. This is such an inspiring group of women.
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I bent from the knees, and had my guys help with the litterbox. 21 years ago after tibial-plateau-repair surgery I was non-weightbearing and wheelchair-bound for 10 weeks. I fed my cat back then by using one of those long-handled gripper-reacher devices to retrieve the can from the lower lazy-Susan cabinet, lower the dish to the ground and pick it back up when empty. You can get those reachers either at the hardware store, the convalescent-mobility aids aisle in chain drugstores, or on Amazon.
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Thank you so much ChiSandy. I'll practice bending from the knees
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ChiSandy- you are a wealth of knowledge! Thanks for sharing all you know. I too would buy your book. ;->
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Hello again The lumpectomy and axillary sentinal node surgery went smoothly. I started off with tylenol arthritis (2 x 625mg) last night and had a couple XS tylenols this morning. When I woke up from surgery there were no tubes; although, I kind of felt around on that side and found a couple of thin tubes. The nurse at my bedside (in recovery) removed them for me (heart monitor sticker and leads). Oopsy. So, I woke up from surgery at 5PM and was out of my room by 6:35PM. Home 18 minutes later. The results should be available Monday or Tuesday. There are no visible stitches and they gave me an after-surgery bra to wear. I also look like I'm part oompa/lumpa. No noticeable swelling, but I'm still going to put the icebag on the armpit area.
BTW, thank you all for your advice and for sharing your stories. Good luck and hugs to you all.
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It’s been nine months since my partial mastectomy. The past couple of weeks I’ve been experiencing dull pain in the affected breast. Has anyone else experienced this?
MJ
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I had a lumpectomy October 2017. BS removed 4 lymph nodes that were all clean. I did Brachytherapy radiation for 5 days. I went twice a day. I am still having some issues with my left arm but doing occupational therapy. It seems to be helping. It’s still numb I’m my arm pit. I meet with my Onocolagist December 2017. My breast cancer is estrogen + progesterone + and HER2+. My doctor told me he wanted me to do chemo and I said no. If the cancer was in just 1 lymph node I would do the chemo and he said fine. I’m going to do Herceptin for a year( every 3 weeks) and Femara for 5 years. I’m going to live my life as normal as positive and stay positive. Just wondering if any one else refused chemo.
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Josie0321- you & I have different types of receptors, I also have an Oncotype score of 19. My MO has recommended chemo, via a phone call on 12/19. I see her on 1/9, and I'm seriously considering no chemo.
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Dance,
I had extreme nipple pain. My nipple was extremely erect for some odd reason after surgery. That lasted for a couple of months. Was quite painful during radiation. I took a pregnancy test to make sure I wasn't pregnant because it felt like the soreness you initially get when you are pregnant. The radiation REALLY irritated my nipple. Very miserably but all is good now. Just slight dryness on my nipple now. By the way, my incision was a c shape at the edge of my areola. My tumor was at 6 pm.
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Shocked: Thanks for the info; was wondering what radiation might be like if the nipple pain continues. Guess I'm just going to have to suck it up! Sounds like it should go away eventually, so will hang on to that thought!
Dance
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Hi Trish and welcome. This is a shocking, strange journey for all of us but the strong women on these boards helped me a lot. Fingers crossed for a good path report and please stay in touch with us.
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