June 2017 Surgery Group
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I can't feel my armpit either! It's so weird.
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hey there ladies had my surgery yesterday and made it home today by 2., surgery took 7.5 hours!! Tumor blocked the dye so it couldn't get to the nodes. He took axillary nodes and omg does that crap hurt. Also changed up the plastics so I'm now I now have te in above the muscle and anchor scars not the straight across ones. I won't get back pathology until Tuesday or later. Hope your all doing well
Btw I hate Brest cancer and it sucks!!!!
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Hang in there Mucki, I will be praying you get good news Tuesday.
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glad you're home mucki.... hang in there.
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Glad the surgery is behind you Mucki. Hope you are comfortable and recover quickly.
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Glad you are home Mucki! But that sux about the nodes. I'm so sorry it hurts so much! I can't believe how long your surgery was. You are in prayers!
So have we all had surgery now? Anyone left?
I'm guessing we're now in all various stages of getting pathology results, learning next steps in treatment or starting next steps in treatment. Any specific prayer requests
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Hi, I just found this group. I had BMX with SGAP recon three weeks ago. Drains are out, but I'm experiencing nerve pain across my chest which makes it hard to be active for a long period of time. Has anyone else experienced this? If so, what has your doctor recommended for you? I'm on 100 mg of Gabapentin 3x a day with 800 mg of Advil. It takes the edge off a little
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Mucki what a long surgery you had. It is so good to have it over with. I hope all goes well with your pathology.
Welcome Flbuckeye. I'm sorry about your nerve pain. I think my third week was my worst. I am just starting my fifth week and things are much improved. Hang in there.
Good luck to all this week with all the Doc appointments. Doesn't it feel as though we spend our lives in waiting rooms these days?
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I have my appointment this Wednesday to see the results from the Oncotype DX and find out if chemo is necessary. Very nervous because I don't want it.
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hang in there, Shocked... once the results are in, it's off and running. Will be sending positive vibes your way. Is your treatment plan dependent on those results
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Hi FL Buckeye - I'm on day 11 post op - no nerve pain, just weird rubbery numbness and some burning, plus armpit weirdness. When did the nerve pain kick in?
Hi Shocked - I'm so sorry you're nervous - you'll be in my prayers for good results.
I go next Wednesday to get the final pathology. Got the drain out today. Is it weird they just stuck a bandaid - like a literal bandaid - on the drain hole? No steri strips - nothing. Like that totally freaks me out. It's a hole. And they put a band aid on it!
Meanwhile I finally looked at the incision. It was closed with glue and goes from mid-chest to my armpit. There are steri strips over the glue so I see the blood/scabs under. I am so nervous for when the steri strips come off to see what I'll look like. But so far - it's not as awful as I expected.
I was able to put on a regular hanes cotton front close sport type like bra today. It covers where the drain was and the whole incision. It's super weird to see the right side normal and the left side flat.
For activity - when were you all able to sit at a key board and type all day? or lift heavy loads of laundry or heavy computer bags?
Thanks for all the info - the inspiration and the strength, ladies! Hugs!
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I was sitting at my laptop and working a bit the next week. I still can't really carry my purse on my shoulder 3+ weeks out though. I am fortunate to be able to work from home as necessary. I am an accountant so no heavy lifting required. Lol
I dont really carry the laundry baskets around but I do it once it is in the laundry room. Everyone just brings their clothes down for me. I do like the fact that even my 17yo son will do his own laundry now though.
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SBKH, it started about two weeks after surgery. I had it with my lumpectomy, too. That eventually went away so I'm hopeful this will settle down soon. I don't want to be taking Gabapentin for a long time
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Hi, everyone! Mucki, glad surgery is over & now you begin to recover! FLBuckeye - welcome! Legomaster - glad you are okay! SBKH - great path!!
Rrusso - thanks for reassuring us that we can do the chemo!
Now a couple of gripes & a request for advice:
Gripe #1: it's hard to sleep at night with te's & my remaining drain tube. Surgery was 6/13 and the tossing & turning has gotten old.
Gripe #2 & advice: This last darn drain tube is still putting out 48 the past two days. PS told me to have a local doctor take it out this week as I'm scheduled to have a port put in Friday & my first chemo. Tomorrow is 5 weeks since surgery. The drain is on my left side. The lymph node dissection was on my right side. Any thoughts? I know the port surgeon will not put it in nor can I start chemo with a drain tube, so do I take the chance & have my local doctor take it out tomorrow or put off the port/chemo for another week??
It's great to have all of you to go through this journey with. The bc journey is definitely more challenging than I ever thought.
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Hi Ouray. I'd call your (port) surgeon and see what he says about the drain and the port. My drains had to be under 30 ccs for two days. You don't want to end up with a seroma.
Good,luck to those of you facing chemo and radiation. I'm through that phase and am happy to answer questions.
If you haven't started chemo, you may want to know that there is a way to save your hair. It's called cold capping. There's a thread on the discussion boards about it.
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hey ouray... that's rough. Oddly, my non-lymphnode side drained more too. My PS pulled it right at four weeks, even though it was just barely at 30. I'd suggest seeing what the port guy says... my port was put in by an interventional radiologist, and I cannot imagine they would touch a port. A general surgeon might though. Good luck..
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SBKH,
I am 28 days out, and have not experienced nerve pain. It's not a given. The closest thing I think I've had to nerve pain are these little tingly "electrical" feelings near the scar. Didn't hurt
It is awful that anyone has these pains, like F L Buckeye93, but as an anxious hypochondriac who is terrified of pain, if I was expecting it to definitely hit at some point, I'd be a wreck.
It's helpful to be aware that it can happen, though, so you don't think something is going wrong if it does.
Wishing everyone a day with less pain,
L
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Ouray, my non lymph node side had more drainage too. I did have very little drainage though. Why can't they take your drain out at the PS office?? I didn't even see the doctor for my drain removal. The nurses took them out 2 at my one week follow up and the other two 4 days later. I didn't even have an appt the second time. They just said to come in after the holiday weekend. I'd rather have someone who deals with them everyday take them out though. Not just my regular doctor
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Hi FLBuckeye - I also have terrible nerve pain, across my chest and the back of both of my arms/armpits. I had shingles when I was pregnant with my son, and it feels like the same excruciating pain along the nerves. Gabapentin is what they prescribe for shingles, so it's the same concept, I think.
Everyone keeps saying it's normal and will fade over time, but it only seems to impact some and not others. I saw the plastic surgeon today for my first TE fill, and he was not helpful. I am seeing oncologist tomorrow for chemo training and am going to ask if they can provide some solutions. I read somewhere that rubbing a soft piece of flannel against the skin might help, so I'm going to try that tonight.
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There's a discussion board for Post Mastectomy Pain Syndrome. Some women posted that they have used Tramadol. Others posted they've used a compounding cream made of Gabapentin, ketamine and lidocaine. I found this article to be quite helpful. https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/06/08/pain-aft...
If mone persists, I'm going to talks to my primary care doc at my physical appointment in August. I feel like the doctors just brush it off.
I've also heard there are PTs trained in this. I might look into that, too. It really sucks.
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Wow, this thread is moving fast today.
I experienced nerve pain from day 2 or 3 and still do, it ranges from a sunburn or ice pack feeling on the skin to sudden electric zaps or pinches.
Ouray, considering your lower stage and HER2 negative status (no amplified signals for cancer cells to grow fast), I think you could postpone chemo for another week, of course I would email my MO for an opinion.
I had a follow up with my BS today and 3 weeks out my axillary drain remains. My doc said some people are just juicy, lol. So, recluctantly, I will sit in my chair, sleep on my back and try again next week.
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Leatherette - I'm an anxious hypochondriac too - brought on by stuff continuing to happen. I've had several medical conditions that I'm a bit young for that were all surprises, so now I think every symptom means something. Anxiety sucks.
Meanwhile - I have another drain question - since I had no recon, I was able to see the drain very clearly under my skin. Now that the drain is out - the drain lump is still under my skin - same C-shape lump and everything. Will it flatten back out?
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http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/tc/capsaicin-...
My doctor also suggested capsaicin cream. I'm going to try this.
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Thanks FLBuckeye. I will take a look at the Pain Syndrome discussion board. I asked my plastic surgeon today if I could use some sort of creme, and he did not recommend because I have TEs which he said could absorb some of it. Going to ask the MO tomorrow - hopefully won't get the brush off.
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At 4 weeks out, with healed incision, I started massaging with BioOil several days ago, and the area looks and feels much better. I had skin sparing (they weren't able to save much, so it's not lots)so have some folds I was getting worried about. Less worried now. I feel like I am totally winging it, as I couldn't find thorough instructions on the internet, but just being gentle. I think I am feeling more sensation, like a good breast sensation feeling that I thought would be gone forever, but it may be wishful thinking......maybe it's just that massage feels good!
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Posting this on the June 2017 group even though my sister's BMX is tomorrow as I am hoping to get input from people who have had their surgery. My sister started with UTI yesterday, they put her on antibiotics starting last night but still plan to go ahead with surgery tomorrow even though she has the infection and does not feel well--anyone else have surgery in spite of infection of any kind and did you do ok? Thank you for any reassurance that can be offered.
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so sorry to hear about your sister!! I don't have any experience, but wanted to send along healing thoughts for her....
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Thank you, she actually called me a few minutes ago and she is going to ask them to postpone. They had said they might cancel if she felt worse and now she is sick from the antibiotic and has a sore throat on top of the UT
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sisterhasbc - so sorry to hear about your sister! I was actually sick with a sinus infection for my surgery and the antibiotics they gave me during surgery and after also fight a sinus infection so it all worked out for me. I'm sorry she is feeling worse, but relieved that they are doing what is best for her.
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I saw my oncologist today and he was very apologetic about not having my Oncotype results. There was a screw up somewhere and the sample was sent late. So I wait another week to know about chemo. He did put me on Arimidex. He also repeated my kidney labs. If they are still bad I have to see a nephrologist. I hope they are back to normal because I would like to be able to take Ibuprohen when needed.
SBKH I'm so glad that you got your drains out. That is a relief. It's great that you can tolerate a bra....I am still just wearing tanks and loose shirts.
I'm so sorry about those experiencing nerve pain. It is really the worst. Mine has been very intermittent and only really bad until they drained my seroma. My heart goes out to you. I hope it recedes soon.
Prayers for all of you for strength and recovery
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