May 2018 Surgery Support Group
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Michi Cute picture of your family. I live in Florida and I would not go in any water except my bathtub. LOL But my own personal pool which I gave up when I downed sized. My doctor said water was OK but that I couldn't fly for 12 weeks. Well that blew my summer plans.
Faith You are going through so many things while trying to do through this. Sending prayers.
Ready I don't drink and wished I did a few times through this journey.
This has been a journey that has been made easier because of the new sisters I have on this site.
Sending prayers to all of you. I was reading and looking at the picture of Michi and SLL daugher's and tears were in my eyes. Since I am at work someone walked in and asked if I was OK. I told them that i am great and I have no reason to complain about my lot in life as so many are going through this without the blessings that I have.
Thank you.
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I had some eyelid surgery in April and shoulder arthroscopy last month, and for the 4-5 days leading up to each of them I ate about a cup of FRESH (I read it must be fresh, not canned) pineapple each day, and didn't have any bruising with eyes and very minimal for shoulder. I'd read that some people take Arnica tablets for preventing or limiting bruising, but I felt like eating the pineapple would be the safest. I also purchased some bruise cream ahead of time from the drug store and applied that 2-3 times a day before each surgery. Eye surgeon was very surprised I had no bruising, but we are each different too. The question is, if 1 cup/day worked for eyelids, how much pineapple do I have to eat a day for prophylactic bilateral MX? Sounds like a whole pineapple LOL. On a serious note, it truly is a blessing to be able to come to this website and read everyone's stories. For me, knowledge is power, and being as informed as I can helps me stay calmer, and be better prepared for all that is to come. Prayers for each and every one of you as you proceed on this journey!
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kandyhunt, thank you for the kind words, we were in seaside in northern FL and the beaches were so beautiful and warm (unlike what I’m used to in Boston) so I was desperate to get in but certainly not worth the risk! I asked multiple times about flying since I’ll be on a plane a few more times between now and 12 weeks, but surgeon said I can still fly and have blood draws with no risk (well 1% risk she claims) I was skeptical, but I am not a doctor so listening to her.
Borogirl- I ate fresh pineapple the week leading up and right after. According to a friends mom whose had two MX ( one on each side two years apart) pineapple made all the difference in her healing and allowed her to get her drains out two weeks sooner. I thought, why not? I love it anyways, especially fresh. I had no bruising and drains came out eight days post, had to keep the other two in until the following week because of my doctors protocol (only takes two at a time) but they were all ready. I was shocked at the lack of bruising because my skin will literally bruise if you tap it because I’m so pale I’m nearly blue. No joke. So, maybe there is something to it after all. I’ll be stock piling pineapples before my exchange surgery! 😂
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I so appreciate hearing how everyone is doing, tough times and triumphs alike. This is a sisterhood across the country that I have come to respect and admire. I would love one day for us to all meet somewhere in person to see each warrior on this thread.
I just returned from a few days at the beach. My brother lives two blocks away in Southern California and it was wonderful to spend time with him and be soothed by the sand and surf. He has had such a difficult time with this - he could barely look at me after surgery. He, as many men are, is a fixer and he couldn't fix this himself. So our time together was more like old times. I even dared a few roller coasters at Disneyland but boy were they a way different experience than before!
I watched the sunset each night. Through all this I am finding a greater appreciation for the beauty around us and in us and am learning to let the little stuff go. I head up to Washington next week for a few days with a friend to experience crabbing, meet her sister's camel named Banjo - yup, a frickin' camel - and sit by the ocean again. Then it's back to work full steam ahead on August first for the new school year. I'm a little worried about my stamina not being up to snuff. I'm used to high energy 12-13 hour work days with very little down time. I'm slowly trying to get into some exercising and change of diet because the surgery wreaked havoc on my muscles and stomach. Any suggestions?
Stay strong, ladies!
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Borogirl- Arnica tablets for preventing or limiting bruising, i used them and the cream but my PS and main surgeon was amazed by the lack of bruising. i also heard it helped with pain so I was popping two at a time about every 4 hours as in Florida you get 3 days of pain meds and that's it.
Michi- I lived near Seaside before I moved to Central Florida. they have the best beaches there. I miss them a lot. The water up there is cleaner than here.
SN75-- Roller coasters at Disneyland. How far out are you from surgery. I am having a hard time going over bumps in the roads still and the seat belt of the car. LOL
I agree about looking at my life different and I am appreciating the small stuff more.
We are going on a short trip to Fort Lauderdale August 6th before school starts. I am looking forward to sitting on the beach and not having anything to worry about. I am a bit leery of sleeping on a real bed. Haven't gotten there yet. I have tired several times and last about an hour. Anyone have any good ideas?
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For those doing reconstruction, are you going to have some fat grafting done at the time of surgery? I can’t decide what I want to do!! Give me some pros and cons! I’d like to have a softer more natural looking finished product, but I don’t what to be recovering with two surgery sites either. I’m finally back to normal activities from my May 21 surgery, I don’t want to extend post surgery limitations either (not sure if lipo would give me any more restrictions) thanks ladies!!
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SLL101984, I am having my Stage 2 surgery this Friday. My PS is going to do fat grafting and will be taking fat from my hips for better proportions. I have not had liposuction before but I can imagine that I will have soreness in my hips. I am not expecting to experience pain in my breast since I can’t feel anything.
He said recovery time is about a week. I have read that most take 1-2 weeks to recover. This recovery will be a walk in the park compared to my BMX with DIEP. Besides, I am taking advantage of my insurance covering this and especially this year since I have met my deductible!
Good luck
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SLL I loved seeing the picture of your little one. She's so cute. My "baby" turns 5 on Thursday. I can't believe he's getting ready for kindergarten.
Michi, beautiful family photo at the beach. We're also at the beach (in Delaware) this week and not getting in the ocean is tough. Thie humidity, sand, sun, and a bathing suit that doesn't exactly fit my expanded chest make things a little uncomfortable. But we're still having fun. SN75, I cannot imagine getting on a roller coaster right now. My back and chest could not handle it.
I am doing the fat grafting at the time of my reconstruction if my PS can get enough fat. I'm pretty convinced I have enough on my tummy - after two kids, who doesn't? She told me the recovery would just feel like a bad bruise for a few weeks. I figure after everything I've been through, what's a little more discomfort and I'd like it to look good (or at least as good as possible) after all this. She encouraged it because my skin is so stretched and I'm so thin that this will help fill me out and give me a smoother more natural look. The only big restriction is no pool for a month which really kills the rest of my summer. My surgery is a week from tomorrow so I'll let ya know how it goes.
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I only did two roller coasters and that was it! It was definitely eventful, but worth it as I had a few good laughs! I literally held on to my foobs as we turned the corners. I am seven weeks post surgery. Walking around and going on rides actually put me over the hump of feeling like I'm closer to my old self again. While I'm listening to my body and resting when I need to, I'm also nudging myself to get going again. It's still day by day but I'll take all the good ones I can.
I asked my PS about fat grafting and he said I wouldn't need it but I'm also concerned about needing it down the road.
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- ReadyAbout - So glad you got out of the hospital in time to have a special night with friends. How are you feeling now? Is the infection clearing up?
- SLL - Not nosey at all on the questions! Let me look a couple things up to make sure I am remembering everything right 🙂
- SN75 - Wow, those are some exciting adventures. Would love to see a picture of the camel when you return...is it a pet????
- KandyHunt - I am still in the recliner, but I have noticed that i am turning and sleeping on my side for part of the night there so i am hoping that i am getting close to back to a normal bed. I tried once this week and like you i only made it an hour. It has something to do with my torso not being a bit elevated it seems.
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I could not sleep in our recliner, not enough back and neck support for me. I went to BBB and bought a memory foam wedge pillow. I put my regular pillow on top of the wedge pillow, put a pillow under my knees and a pillow under each arm. The wedge elevated me enough and an added bonus...it solved my sleep apnea!
I continue to use the wedge, pillow under or between my knees and I hug another pillow to my chest when I sleep on my side
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back from my PS today for my pre op appointment (surgery isn't until sept 18th) said she would do fat grafting and generally does them on all her exchange patients to give that more natural look. She explained she wouldn't need much fat since the fat she puts in there needs a blood supply and my foobs won't be able to handle much and “survive". She said this would be the most painful part of the exchange and I would be bruised and sore for a week. Scar will be very small, 1 cm ish.
Naturally, I asked her to suck all the fat out of me and just dispose of the rest or donate it. Will keep everyone posted as to whether or not that happens but am hoping to wake up looking similar to Angelina Jolie after her BMX!😂
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ReadyAbout: That is funny about your friends smuggling you a fix!
Thank you everyone for the support.
One07: THAT is EXACTLY it! You have no idea. Out of body, out of my mind and needing Xanax, and a drink!! LOTs happened in the past few days which explains my growing anxiety over the lack of support these past few weeks. I'll explain next.....
Okay everyone, so my "friends" name is Damien. No longer going to protect him with a nickname. I don't even know where to begin. But, sum it up this way, during my surgery and recovery, he decided to sleep with my new employee whom I hired to help in my absence. He is her supervisor and of course, MY roommate and I have supported him for many years financially, emotionally, putting a roof over his head, seeing him through a prison sentence for numerous DUI's and during his release and recovery. He thanks me by effing my employee while I am home recovering from my mastectomy. Too add insult to injury, I was back to work very quickly and working closely with BOTH of them and they played this rues for weeks! They barely spoke, in fact, I never saw them speak at work. She would text me in the evenings telling me how much she admired me, and loved her job, and thanked me for hiring her and saying how she wanted to make me proud. Meanwhile, she is with DAMIEN. They are of course drinking together which is against his parole stipulation. So, I'll be reporting to his parole officer that he is drinking. Anyhow, needless to say, I fired them both and there has been lots of nasty drama since. I had to block them both from my phone and social media accounts. I only had suspicions, and was REALLY stressing with how to deal with it at work, until PRESTO, he forgets to close his email on my PC at home. I find these lovely snapshots. Then he has the nerve to tell my they take pity on me because of my CANCER and my "appearance"(due to the surgery). I am beyond, out of body at this point. So now, I am dealing with the BC and working full-time to cover his and her shifts, meanwhile trying NOT to do to much physical lifting. Their jobs require a LOT of lifting and physical work. I will be so glad when this year is OVER.
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FaithsMama, I'm really sorry that Damien and your other employee treated you that way. Well done for firing them but I hope you can get other people to help you with the workload. No wonder you're finding things hard and I hope things get better for you very soon. You deserve someone better!
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- Bella2013 - That is great that your sleep apnea was resolved with the new sleeping plan! Praying for your surgery tomorrow!
- FaithsMama - ☹ so very sorry on the whole mess. Please be careful on the lifting, over-doing it and stressing out. I hope that you can find a new reliable employee quickly and can get some physical and mental rest.
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SLL - I originally had genetic testing in 2014 before I had any diagnosis. Due to my paternal grandmother's early cancer and my dense breast tissue, my gynecologist suggested it and referred me to a Genetic Counselor. They got approval from my insurance and I had 3 appointments and the testing itself. The intention was that I would only need to pay my $25 co-pay. There ended up being an issue and my insurance company did bill me for everything, but the genetics office had a good record trail of the approval and fought it for me and got everything paid for except 1 visit which came to $150. I did not have any genetic mutations.
After my diagnosis this year, I was referred back to the same Genetic Counselor. She said that insurance only covers the genetic testing once so if I wanted to pursue it again, it would have to be out of pocket. The original company that did the testing offered a free one-time recheck that would include an additional number of genes that had since been discovered. However, the new company that the Genetic Counselor was using had a more comprehensive panel of 83 genes and the out of pocket cost was only $250 so I chose that route. As an interesting addition, if i had tested positive for any of the genetic mutations, the testing company automatically offers the same panel testing to any 1st degree biological relative (parent, sibling, or child) for free if they complete in a certain time period. I believe it was a few months. Surprisingly, however, I still did not test positive for any of the genetic markers.
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spdgirl- thank you! Very good information! I guess it won’t hurt my sister to ask, the worst thing they’ll say is they won’t cover it. Hopefully because of my young age at diagnosis it will be covered for her.
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Experiencing my first side effect from tamoxifen. I’ve been on it since June 18, and had my period like clockwork on July 4, well I just got it again yesterday. I’ve always been regular, hopefully it get back to every 4 weeks otherwise this is going to be annoying every 2 weeks for the next 10 years.
Side note....discovered the magnetic backing for my name tag at work sticks to my expander foobs!
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Oh that stinks SLL! I have no advice but hoping it will work itself out and go back to normal. I can't imagine it would be like that for 10 years.
I have my exchange surgery tomorrow. I'm feeling very anxious today and can't eat a thing which probably isn't good. I'm happy to get the expanders out but my back has finally stopped hurting and I'm pretty much at full range of motion again. I'm dreading the possibility of drains again and being restricted in arm movements. Plus it's permanent. I was ok with the expanders looking like pancakes because it was temporary. But I know this is vain and I'm happy to be cancer free - believe me - but I just want to look decent too. And I'm worried about pain from fat grafting too. Gah!
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SLL--- Now I wish I had a badge for work. I think when I get home tonight I'll see if the chip clips do the same thing.
I am feeling so much better. I have been able to go to work, cook dinner and feel somewhat normal. I am still sleeping on the recliner. But I am OK with that as long as I can start feeling this good.
ljm33- good luck with the exchange surgery. Will they keep you over night?
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Hi ljm33,
I had my exchange surgery with fat grafting on July 3. Mine are prepectoral, above the muscle. My surgery was 2 hours. No drains:-). Virtually no pain. Was off Tylenol 2 days later. Lipo areas felt like bruises. Really no pain to speak of at incisions. Followed doctor’s orders. No shower for 48 hours. Could not lift arms over head for 2 weeks. No lifting, pushing, pulling more than 10 pounds for 3 weeks. 3 weeks in compression garment. One additional week of not lifting over 10 pounds overhead. Worst issue was boredom which is a great problem to have, all things considered.
I hope you do great and have a fantastic result
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Greetings from Antibioticsville, Population: Me
I saw my PS yesterday, one week after being out of hospital for infection. I've been on two antibiotics at home for the past week. The good news: the infection looks much better, which he wasn't expecting. We both thought I would be having surgery this week to take the expander out. Not-so-good news: infection isn't totally gone so it's another week on antibiotics. I can't do exchange surgery until this infection is resolved for at least a month or two, so it's frustrating. And we had to cancel my only trip this summer, which hit me really hard. We were supposed to fly to a bluegrass festival in Oregon but had to cancel since the infection wreaked havoc on my white blood cell counts and endurance. I am a teacher and normally I have all kinds of adventures in the summer - instead, I've only made it outside the city limits once since May. Waah waah... first world problems.
In the meantime, I'm prepping today for colonoscopy tomorrow because turning 50 is fun! I'm quickly learning that doing a "cleanse" while on strong antibiotics isn't the easiest way to do things.
The one bright spot is being able to wear my magnetic employee badge on my tissue expanders when I report for work Aug. 9. It's the little things...
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- SLL - ugh, I am sorry for the cycle change. I have been curious about how surgery itself alters our hormones. I have not started Tamoxifen, but since surgery I have been having my cycle every 3 weeks instead of 4. 🤔
- Ljm33 - I don't think anything is vain relating to cancer, breast surgery and everything involved! Praying for your surgery tomorrow.
- ReadyAbout - ☹ I am so sorry about that all, including colonoscopy prep! I am surprised they are still doing it.
All you ladies and your magnetic nametags - hilarious! The possibilities are endless. 🤗
Had my 2nd massage today. I wish I could have them every day! She does an excellent job at working the incision area and all the associated muscles. Potential good news - I had my 1st chiropractor appt since surgery. I am a long standing patient there and chiropractor was so surprised I wasnt doing PT. He said he thinks he can refer me himself. He is out of town the rest of week though, so it may be awhile.
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Hi everyone, thank you for all your kind words and advice for the exchange. Surgery went well according to the PS. She filled me to 400 cc which surprised me. I told her she could make me a little bigger (I was at 330) but didn't quite expect that. I'm very tall so I think it's ok. I haven't taken a good look yet as I know it's early and things need to settle. They don't look that much different from the expanders. Still a little swollen.
I'm quite sore today - particularly around my chest cavity and armpits. That was a little discouraging since everyone says this is the "easy one". Can't move my arms again without a lot of pain and I feel like I'm back to step one so back in the pain meds for now.She did take two spots from my belly for fat grating which is also sore but not terrible. Trying to to remind myself it's only 24 hours post surgery.
SPD - a massage sounds heavenly right now. Glad you could enjoy. And those stories about magnetic badges at your expanders made me laugh on a day I needed to smile.
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Hi ljm33!
Great news that your surgery is done. So sorry to hear that you are having pain! Hopefully it will ease up for you soon!! Sending good karma and positive healing thoughts your way.
As for the size, the expanders take up room. Mine were each the equivalent of 85 cc’s. My PS took that into account when we were picking implants.
Keep us posted!
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I discovered that magnets stick to my foobs too! So funny! I am back from a nice trip to Washington. TSA was interesting. Sometimes when they look at the image they get a funny look on their face like they have no idea what they are looking at and what the heck to do next. For the most part though, flying went smoothly.
Here is a picture of my friend's sister's camel named Banjo. She is raising him to be a therapy camel. On top of that she has a llama, a talking bird, and a poodle that does tricks. It was quite the adventure! Made me feel good to get away before I start back at work. I'm a little nervous about my stamina and frame of mind. Still not quite up to my old self.
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sn75, thanks for sharing the camel picture, awwww! I'm glad you got away before going back to work. I hope your stamina increases day by day. When do you go back?
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Aussiecat: Technically I'm not due back until August first but I start tomorrow. I did a week earlier in July that was mostly at home. I'm taking on a larger school next year as principal and being the planner and organizer I am, I've gotten going on a lot of the things needed to get done. Once August 1 hits, I am in full day meetings with little time to do other stuff before kids are back August 22. I'm excited to go back, but nervous that I'll disappoint others because I'm not at my best. Gets me to the point of sobbing at times. Not sure what to do about that being the badass warrior I usually am! Here's another pic with the scarf I bought the sister. We were wrapping him in it
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sn75, you sound very organised, well done! I'm worried about you taking on too much too soon though. I hope there are others that you can lean on for help if you need it. I feel sad that you end up sobbing sometimes but I hope it helps you to feel better afterwards. You can always tell us how you're feeling if you're finding work and recovery difficult. Awww, another cute pic, LOL!!
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I think my magnetic was not strong enough. I couldn't get it to stick.
Readyabout-- I am so sorry having to prep for a colonoscopy on top of every thing else.
SimoneRC-- Exchange surgery. I dream of the day.
I had my 4th fill yesterday. I now have 550. The nurse said I could go as high as 850 with an overfill at 900. I am getting a fill again on Aug 6th. As we are going on a short vacation driving to Fort Lauderdale Beach for a week. Should be fun and relaxing. My husband and I usually go and have been going for a while. This is will be the first time we have taken our new son. We adopted him in May. He is 16. I hope there are other kids there for him to hang out with. He has only been to the Atlantic Ocean twice. Once on Spring break with us and once with some friends, This trip will be my reward since we didn't get to go to Disneyland like we had planned on before the cancer was diagnosed. Since I am not allowed to fly according to my doctor.for 12 weeks after surgery. Crazy.
This fill has not been too bad. I think I am getting the hang of it. I am working most days at the office. Yesterday I had to meet a handyman so I tool work home so after my fill I went to the house. when the handyman left I went and did a few errands and then went shopping for a few new tops. Has anyone else notice the weird shape of your foobs? Mine look like big egg shape things.
Sending out good vibes to all.
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