Lumpectomy Lounge....let's talk!
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Y'all. I'm just over 2 weeks out from lumpectomy with bilateral reduction lift and both breasts have fluid buildup especially the cancer side. The NP drained it today...a lot....red fluid....not yellow. She said to let them know if it filled back up. Welp...it's already filling back up. Not 12 hours after being drained. I'm trying to convince myself this isn't bad. Seromas have yellow fluid?
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Jancandothis,
I had to have one drained 4 times before it finally stopped
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Ok. I'm probably going to go back in today. I have a text in to the nurse navigator and a call in to the surgeons office. I feel run down like trying to get a fever maybe but that could be allergies, surgeries, stress....I can't imagine having expanders in. This is draining enough...pardon the pun. Thank you for your reply!
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My next mammogram isn’t for about six months but I am wondering if I should get a 3-D mammogram or regular or does it really matter?
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Springdaisy....My BS told me that my mammograms must be diagnostic and 3-D.
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Since a 3D mammogram is what caught my breast cancer (dense breasts here) and the cost isn't much more, yes I sure do get a 3D every time now.
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thanks I will do that. I’ve been taking letrozole since early January and I can’t really say I’ve seen side effects
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I never saw the inside of my mammary seroma, but the fluid that burst out of my axillary seroma was orange-red, not yellow--and it was thin. It looked just like what came out of my friend's drains after her mastectomy. Nature abhors a vacuum and so tries to fill it back up--hence all that serous fluid. Seromas are stubborn little bastards--and will go away on their own schedule, which seems to be "for them to know and us to find out."
All my breast center's mammos are 3D now. And it wasn't till a couple of years ago (maybe even more recently) that I went back to having routine screening rather than diagnostic mammos--and my breast surgical onc. discharged me from her care, leaving my breast exams to my M.O.
Jan. 1 made 5 years on letrozole (and I have two more to go). The only real side effects I had were slowed metabolism and the occasional night-sweat (and clipping up my hair off my neck for sleep helped reduce that). I had only one true "warm flash," and since it happened while it was quite cold in my front room, it was rather welcome. My hair had started to thin before letrozole (I still have enough of it), and I've always gotten the occasional zit. (Yeah, even at 70). But a low-carb diet took care of the metabolic-slowdown weight gain. I'm 40 lbs. lighter than the day I was diagnosed (I was wearing size 2X/16-18, Chico's size 3), and 60 lbs. lighter than the day my M.O. sent me to the system's weight mgmt. clinic. I'm size M, 10 or Chico's size 1 now.
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ChiSandy- Congratulations on making 5 years on Letrozole! May I ask why you have to do AI's for 7 years? Our diagnosis is similar and I have been told 5 years and not a day longer (my MO's words) so I am just curious.
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I started letrozole in very early January of this year. My oncologist said five years but maybe longer because research is always being done and things change. He also said, because I had asked him about a study I read about that said seven years, he said he thought that was a subset of another study and he doesn’t like to go by subsets of studies. Anyway it’s too early now but in five years I will see...
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ChiSandy - Congrats on 5 yrs! I am also curious as to why 7 yrs for Letrozole.
Polkadot1 - I am just reaching 4 yrs on Anastrozole and have a similar diagnosis to yours. Sometime prior to my Feb 2022 MO visit, I am to have a Breast Cancer IndexTM test to predict if there is a benefit to continuing treatment beyond 5 years.
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My M.O. conceded that most of letrozole's benefit comes in the first 3 years, and that if I'm truly having trouble with side effects I could have stopped this past January, but she'd prefer I do 7 years. I haven't noticed any cumulative side effects (my late PCP had warned me it was his patients' experience), and thus far I'm paying only about six bucks a month for letrozole--so I'll stay on it as long as she (or state-of-the-science) recommends. I've read articles in Oncology Nurse Advisor, Cancer Therapy Advisor, Oncology News, Oncology Today, et al mentioning studies that recommended endocrine therapy as long as 15 years (or even permanently) for either an AI alone or after 5 yrs. of tamoxifen. Thing is, there are studies suggesting that ER+ tumor cells eventually can "evolve" to either make their own estrogen supply or no longer need estrogen. There is a test (I think it may be either via blood or on a sample of the original tumor) to determine if continuing endocrine therapy past 5-7 yrs. has any benefit for a given patient. But I don't think all cancer centers offer it, and some insurers may not pay for it.
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It’s been 13 years (obviously not a lucky number) since my first lumpectomy. All I remember was needing to go to the hospital with a front zip supportive bra and an easy shirt to put on post op. What have I forgotten? I’m sure there are other things I should be planning for, but it’s like childbirth: I’ve blocked out a lot of that year!!!
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A little pillow to put between my surgical site and the seat belt on the way home was very welcome, and at home I put the little pillow between my arm and surgical site while sleeping.
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And the little ice packs, use the heck out of those. They really helped me (and I was deeply, deeply skeptical that they would).
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Thank you both very much. I had totally forgotten about the little ice packs - and I wish I had known about the pillow for the seatbelt last time around. Genius!
I have referred more than a few women to this website since 2008. God bless those who help strangers!
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My cancer center gave me a pillow with a shoulder strap that I could sling over my shoulder and cushion the space between my inner upper arm and the SNB site. And in the pillow was a pocket containing a little cushion to place between my chest & seatbelt. Among other things, it prevented the dreaded "seat belt hickey" that plagues us short-waisted women.
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Thank you ChiSandy; any and all suggestions are greatly apprciated.
I am scheduled for this Wednesday. I start the day at 7 AM for an MRI for a wire placement for one spot; then to an ultrasound for a second wire placement, Then surgery is scheduled for 12:30. Yay. I am fine now, but I know from past experience I will be on edge until I get the path report
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Mine was similar: it was a Wed. 7 am for the marker radioactive seed placement, then the isotope tracer injection & photography. Was supposed to go under at noon, but the OR was backed up so I didn't get in till 1:30. Awake at 3 in the recovery room, one squirt of Fentanyl into my I.V. Back in my "roomette" by 3:30, served juice and a mini "bagel & schmear" at 4, discharged (on foot, not wheelchair, walked to our car to be driven home) at 4:30. Chinese food delivered at 6. Only painkiller I needed (besides mini ice packs) was Tylenol: regular strength in the hospital with the snack, extra-strength at home. Not only didn't I fill an opioid Rx. I wasn't even written one. By the next day I was able to go out to dinner with my sister, who'd flown in from VA for a couple of days expecting to have to take care of me. By the weekend, was able to walk to brunch and then the beach, and drive to dinner.
But still on pins & needles till the path report came back 5 days post-op. (Was heartened when the surgeon came into my roomette and said there were "no surprises").
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ChiSandy: “No surprises” is always a good thing to hear from your surgeon! Thanks for the encouraging words; they are greatly appreciated
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I had my 2nd lumpectomy yesterday (13 years after my 1st - apparently 13 really is an unlucky number).
The key to comfort after a lumpectomy is a very supportive front zip bra with pockets for padding in each cup; the padding gives your sore breast extra firm support. Plus, they make 4" circular cold/hot packs. I found a package of 6 of these on Amazon. I popped them in the freezer the day before my surgery. The ice pack they sent me home with was completely melted by the time I got home. I immediately switched from the post op surgical bra they sent me home with for one I had bought in preparation for this; also I slipped one of the circular cold packs into the pocket behind the pad (so it was closer to my skin but not directly on the skin). It is very easy to swap out the little ice packs every 4-6 hours. As long as my arm or anything else doesn't touch my breast, it isn't bad at all.
A small pillow is also essential. I didn't need it for the seatbelt on the way home - only because of which breast it was and the location of the incision, but having one just in case is a great idea. Also, I had a container in the car in case I got sick, which I normally do after general anesthesia. (But my anesthesiologist was awesome, listened to me when I told her I get very ill after general - and she gave me drugs IV intra and post op.) Also, the small pillow is great for keeping the arm on the side of the breast affected, while seated, when the incision is on the outside of the breast. Last night I used two small pillows: one under the breast and one for my other arm to rest on.
It really isn't bad if you are prepared. Of course now I am waiting on the path report, again. In 2008 it was ADH. Same breast, different location. Goodness only knows. . . .
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DukeMom2, glad you got through your surgery yesterday. Waiting for path reports sucks. Good that you are mostly comfortable. You might consider updating your profile information and make it public so you don't have to repeat it all every time you post. Fingers crossed!!!!
HUGS!
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PontiacPeggy,
Thanks - I will definitely update my profile as soon as I get the path report
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Dukemom2, I was thinking you might want to put your original Dx and treatment stuff from 13 years ago. It sure is rotten
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Dukemom2, hoping it's just ADH again. You'll get through this--we are all "in your pocket."
I wish I could fit into one of those front-zip bras, but even having lost lots of weight the cups are still all too small. But I just "pulled the trigger" (unfortunate choice of words given the events of the day) on a couple of "Robin" bras from HerRoom.com--one ea. black & beige, in my size (36I), front-close, and straps that adjust from the front while you can wear the bra. I've liked ThirdLove, but my breasts are too shallow on top and I need to pad the bottoms & sides to keep the cups from gaping near the straps but even sans padding my cleavage spills out of an H. (They don't carry anything in 36I--H is as high as they go in 36, no "I" till a 40 band). And a 38H is too big in the band.
They sent me home after my lumpectomy in a front-close velcro Royce surgical bra (back panel went all the way to the bottom of my neck), size XL--I was spilling out everywhere!
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ChiSandy - I’m hoping for nada, less that ADH - but I’m ready for anything. We always have to be.
Sorry about your bra problem! Even at my heaviest I have been able to find a bra that fit -and I was pretty heavy!!
Still staying quiet and enjoying my ice (I’d rather keep icing off and on than take meds).
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I've never had a problem finding bras that adequately "contain the girls" (which I named Thelma--L & Louise--R), once I discovered European bras--which come in cup sizes bigger than DDD. Before that, I'd buy my bras at Target, Kohl's or even regular dept. stores and have to get 42DDD or even 44DD just to have large enough cups to avoid "spillover." The band would ride way up my back, and I had the dreaded "uniboob" silhouette because the center gore could not lie flat against my chest between my breasts--try as I might, I could not bend the wire to make it do that.
Then in 2008 I saw an episode of "Oprah" on which an expert declared that 90% of American women were wearing bras that didn't fit because they were the wrong size: at least 1 or 2 cup sizes too small, and 1-2" too large a band in order to find cups with a large enough volume regardless of their letter designation. I learned that as the band size goes up, so does the volume of the cup even if the letter remained the same: so a 44DD (or E's) cup was the same volume as a 42DDD (or F's), 40G's, 38H's or 36I's. Almost all U.S. brands of non-maternity bras went up to only DDD in the cup, but the maternity bras continued to F, G & even H. (That explains why, when I was pregnant back in the 1980s, my maternity bras were 36F and eventually 36G in nursing bras).
But European bra-mfrs. routinely make cups all the way up to I, J (and in Poland, even M). I went to a store Oprah suggested called "Intimacy" (now Rigby & Peller) and found that I was really a 40G or 38H or HH. The difference was amazing: the underwire felt comfortable, the gore lay flat against the center of my chest and the "girls" were not only separated but lifted so that the "apex" of my bustline was above my elbows. And the band was in the center of my back, with no bulging "back fat." Eventually, I did gain more weight; I wore a 38I the day I was diagnosed in 2015 and after radiation temporarily swelled my R breast seroma, 40I or (depending on brand) J. Now that I'm at least 60 lbs. lighter, I wear mostly a 36I (the UK equivalent is designated FF or G) or even 34J. I stopped going to Rigby & Peller because the prices are steep--there's a store in Chicago called Bras Galore where everything I buy is under $100. And if you find a bra that fits you perfectly but the shop doesn't have all the colors you want, you can always go online to HerRoom.com, BareNecessities.com, or Figleaves.com (or .uk). The Euro brands that make properly-sized bras are (from most to least expensive) Empreinte, PrimaDonna, Simone Perele (all $100+); then Fantasie, Freya, Panache, CurvyKate, Chantelle, Elomi & Goddess. Even Wacoal and Cacique (Lane Bryant) have seen the light--though Cacique's cups still run small and Wacoal's bands run tight. Some dept. stores like Nordstrom now carry Elomi & Chantelle. And HerRoom.com now has its own proprietary lingerie brand called "Ploomage," with a bra (available up to an I cup but only in beige & black) called "Robin," which closes in front and whose straps can be adjusted from the front--while you're wearing the bra. I'm looking forward to receiving my order.
If you're smaller-busted (C/D or less), you have a much wider & cheaper choice: you can wear Playtex, Exquisite Form, Gilligan & O'Malley (Target), Warner's, Olga, Bali, etc. You lucky gals can shop at Target, Wal-Mart or Kohl's. Victoria's Secret (are they even still in business?) never carried anything bigger than DD (and maybe one or two DDDs which still were skimpy). Remember when D was considered a "large" cup?
Experts recommend owning 3 bras: 1 to wear, 1 in the wash, and 1 to wear while the first is in the wash and second one is air-drying. You should never wear the same one two days in a row, and should wash it after every third wearing. They suggest that if you can afford only one color, it should match your skin tone so it's less likely to be visible under a somewhat sheer fabric (so a white bra is pretty useless unless you're an albino); but a black bra is useful as well under thicker darker fabric tops. Then there are the lacy frivolous "date night" bras--but at my age the boat has sailed on that (and on a "date night" you'll be removing it pretty quickly anyway if you even wear it at all). I do like various colors, though. Now, they also say that unless your figure has changed, a bra should be replaced annually--but I've bought so many over the years and rotate them so well that I can wear some that are over a decade old, provided I fasten them on tighter or looser hooks (or even use "extenders," though it's been a couple of years since I've needed those).
The only kinds I don't like are strapless (whether the cups are too large or small, I feel they make me jiggle), and wire-free bras made of non-stretchy fabric (which feel like a iron lung)--Elila is the "culprit" brand there. Most of the support should come from the band and the construction of the cup (the more pieces & seams the better), so if you sag or the straps fall down even if you've shortened the straps all the way, try a smaller band & correspondingly larger cup. (I have very narrow round-shoulders so even the best-fitting bras' straps sometimes fall down, though "the girls" still stay put).
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Chiming in to say there's a subreddit called A Bra That Fits. Not only will you learn how to measure yourself to see what size you are, you can also use the guides to figure out your shape. Chi is right about the shape. I wear a DD or sometimes a DDD which always surprises people but it's because my breasts are big around where they come into my chest (what's called the root), not because they stick out all that far. Add in a narrow back (30") and my bras are also nearly impossible to find.
Once I had the lumpectomy and more so the radiation, my bras were no longer comfortable. These days I'm wearing Japanese bras from Uniqlo.
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I am not finding the page about measuring for a bra that fits good. Can you help? thank you
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Springdaisy: I googled it and here is what I found. It does do US sizes as well as for UK, just indicate what you need in the dropdown. https://abrathatfits.org/
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