December 2019 Surgery Group
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Hi badluckbdaygirl. we are surgery twins! I had my surgery the same day. My tissue expanders don’t hurt anymore but I was wondering how often you are getting fills done. My first was on Tuesday and my next isn’t until he 22nd and the just put in 100cc. My expander that was filled actually feels better after being given some fill. Your aches and pains may be pressure from your muscles and skin expanding. Hopefully it will be short lived. We’re you given any muscle pain relievers?
Happy weekend. Be 💪
Jul
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FLnana2,
Thank you! It’s nice to know of someone that had it at the same time. My first fill was actually Monday and mine was 100cc’s as well. They did 220cc’s at surgery. I’m not sure how many are left. I just still feel so tight. Sort of want to finish sills so I can schedule exchange surgery.
I did just get back from my first appt with a nutrition counselor. I loved her and made my mind at ease. She was a few years older than I am and was a “everything in moderation” type. I have read so many conflicting studies on what to eat or not to eat for my type of cancer. Ugh. I also asked her about the latest fad diets, which I have been guilty of doing in the past. I need to lose a few pounds especially after the last few months, but I got scared because as much as I wanted to drastically change my diet and cut out all sorts of things, I think moderation, less sugar, etc. is the way to go. She made me realize that what I believed all along that a lot of cancer is a crap shoot. Exercise more, make healthier food choices, etc. is the best thing to do. She gave me calories and sugar parameter, etc. I feel like I’m on the right track and am so tired of looking up conflicting studies
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Hi December Ladies. I haven’t been online in a few days, so catching up on everything. Tuesday was “Doctor Day” - got my drains out in the morning, then saw my PCP in the afternoon for a checkup. My BS says I’m healing wonderfully. The best thing is she said it was ok for me to sleep on my stomach again as long as I keep the binder on. So, after 2 weeks of only getting maybe 2-3 hours of sleep a night (with no naps during the day) I am finally sleeping through the night! Saw my oncologist yesterday and I now have the bottle of Tamoxifen ready to start taking tonight. I’m going to try taking it at 8pm every night to start to see how it affects me.
I wish you all quick healing and hope the pain lessens with each passing day.
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I’ve forgotten, has anyone in this group had lumpectomy and not mastectomy
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The breast surgeon called about my drain that has been in for 4+ weeks. She told me to take it easy with my arm, wrap myself in a compression bandage, and apply ice. Now I have an appointment with her on Tuesday. Fingers crossed that this darn thing will stop draining so much
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TexasMama, so sorry you're still struggling with that stubborn drain! Sending positive energy your way that it can come out soon!
Wishing everyone continued healing!
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TeriJ, yes, lumpectomy here. Doing well, small bit of swelling left.
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Rosie24: did u have a node removed? I’m having some strange aches in my affected arm. Plus the occasional surprise pains in my breast. Are you getting those? Are u doing radiation? I’m happy with my recovery and have started playing tennis but am worried the rads will affect my activity level. How about you
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Does anyone have any information or advice on when and how to minimize scars? I’ve read coconut oil, vitamin E oil, castor oil but wondering when to start and if it’s worth the trouble. Any help will be appreciated!
Hope you all are well this morning!
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TeriJ,
I had a lumpectomy with 3 lymph nodes removed 12/11/19.. I’m doing well, yes I have had strange sensations in my arm and back. I still have a slight bit of swelling. I find doing the stretching exercise is very helpful. I’m back to doing whatever I feel I can, yoga the gym etc. I will be starting radiation next week. Can’t possibly be worse than chemo was for me....looking forward to having it all behind me. Spring is coming🌷🌻🌹
Kate
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Shelligirl: I was told to gently massage the tissue deeper under the scar but not until two wks after it has healed. I have seen quite a lot of different recommendations as to the timing of scar massage. I just sent my surgeon a message to ask about this myself.
Katiekins: I’m glad to hear you are back to being active and I hope you continue to improve. Good wishes for you with the rads.I just heard from my MO that my Oncotype was very low and I don’t require chemo! Consequently, I moved my radiation appt up a week and will seeRO this Wednesday. I’m ready to be finished with rads, however, I’m in no rush to begin hormone therapy. Ugh!
I hope all of you are having a bright Monday. Hoping for drain removals and positive results and less pain and more range of motion for all of you.
Hugs, Teri
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Hi Shelligirl, my PS recommended 100% medical grade silicone gel (rubbing it in) or strips to minimize scarring which I started about 3 weeks after surgery after my incisions were healed well. You might check with your surgeon to see if they have a specific recommendation.
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TeriJ- Horray for your low Oncotype score!! 🎉🎉🎉 I hope everyone else soon hears the same news.
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Teri, yes I had one node removed but the pathology showed non-malignant so that was it. I’m under ongoing treatment since I’m stage 4 and have responded very well. Studies show removal of primary tumor is beneficial for stage 4but radiation not conclusive. So I have to decide. Yes I had lots of weird twinges!
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Hi TeriJ,
I had a lumpectomy & have exactly the same Stage, grade & receptor status. I'm still waiting for my Oncotype so I know how wonderful it must be to have a low number.
Do you still have itching? My itching has intensified the last several days. I don't have any rash or redness so I think Its just the nerves reattaching.
Good luck with your rads. I hope that will be my road ahead.
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good morning,
I hope everyone is healing well. I did get my oncotype results last week and no chemo needed- yay!
The radiologist did leave me in a strange spot with respect to radiation though, and it took me a few days to process. My case for radiation is not black and white, each factor on its own wouldn’t require rads. But with the combination of size, margins and microscopic traces of cancer in the nodes she wanted me to weigh the pros and cons of radiation. I think the biggest factor for me is difficulty with surgery and reconstruction in the future.I have decided to go ahead with the radiation for my own peace of mind to hopefully reduce the chance of the cancer returning. Too much to lose if it comes back.
Will anyone else be having reconstruction after radiation?
Texasmama I hope you’re making progress with that stubborn drain!
Well, back to work next week for me. Hope I’m not too exhausted!
Hugs to all and continued progress
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Hey all! I got my one and only fill yesterday. They put in 350cc at surgery and added 50cc to each yesterday. With my stretchy skin that is all he will do. I’m scheduled for implant replacement on 3/26! And, due to my excessively stretchy skin, I won’t have nipples reconstructed, just going with a 3D tattoo. Because in two years having little droopy nipple nubs seems depressing.... But, I have a plan.
Today i took all my old bras out of my drawer and put them in a box. I don’t know if I will ever wear them again or not, but for right now, I’m putting them under the bed. A lot of emotions in that box for some reason.
I’ve been talking online to my husband’s cousin who was just diagnosed with the same rare cancer I have, but her initial biopsy came back malignant. She is in the UK, so it’s a different system there. Are any of you in the UK?
My healing from the mastectomy is good scar-wise. I haven’t really worried about it since they will have to cut again in the same spot. The silicone I recommend. Along with massage. But a lot comes down to genetics. I do have all my after care scar stuff already for my implant procedure. I don’t scar badly, luckily. Also remember to sunscreen the heck out of scars even under clothes for the first year.
I hope everyone’s day is going well
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RhodyGirl55- Yay for no chemo!! I’m also going to do radiation, but I’ve already done my reconstruction. I’ll probably need an adjustment after rads.
Tomorrow will mark my five week anniversary with this blasted drain. I saw my surgeon yesterday. She wrapped me in a compression bandage and told me to ice under my arm and take it easy with that arm. If the output doesn’t go down in the next few days, she’ll try a surgical intervention. I really don’t want to do that
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Hi
I haven’t posted because I’m in a dark place. My initial diagnosis was DCIS. We decided on a right breast mastectomy, surgery was ok, I struggled with the drain and an infection of the incision, that all cleared up with antibiotics. I saw BS last week and he thought he had gotten everything, margins were clear, lymph nodes were negative. I met the oncologist today and have Stage 1A, Luminal B ER+, PR-, HER2+ cancer. He wants to do 12 weeks Paclitaxel and 17 cycles of Trastuzumab. He said this is preventative in case there are cells floating around, the side effects are brutal the first being heart damage. He also said 75% of woman with my diagnosis have no further disease in the next 10 years. He wants to do the treatment in case I’m one of the 25% that has reoccurrence. I’m extremely sensitive to medications, I couldn’t take the pains meds they gave me after surgery so I took Tylenol and it worked. My fear is I will have terrible side effects to the chemo and it will do nothing in the long run. The onco could not tell me what happened to the 75% who didn’t take therapy. If any of you have knowledge or experience I’d love to hear it
Thanks
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Kjl hammie99- I am so sorry that you have received difficult news. I don’t have any knowledge about luminal b cancer, but below I put a link to the Her2 positive section of this forum. I’m sure the ladies there have some insight that might be helpful. I hope you get the answers you need. 💜
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Thank you TexasMama I’m going to check that link.
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Kjl_hammie99 I’m sorry to hear your news. I don’t have information to share but just wanted to offer encouragement and positive thoughts ❤️
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Thank you RhodyGirl
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Kjl_hammie99,I’m just thinking about you and wanted to let you know. Virtual hugs!
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Thank you PTAmom.
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I met with my MO today and learned that I will be receiving chemo. I’ll have a port put in and then should start chemo on the 31st. Fortunately, I’ll only need to do four, three week cycles. I guess it’s time to start shopping for caps
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i just met with my MO, and because of my residual disease (I did 4 months of neoadjuvant chemo) he wants me to do another YEAR long course of chemo (on top of 5 weeks of radiation). Super disappointed
Did anyone have leaking problems with their drain incision? I'm at 3 weeks, and this week I've had leaking (just enough to saturate the dressing that I change twice a day) but my output is still too high to remove. My surgeon prescribed prophylactic antibiotics 4x a day which seems unnecessary to me; I dont wanna destroy my good flora RIGHT after i got it back after chemo! The nurse this week said everything looks great and gave me lots of extra supplies including antibacterial xeroform gauze dressing, so I'm holding off on taking the antibiotics for now and just continuing to be super sterile and careful with dressings.
I don't think it's a coincidence that the leaking began right after I started feeling good enough to do some light housework again (I haven't been given an OK on physical therapy or raising my elbow above shoulder yet), I don't think I'm overdoing it but I want to be able to at least do laundry and clean up after myself, I'm going crazy being so sedentary (& my partner has been great about cooking & cleaning, but I definitely have higher standards of cleanliness than her! Lol) Guess I'll try to sit around and not use my arm too much this wknd...
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Heartshapedbox- That’s some rough news. I’m sorry.
Yes, I’ve also had leakage around my stubborn drain. It’s been in for five weeks so my doctor has me on antibiotics also. For the past couple of days I’ve been we using compression and ice, and I’ve been trying not to use that arm. It has helped bring the output down. I hope I’ll get this blasted thing out on Monday!
When do you start chemo?
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Hi TexasMama and HeartShapedbox
I too struggled with the darn drain. It leaked from day one of surgery and had to have the gauze changed 3x/day. I followed all the exercises in my breast surgery book, those exercises began within 24 hours of surgery. By week two I was cleaning bathrooms and dusting, and doing stretches over my head, well that all came to a halt when my output went to 80ml/day. I was then told to stop everything and no elbow above the shoulder. At week 3 the drain was removed and 5 days later was at the BS to have 50ml drained and put on antibiotics. After 4 days of antibiotics there was no more fluid draining and the drain site finally closed.
Long story you are not unusual for drainage at the site and TexasMama I hope the antibiotics help reduce output and the drain can come out. HeartShape try to keep that arm quiet and hopefully avoid the antibiotics.I'm so sorry about the news you both have received my oncologist also wants me to do a 12 week course of chemo with 17 cycles of Trastuzumab. It's frustrating
Stay strong 💪
K
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Hi Everyone, this is my first reach-out to this awesome community. It's great to see so much support, knowledge and experience being shared!
I had a bilateral MX in Dec and have TE's in, on my second fill. It just seems that the TE on the affected side is noticeably more uncomfortable, like it feels it like it hangs differently. It's hard to explain. Is anyone else experiencing something similar?
Thanks for any insight!
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