January 2018 Surgery group! Please see updated list in thread!
Comments
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Miranda, Hope the surgery and recovery go well.
Dipaquette, It sounds like you did describe your pain, but the PA did not listen. My NP did not listen well either (nothing against nurses because I’m a RN). On one visit, I asked her if people get short of breath with expanders. She gave some pat answers and didn’t listen to my lungs, Turns out I had a pleural effusion (cause unknown). This was after my first mastectomy. I would be very upset if someone told me I was “hard to read”. And how frustrating to loose your implant. I can understand the grief, and the disappointment that the process is not finished yet.
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Thank you, Jt3 and Dipaquette, the surgery went fine and not too much post-op pain. Have to wear a compression band around the abdomen for quite a while, the site where they sucked out the fat. Definitely not as hard as the original surgery, thankfully.
Dipaquette, it's not only OK to cry about all the losses, it's necessary. I call BC "the gift that keeps on taking."
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Miranda, I am glad to hear everything went well with your surgery. I hope your recovery goes smoothly. I didn't have to wear a compression band on my abdomen but I have to say the surgical bra really stink, I have quite the collection of ugly, uncomfortable, shapeless, expensive bras. 4 so fast and Errol me getting 2 more bu the end of the year, thank goodness for insurance.
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Miranda, I am glad to hear everything went well with your surgery. I hope your recovery goes smoothly. I didn't have to wear a compression band on my abdomen but I have to say the surgical bra really stink, I have quite the collection of ugly, uncomfortable, shapeless, expensive bras. 4 so far and I will be getting 2 more by the end of the year, thank goodness for insurance. I have 3 surgeries to get in by December 31st and no FMLA time left, it should be interesting, I don't plan on telling my employer i am having surgery, will use 2 PTO days each time so i won't have to have a physician's permission to go back to work. I know the surgeons may not be on board with me going back so soon but i can't lose my job
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Dlpaquette, don’t let anyone tell you how you should feel! And yes mourning something you lost is and should be expected. I know that it is hard for me when I see my new foobs and the scars that came with it makes it hard not to miss what we lost . It is also easy to expect the different stages grief such as denial, anger, bargaining, an eventuality acceptance that the life we live now is different. But we push through it and try to make best out of a shitty situation. All I know is when I am hurting I try to reach out to those who I know will listen, I hope this helps and I hope you feel better soon
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Dipaquette and Elijahgirl- you are so right. We are entitled to mourn what we've lost. It can be physical, emotional, mental, etc. What I hated losing the most has been my confidence. Every now and then my mind is invaded with questions about the future. My life with breast cancer is more uncertain than it has ever been before cancer. I'm fortunate I have a good support system. At least on these threads we recognize that it's okay to mourn our losses. It's all about pushing through this mess.
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Thanks Jo. Cancer sure does take away confidence. Now we have to always worry about it coming back. I had a coworker tell me yesterday that she would just gi with offe breast trying to convince me to not have surgery. I have more been told that another implant would have a very high failure rate so an trying to decide if I want to go through that for nothing and just do the DIEP Flap or try again with an implant. I know she is worried about me, but nobody will know how they will feel until they have been through it. Most don't realize that it is not flat but sunken in. I just hate having my decisions judged by someone who hasn't been through it.
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Dipaquette- I hear you. People mean well. My chest isnt flat. Nonaffected side is flat and affected breast is sunken. I'm becoming accustomed to it but it isn't pretty. I don't know anything about the Reconstruction process so I do not offer my opinions on it. You have been through a lot.
Angelsgal- will your insurance cover purchasing your medication at Costco?
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Yup. This is me. My whole pain regimen medication was messed up, because LIKERT scales. Like I'm British. Unless I'm amputated, bleeding from an artery & dying, my pain is rated 2-3. Apparently natural childbirth, which I rated 1.5-2, is an 8 on a 10 point likert scale. So I tell my physicians now. I'm British. If I'm complaining, you need to listen and quickly, because I seriously underrate my pain. And they do. Finally. But yeah, that whole process sucked royally.
And it's OK NOT to be OK with all this. It is life changing and miserable at times. And there are good days, too.
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