August 2017 Surgery Group
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Hi all, I'm resting in my hospital bed. All went well yesterday. The mapping needles were closer to the upper portion of my breast and didn't hurt, just a little sting. Great news they didn't take any lymph nodes as all biopsies done during surgery were clear. They also could save my nipples! They say I have thin skin so taking precautions to maintain the blood flow to them. I had a nerve block that is awesome, numbs the chest for 2-3 days, so only needed pain med last night and none this morning. My surgery was later in the day and got to room at 9pm, so they've given me option to stay two nights and i said yes. Was wobbly on my feet when I got up to pee. Feel tightness and can feel drains when reaching for things
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also, thanks for all the good wishes
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pink victory I'm so glad to hear they told you the 23 outpatient also. I was about to come apart yesterday when my ins told me it was preauth for outpatient. Cycle gal I'm so happy your surgery went well it takes a little bit of stress off of me my bmx is scheduled for Monday get my start time today at 2
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Add me to the list ladies!
I am having my lumpectomy this coming Wednesday Aug 30th and from what the surgeon said it should only take a couple of hours to get rid of that unexpected visitor (tumor). They are injecting the tracer for sentinel node biopsy this Monday (2 days earlier).
However, I am super nervous since I was never in my life under complete anesthesia before... I am hoping that lymph nodes are clean (they appear to be under US) and that I will have clean margins, don't we all? Anybody who had lymph nodes "appeared" as clean but that changed after the lumpectomy?
Doctor said that I will need radiation (no chemo) for 5 weeks after surgery and (of course) an aromatase inhibitor to keep me company for a long time.
Hopefully this will be the end of it... Please keep me in your prayers... This site has been my only safe harbor in these rough seas besides my husband.
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Prayers for you spikar, and for clear nodes! Both of my lumpectomies were a piece of cake. My mom picked up yummy lunch on the way home and I lounged for a few days with lots of ice and ibuprophen before going back to work. You'll do great!
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yikes, glad I got the dye shot where I did lol
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my surgery time is check in Monday at 1:30 surgery scheduled for 3:00pm. So cyclegal I'm assuming and hoping I will be like you and stay 2 nights but we will see. Cyclegal how long was your surgery just curious since it seems I'm having the exact surgery. My husband is a nervous wreck and it would help if I could give him somewhat of a time frame. TheBS and PS said between 6-9 hours
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Lsunshine, mine was scheduled for 5 hours and it lasted 5 1/2 hours. 9 seems really long! Yes, I bet you would stay 2 nights with it being so late. My BS saw me around 4 today and said she'd be willing to let me go home tonight, but I chose to stay just to avoid the craziness of my kids for tonight. Plus, my PS ordered some special prescription cream to help with blood flow to my nipples, and they say it can also lower your blood pressure, so I'd rather be here for it! My husband was alsoreally nervous - more than me...I was in a very zen state during the day of my surgery, but I could tell he was feeling nervous. I think I was so calm because I have put so much thought into the decision and was ready to move forward.
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I just looked at my appt and I am scheduled with nuclear imaging at 2. I'm assuming it is what you had before Your surgery. The bs didn't mention an appt before surgery. Also I appreciate reading how your surgery went. It really helps to keep my anxiety down slightly
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Yes, the nuclear imaging is what I had just in case she needed to take any lymph nodes. She didn't though, and the shots for it weren't bad, so I didn't mind doing it just in case. I'm happy my experience is helping you...ask any questions you want
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Not sure who you are asking Lsunshine, but a lot of places do the injection into the tumor- i was originally scheduled to have surgery at Sloan and that's how they do it there. Also if you have a lumpectomy they just inject into tumor. It's a tiny needle so not painful if injected ther
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Ladies, after a lumpectomy (surgical excision) what did your breast look like after? Is it very noticeable? They will be removing a lesion approx 15 mm at 3 o'clock. Worried about the results and about the appearance.
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Lsunshine, my surgeon did not explain that to me either prior to my surgery. When I got my confirmation call (they left a voicemail)from" nuclear imaging "at the end of the day on a Friday before my big day, It instantly stressed me out. I thought there was some kind of mistake. check in with radiology? What??? I'm supposed to be having surgery!. moment of panic, due to not being well communicated ...and now it was the weekend....AND... What do they think they are doing to me?? It turned out to be the radioactive isotope injection they use to locate lymph nodes. For all of the anxiety about going thru that part, for me, it really was not bad at all. It really didn't hurt because it is injected just under the skin. Wasn't worth all the worry I put myself thru about the confusion or the procedure. Wishing you the best, I know the days leading up to it can bestressful, but you will do fine!
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thank you cycle gal and pink victory,.it really does help a great deal to talk to someone who has actually had the procedure vs a pamphlet on what to expect. Besides a comfy outfit to come home in what did you guys pack for the hospital
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Hi Everyone,
This is my first posting here on this board. I found this board right before I went in for surgery and decided to take a "break" from reading cancer stuff. I needed to unplug from cancer for awhile and think about something different for once. If that was even possible. anyway I'm going to go through and read all the posts here to catch up. my diagnosis came from calcium deposits. my biopsy came back ER+ and PR+ with HER2 neg. I had my surgery on Tuesday and came home on Thursday afternoon. I had a bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction done. I was under for 6+ hours. to bring you up to date I had calcium deposits that showed up as cancer in one breast. this was the second time for this breast to have these so the surgeon suggested a mastectomy due to my small breast size and also the fact that this breast has given me issues before. I opted to have the other one off too and do the reconstruction. The dye they injected into me to show the nodes did not work so the surgeon took what he thought was good. it ended up being 2 sentinel, 4 nonsentinel. He called me last night at 10 pm to tell me they all came back clear of cancer. When he first talked to me after surgery I though he had taken a lot more lymph nodes but after reading the path report guess he only got 6. (hope that is enough for an accurate reading) I have my 4 drains in yet...what a pain those are!!! hopefully Monday I will be getting at least some of them out. I'm going to the beauty shop today to have my hair washed. I can't stand myself anymore!! Can't wait to get into a nice shower. I'm tolerating the pain well with only tylenol. I wish everyone the best here and I will try to catch up the best I can. I see the plastic surgeon on Monday to hopefully remove the drains and check the tissue expanders. I still have to meet with an oncologist to figure out what is needed down the road.
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Lsunshine
I just had surgery and also had the radioactive dye put in. oh my the tech scared me to death. He told me I was getting 5 shots and they would burn. he said he would wait till I said I was ready for each shot. my hubby and daughters were with me and I was so afraid I was gong to upset them. well the first shot came and went with minor burning. didn't even flinch! I know everyone has a different pain threshold but I did not find them unbearable at all. When is your surgery? sorry just getting started on this board
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mel1969, after my lumpectomy, my breast was swollen in the surgery area, and it did look like I had a little crater where the tissue was removed (6cm), but it filled in over the next few months so that it really wasn't noticeable.
Pinkvictory, your posts are always so comforting and well said
Lsunshine, I brought toothpaste and toothbrush, my face soap, my phone, and my iPad with some shoes downloaded from Netflix. Some friends sent in magazines, which was great because I didn't feel like reading a book but didn't always want to watch tv. I also brought a couple pairs of underwear. I never put pants on because I have compression stockings and sleeves around my calves to keep blood flowing and avoid clots. Make sure you get up and walk around a few times a day, it makes you feel more human and gets everything moving.
Kmb4, that is a great idea to go to the beauty salon to get hair washed. I'm ok for now but can only imagine what I will look like in a few days!
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Kmb4,
Glad you are on the mends. That first shower after is heavenly.
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Not everyone has the injection into the nipple. I had actually requested to have the injection in the tumor but the message must have not made it to the radiology department. My surgeon hadn't been too happy my wanting to do the injection differently so I went along with it. But if I were just having a lumpectomy I wouldn't have had it in the nipple or if I'd had my surgery at Sloan, where I was originally scheduled, it would have been different too. The other places in the breast where they injected did not hurt at all.
Even though that was painful, I chose this surgeon because he does over-pectoral direct to implant reconstruction. It's supposed to be much easier to recover from and I've had very little pain so far.
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kmb4 my surgery is scheduled for Monday admission at 1:30 surgery at 3:00. I'm happy to hear you are doing well
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Lsunshine- the only other thing I had/wanted was really in the car for the ride home. I had a thin pillow to protect my chest from the seatbelt. In the hospital, you will be in the wearing their gown until you're ready to be discharged. I had my cell phone just incase I felt Iike I wanted to access internet or text etc...but I was too tired to use it. Oh, andSlip on shoes/ sandals were a nice thing too, cause everything requires more effort for a while...
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cyclega- I hope this message finds you well and that you are home resting comfortably today. The tightness for me was the tough part...not fun for sure! I too was wobbly on my feet for a little more than a week(I'm sure the pain meds contributed). But, staying ahead of the pain was important(lesson learned the hard way) so my body could work on healing. The two week mark did seem to be a turning point for me.....although everyone is different. I was just starting to feel discouraged that I didn't have as much energy as I wished to, when I started to notice small but exciting progress. I still get tired and what normally would be simple things, still take plenty of effort...but a week does seem to make a world of difference! Thinking of you and wishing you well!
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LSunshine, your operation is scheduled for Monday? Mine is scheduled for Tuesday!
Is anyone else scheduled for Tuesday, the 29th? What about other days this coming week?
Can anyone tell me how many drains I'm likely to have with a unilateral mastectomy and TE? The plastic surgeon told me there would be one from the TE. I realized I know nothing about whether there are drains from the mastectomy...I assume there are, but I have no idea. I guess I'll find out on Tuesday no matter what LOL.
Sending good recovery energy to everyone in the forum
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My surgery is on Thursday. My surgeon had planned on just taking the left breast, telling me that there was only a 2% risk of having problems with the other breast but I insisted on checking the right one "just to make sure". My US on Tuesday showed the right one is trying to kill me too so now it's both. I am so freaking happy that I listened to my gut on this.
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Hi All - Day 2 of being home. Home care from Social Services came over yesterday. I have to Clean the wound sites daily - had to have help - no way I could do this on my own. Also, had to have a pillow case and lots of bandages under binder - I had stictches and they are LONG. (Poking me) at drain site and under arm pits. Some kind of wound about 1" by 2" on my back - blister. really hurts. Thankfully Soc Services brought be all kinds of bandages and gauze, cleaning solutions. Otherwise I would had nothing to use. I had asked before surgery to get a supply and was told none required ???? Yes you Do!
Plus they forgot to give me the measuring cups to measure my drainage out put.
Will have social Services come over to help put me back together after shower 3 times a week for 2 weeks. Cannot put binder on by myself. I'm rolling up the binder to clean, but still need help to do so.
I'm up doing laundry, and walking a bit. Get really tired easily. And of course sleeping is almost impossible. Not Hungry. Just nibbling. Constipation an issue. They wouldn't give me anything in the hospital - told me to wait till I got home... so once I got home, Colace, Ducalax, Fibercon and Fiber Cereal. Might have to break out the prunes. The pain level is about a 5 and 7 at night. But I have other issues that contribute.
Tied my remote to a string to the side table because I kept dropping it and getting in/out of bed once your comfortable is maddening! I hear you MrsWinnie - the stiches Hurt! Glad Cyclegal got extra nite in hospital. Maybe Beach2Beach you should be a model for new gowns.
and thanks everyone PinkVictory and all for encourgments. Good luck everyone on up coming surgeries AliceAgnes - take care.
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All I can say is I came home with 4 drains. 2 on each side. I had a bilateral though. so you will probably have only 2
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rljessu,
lol on the gowns.
The more I read the after surgery updates, the more I realize how different many of our experiences are from when and how they inject the dye for sentinel biopsy, to what, if any, pain meds they give us, how long we stay, drains, after care visits, when we can shower etc. Just goes to show no two peoples experiences are exactly alike.
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For those headed for surgery and those just out of surgery recently--I read on another message board the advice to lie low as much as possible while you have the drains in. It will lessen the number of days you will have to spend on the drains. Another sojourner down this path said the first time she had breast surgery, she tried to do way too much afterwards. Even little things like taking a walk around the block because she had the energy to do so--she said she should not have done. The second time she had a surgery requiring drains, she did as little as possible and got much better results. Spent only days on the drains instead of weeks. Just passing that along--.
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kmb4, thanks for replying! So maybe two drains. We'll see....
AliceAgnes, thanks so much for the advice! Will definitely keep it in mind.
rljessu Thanks for updating us! You are up doing laundry?! My goodness, what a trooper! It sounds like things are rough but at the same time you're doing really well pulling through. Signs of real strengh there
The blister on your back I'm sure is not helping you sleep but is probably the least of your sleeping problems. I'm sure it will get better every day, from what I read on here and what my sister told me (she had a double mastectomy about 6 years ago).
Break out the prunes! Unless, of course, they tend to give you horrible gas or something. You've got all the other solutions going on, let food laxatives work for you, too. I think they have Vitamin A and C in them, too. Anyway, you all are going to think I'm from the prune council or something. LOL.
Keep on writing us, if you can, and we can all keep encouraging each other!
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Lsunshine, Sweet Pea, and others in August, I'm so glad to have found this thread. My bilateral nipple sparing mastectomy with immediate reconstruction is scheduled for Mon 8/28, 12:30 PST. I'm injected with dye for the sentinel node biopsy at noon and then surgery begins at 12:30--2 hours for the BS and 4 hours for the PS who will place alloderm slings and TEs. I'm so anxious about future complications, such as nerve pain. I'm "taking a sledge hammer to a tiny nail" (DCIS Grade 3 comedo necrosis 5.5cm!) according to my gynocologist; however, she said she understood my reasoning and personally would choose mastectomy of a breast over lumpectomy with radiation. Anyhow, the oncologist said I'd be looking at 40 years of alternating MRIs with mammograms every 6mos to monitor my breasts that "already know how to make cancer cells" and have a current 20-30% chance of recurrence plus an additional 0.5-1.0% for each additional year I'm alive. LOGICALLY I'm fine with my decision. I just wish my stress would be checked by that.
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