August 2019 surgery support group
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Have a question for those with drains. I have noticed over the weekend that the liquid in my one drain is turning dark. I see my ps later today. Wondering if anyone else has noticed this . I am 11 days out of surgery and while I’m hoping for drain removal, not getting my hopes up. I also feel really sore, but no fever or anything.
Thanks for any input !
Lauren
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Lauren, the liquid in one of my drains turned darker and thicker around day 8. I texted my surgeon with a picture and she said it was normal and not to worry about it. I saw her a few days later and got my drains out. It's probably okay, but good thing you're going in today, so you can find out for sure.
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Thank you LMS!
Laure
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Laurencl
I had some clots and what appeared to be white strands of stuff. The clots I expected, they formed in the tubes and came out when I stripped the tubes each day. The white strands were odd. The surgeon said it was all normal, the white strands were “displaced tissue” as a result of surgery.
I hope you get your drains pulled soon!
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LMS...I hear you about getting used to looking at your chest. I felt like I needed to look; took a small peek and that was enough for the time being. Yes, it's going to take some time, for sure.
Laurencl...that happened to me as well. Seemed like it was getting much clearer and then got darker red again. Hope you were able to get the drains removed.
Purple...Listen, girl. I don't want to speak for anyone else, but terrified is the perfect word for how I've been feeling a lot of the time. None of this is easy, no matter where we are in the process. My motto has always been 'Fake it til you make it' and that's exactly what I'm doing right now. Although I tell people not to worry and that it's all a piece of cake, the reality is that I have times throughout the day that I go into full panic mode. I'm not embarrassed to say that I've gotten script for antianxiety medication to use at these times and it's helped a ton. Like Hope, I also had some great guidance from my breast cancer surgeon who didn't tell me what I should do, just gave me the options and let me take it from there.
Prehistoric...Were you looking for specific podcasts on breast cancer? (Thanks, BTW, for your suggestion!)
OMG, I am soooo bored! I can't really do a whole lot of anything, and I feel like I have way too much time on my hands. I'm big on bread making when I get stressed or bored, but all that kneading is a definite no no. Did ride the trainer for about 15 minutes this morning before my hubby forced me off, which was probably a smart move on his part. Those stupid drains were just swinging away and getting in my way. I have an appointment on Wednesday to get them out. Woot! Looking forward to getting out of the house.
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I'm telling you, boredom needs to be a medically recognized side effect of recovery..... and drains, the annoyance that are drains should be classified as official pains in the a&&.
Sounds like your recovery is going well Arizona. You'll feel amazing when the drains go.
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Hi ladies,
Surgery tomorrow, people keep asking how I feel? To be honest I’m trying not to think about it or have feelings about it! Check in is 5:30am and with the BMX and reconstruction surgery is scheduled for 13hrs 😬
I really appreciate reading about everyone’s recovery and how you’re dealing with pain, drains, and boredom. Thanks for sharing!
See you all on the other side of surgery
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good luck tomorrow AK_btrfly
We’ll be thinking of you
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LOL, Tracy. You know that you're bored when you're looking forward to a hospital date!
Glad that you checked in, AK_btrfly! Best wishes to you . We're all there with you. Check in when you can.
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I guess I should officially register with the surgery list - August 22nd BMX, sentinel node right, bilateral DIEP recon (as long as nodes are negative) feeling OK about it right now, so I must be crazy, LOL. I'm sure panic will set in periodically over the next few days.
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and we’re home! No lymph nodes were taken out bc everything felt normal. Surgeon just personally called me to ask how moms doing. All is good :
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Updating our list, please let me know if I missed anyone. Welcome to all of our new ladies.
August 1 - LMS458412 - bilateral mastectomy w/o reconstruction
August 2 - sagelady - L mastectomy with sentinel node bx
August 5 - tmh0921 - bilateral mastectomy, latissimus dorsi flap reconstruction on my left breast, and tissue expander placement bilaterally
August 5 - Peggy814 - Bilateral Mastectomy
August 5 - trackercs - Re-Excision
August 5 - FTM - Left MX and SLNB
August 6 - okjoan - lumpectomy and axillary node biopsy
August 8 - laurencl - Right mastectomy with tissue expander placement
August 8 - dawns1962 - nipple sparring (hopefully) mastectomy of my right breast and expanders, left breast lifted
August 8 - ik0106 - lumpectomy
August 12 - eveldon - Right MX
August 13 - arizonaboundgal - bilateral mastectomy with no reconstruction
August 16 - prehistoricmom - left lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy
August 19 - ucfknights' mom - bilateral mastectomy
August 19- notdefined - unilateral mastectomy with diep reconstruction
August 19 - Margun - bilateral Goldilocks
August 20 - AK_btrfly - Bilateral mastectomy and free tram flap
August 22 - HopeWins - BMX, SNB, Bilateral DIEP
August 28- CherokeeLady - IORT (being rescheduled - good luck CherokeeLady)
August 29 - Belinda977 - Bilateral mastectomy and Implants
August ? - purple-flower - lumpectomy or mastectomy (reviewing options)
August ? - Nadia_D - right breast mastectomy with tissue expander placement
August ? - Kkmay - mom is having Left Mastectomy
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ucfknights
So glad to hear it went well! I hope her recovery is smooth
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Thank you for sharing drain warriors. Well I’m still part of the drain club, but it was not a shock. One drain is still producing too much. Still a blow, but not a shock.
Looking at my chest area is rough. The first shower, I cried to get it out. I have not really looked too closely again yet.
Purple Flower - like Arizonabound said, I am in and out of panic mode on an hourly basis. Busy trying to convince everyone I’m fine. I don’t think I’m brave, just did not have a choice but to keep moving. I am better busy. Less time to dwell. I was diagnosed in January and there are times I still can’t believe it.
Ucfknights- glad things went well!
AK- good vibes sent for tomorrow!
It’s 100+ in the shade here. Try to keep cool everyone !
Lauren
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ucfknights, yay! glad everything went well & that the dr called
notdefined--ok?
AK_btrfly you got this 🦋
Yes, arizona, I was looking for a BC podcast but now I'm up for ANYTHING INTERESTING! My therapist recommended My Favorite Murder podcast which is very funny but not to everyone's taste. I'm almost through Stranger Things 3 & getting a little desperate for something new! I have knit ALL the things. (And crocheted a few.)
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Dang prehistoricmom, those are great!
I wish I had thought of buying yarn. I crochet, that would have been something to add to my distractions.
I made it to my oncologist appointment today, and I actually got to the grocery store and made my family a spaghetti dinner with garlic bread tonight. Tomorrow I plan on calling my plastic surgeon and pestering them in to signing my work release papers..... I neeeeeddddd to go back to woooorrrkkk....
My first chemo is scheduled for 9/4. I need to escape before someone decides I need more recovery time before then! At this point I'm not opposed to taking hostages to get released LOL
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HopeWins you're right, you will be all over the place for the next few days/weeks. But you are in good company. 🌻
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Hmmm, hostages. What a splendid idea. 🤔
Amazon will be happy to send you yarn of course. 😀
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hi Notdefined . My post did not appear from some reason. You had correct. I had my surgery yesterday.
4 drains and low bl pressure that made me nearly faint but reached to my bed thanks to nueses, sore throat despite any dry coughing despite cough losanges . But I am happy this step is over and my Surgeons does not believe any lymph node involvment bu pathology will tell all. Fast recovery for all ladies
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Margun
So glad your surgery went well, I hope your recovery is smooth.
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Margun and ucfknights - Glad to hear the surgeries went well.
Wow, prehistoricmom! Lots of knitting...amazing! I think I need to teach myself how. I need a hobby besides planning vacations, reading and watching movies. I'm trying to find some podcasts, too, in preparation for chemo. So far all I have in my favorites is David Tennant's podcasts because he is YUM. I have a thing for British accents! I'm a podcast newbie, so I guess I'll gather a variety and see what I like.
Tracy- I hope you get your release papers! I don't have a job, so I'm cleaning the house and organizing stuff to stay busy. And, playing lots of Minecraft with my son! I think my chemo starts next week, so I'm trying to get everything I need.
Still waiting on a PT referral for my cording. Seriously ready to drive to the surgeon's office and demand they make an appointment for me. Sometimes they move so quickly, other times it's like pulling teeth....
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LMS
My kids went back to school 8/5, but in the evenings after homework we’ve been playing Uno and Monopoly. My youngest LOVES Minecraft, but I just can’t LOL
He has Aspergers and one of his current “fixations” is Minecraft. He could probably give a doctoral thesis on the topic (and tries sometimes LOL)
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Adding myself to list. BMX last Wednesday, 8/14 with axillary lymph node removal on left side after 5 months of chemo. No reconstruction planned yet because of IBC, but did have tissue expanders placed. Pain hasn't been bad, more discomfort than anything. Not looking forward to looking at myself after bandages removed, but my surgeon called and said biopsy showed complete response so that is going to help a lot.
Mostly just wanted to say thank you to everyone on here. It's my first post but I've been an avid post reader since i was first diagnosed and everyone's words of wisdom, truth of their experiences, and clever tips helped so much throughout this process. Sending love and gratitude to all.
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Updating our list, please let me know if I missed anyone. Welcome Bklynstoops
August 1 - LMS458412 - bilateral mastectomy w/o reconstruction
August 2 - sagelady - L mastectomy with sentinel node bx
August 5 - tmh0921 - bilateral mastectomy, latissimus dorsi flap reconstruction on my left breast, and tissue expander placement bilaterally
August 5 - Peggy814 - Bilateral Mastectomy
August 5 - trackercs - Re-Excision
August 5 - FTM - Left MX and SLNB
August 6 - okjoan - lumpectomy and axillary node biopsy
August 8 - laurencl - Right mastectomy with tissue expander placement
August 8 - dawns1962 - nipple sparring (hopefully) mastectomy of my right breast and expanders, left breast lifted
August 8 - ik0106 - lumpectomy
August 12 - eveldon - Right MX
August 13 - arizonaboundgal - bilateral mastectomy with no reconstruction
August 14 - Bklynstoops - BMX, Left ALND, Tissue Expanders
August 16 - prehistoricmom - left lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy
August 19 - ucfknights' mom - bilateral mastectomy
August 19- notdefined - unilateral mastectomy with diep reconstruction
August 19 - Margun - bilateral Goldilocks
August 20 - AK_btrfly - Bilateral mastectomy and free tram flap
August 22 - HopeWins - BMX, SNB, Bilateral DIEP
August 28- CherokeeLady - IORT (being rescheduled - good luck CherokeeLady)
August 29 - Belinda977 - Bilateral mastectomy and Implants
August ? - purple-flower - lumpectomy or mastectomy (reviewing options)
August ? - Nadia_D - right breast mastectomy with tissue expander placement
August ? - Kkmay - mom is having Left Mastectomy
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Welcome Bklynstoops
Feel free to jump in and post anytime. All of our experiences are a little different, but it’s comforting to have a place to share.
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Great news ucfknights and Margun! Happy to hear that the surgeries went well.
Officially welcoming you, Hopewins. The surgery will be in your rearview before you know it.
Boo on still having the drains, Lauren. That's disappointing. Hope they're out soon.
Yum. Not too much better than pasta and garlic bread, Tracy. Slurp. Your family must have been psyched. Good luck with those work release papers.
Prehistoric! Wow, very impressive knitting! I've been listening to the Breast Cancer Conquerer lately. Lots of solid advice on exercise, healthy eating, etc. Stranger Things was great this season. I'm sad that I've already watched them all. I watched the movie Long Shot last night with Seth Rogan. It was a funny/silly love story and just what I needed to get my mind off all things cancer.
LMS, Jeez...I'd start harassing my surgeon for that referral. I know that it's very responsive to PT, so the sooner you get in, the better.
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Tracy - My son went back to school on the 12th. We mainly play Minecraft on the weekends. The rule has always been no video games during the school week, but we recently instituted a new rule allowing one evening during the week. I did that for me - if I'm having a bad day during chemo, he can have some fun and his attention won't be on me. He's a happy, cheerful child. Trying to keep life as normal as possible for him as I focus on taking care of myself.
Leah
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We had to limit video game time to weekends too. I’m convinced both of my boys could play around the clock if they were allowed LOL
You have a great point, I need to think of some things that my kids would enjoy doing when I’m not feeling so well, especially my youngest
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Margun, so glad all went well for you
🤗🤗
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I went to PS today. His assistant removed my last drain and he gave my expander it's first fill. I didn't feel a thing. That whole area is still numb. He recommended a gummy bear implant over a regular silicone because of how close to the skin it will be. He said the silicone may show ripples.
I'm so looking forward to sleeping in my bed instead of the recliner tonight. I made dinner tonight and cleaned our downstairs half bath last night. I'm going to try the elliptical tomorrow. I still get wiped out way too easily but I have to build up my stamina.
I hope everyone is recovering well.
🤗🤗
Dawn
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