January 2020 Surgery Group
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I had my surgery January 9. Many issues but I am getting ready for radiation. It was postponed a week because of excessive swelling. This week I will have a "dry run" as my radiologist described. Here is my concern and I would appreciate any feedback. Since I still have swelling I have difficulty placing my right hand above my head. I am exercising and holding the pose for 5 minutes. After about 2 minutes my hand and fingers "go to sleep" and it is pretty uncomfortable. How long do I have to keep that pose when I am being radiated? I've done all kinds of research on the internet and all I see is that I should plan on 15 -20 minutes because they have to change into gown and they position me. Nothing about the exact time I will actually be radiated.
In another 9 days I am scheduled for a breast MRI. I have tried to lay on my stomach with my arms over my head and my right arm just hurts too much right now. I know that will take 30 - 45 minutes lying perfectly still. I don't know how I am going to get through that.
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Hello all,
I have enjoyed and learned so much from reading your posts. Tomorrow 2/13 I face partial mastectomy right breast, reconstruction, and reduction of left breast to match right. Also sentinel node injection and removal of nodes if positive. I am triple neg, stage 3. I have had neojunctive chemo for last 5 months, tumor is gone, but I want the housing it was housed in to have clean margins. Very anxious and nervous. Never had over night surgery before
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mybestfriends - I don’t have any advice about the radiation.... I am sorry. All I can say if you feel like you aren’t ready to move forward with something talk to your doctor & see if it can be postponed a week or so. Sometimes we just need a little more time but as women we don’t think about advocating like that for ourselves. Maybe it’s not possible due to the urgency of what is going on but don’t worry about inconveniencing anyone. Do what feels right for you. Hoping you feel stronger & stronger every day
Martaj- you’ve got this! I had similar surgery on Jan. 16th. I was so nervous. It’s totally normal. I spent a lot of time preparing how I was going to feel after surgery. Focusing on being able to heal and putting this one step further behind me. The surgery will go quick for you and I went home the next day before noon. Good luck! I will keep you in my thoughts.
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Mybestfriends has anyone mentioned/have you tried physical therapy? It won't do much in a week but it's good for the long run. I don't know how it works with swelling/treatment or if there are restrictions but it has helped with my ROM.
Martaj best of luck with your surgery tomorrow!
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Hey MartaJ, sending you good vibes for surgery tomorrow. It is nerve-wracking and I'd even had several other procedures. This one got to me in a very different way than the others. But mine was definitely worse in the anticipation than it was in actuality... so if you're like me, you're getting through the hardest part right now. Hope everything goes great and they take good care of you.
T-Dahl, I wonder if nausea treatments that are helpful in pregnancy might work? B6 during the day and Unisom at night? Or what about CBD oil? I've heard that can help; not sure what the laws are where you are. Good luck, constant queasiness is the pits.
MyBestFriends, I don't have any other thoughts, but best of luck. Thinking of you.
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lefty- I havetried that. I have B6 sitting right here too. I think I am going to give it a try! And I have noticed when I take something to sleep the next day the nausea isn’t quite as bad (like today so far) I had my expanders filled yesterday and took a Valium because I was so wound up last night (husbands idea 😉) and I really needed to sleep. Woke up this morning groggy but haven’t had any nausea! Thanks for the tip.
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hi all so excited surgery went great, where tumor was margins clean, lymph nodes clean, initial report, will find out end results Wednesday. Very little pain, moving around great! Going home today, all drains removed. Right breast reconstructed left breast reduction. Triple negative breast cancer, stage 3 tumor size before chemo 2 cm, 3 nodes removed
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My Best Friends, I had radiation nearly 3 years ago, so my memory is undoubtedly fuzzy, but my recollection is that you will have to maintain the position for about 10 minutes. Your best best would be to call your radiation onco's nurse, and discuss it with her. You can always delay, if others suggested. Keep in mind that your arm will be in a mold, so that may help you. Best of Luck!
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Marta glad all went well. Hope the same for everyone else
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Welcome, Bluesfan4life! We're glad you've joined our community, and hope it can be a source of support and encouragement for you!
The Mods
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hi ladies, hope everyone is still trucking along & getting better bit by bit. I’m 10 days post op today. Had 3 drains removed day 6, then the last one on day 8. I was so happy to have them out & no longer have to plan for them when showering, getting dressed, etc.
I feel pretty good physically. The last 3 days I’ve been down to one dose of ibuprofen per day. My back is what triggers me taking something. I feel like I’m standing about 85% of the way up. The last 3 nights I’ve graduated to sleeping on two pillows vs the wedge but I dream of the day I can lay on my side again. My range of motion gets better all the time & I'm up & doing a lot more around the house. I drove about 8 minutes to the school for my son’s 30 minute vday party on Friday which involved standing in a hallway the whole time attempting small talk with other moms. I realized as I was leaving it was too much for lots of reasons. By the time I got home I needed ibuprofen & a nap. I know I’m doing well for 10 days out.
The mental recovery is proving harder for me. I’m frustrated by all the things I can’t do & desperately miss my pre-C life. I’m SO lucky I know. I caught my cancer early & was able to treat easier than many. My husband is great & tries to pump me up but he can’t really understand. His greatest fear is me not being happy with the way my body looks (Let’s be real I think his real fear is me not being into sex again, lol). I’ve tried explaining that how I look is not even on my radar at this point. I want my stamina back. I want this bulky, no-clothing-can-hide-it surgical bra gone. I want to be able to walk normally...not shuffle like I do now. I know I need to stay positive & I try but fail a lot in my own head. Hopefully I’ll be able to do everything I could before at some point. I’m not looking for a solution bc I know there isn’t one other than time...I just needed to vent bc I know you ladies can understand. No one who hasn’t gone through this wants to hear you feel sorry for yourself...to them, you had cancer, had it removed via surgery & you’re fine now...end of story. I’m sure I would be the same way if I hadn’t gone through this myself.
We have had some nice sunny, warm weather this weekend which has made me feel a bit better. I’m ready for spring to get full swing, for it to stay warmer & things to green up. Getting outside makes me feel less crazy.
Here’s to hoping for a week of improvemfor all of us!
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Hi momofboys3!
I can 💯 relate to how you are feeling. Although I am a couple of weeks ahead of you, I feel grateful for not having to deal with any other treatments but still wanting everyday to have my life back to where it was.
The thing that I am slowly learning as I sit home day after day recovering, is my life is going to be different from this. I am learning how to embrace it (even the sucky days) and not look back to what was, but to look forward to what lies ahead!I can only imagine that it is more difficult with younger kids, mine are grown & don’t depend on me to be mommy (at least they totally get it). The one thing I can offer is the way I felt at day 10 compared to day 20 was a thousand times better and I thought I was doing pretty good too! I even took a day trip to Disney with my girls just to walk around and it was great!! Hang in there!! You’ve got this! 💖
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I had a left side mastectomy and ancillary node dissection on January 30, no reconstruction. Healing has been going well now that the drains are out. Arm movement is limited, but doing prescribed exercises and stretches every day so hoping it improves as I'm pretty sure I still have to get radiation. Now that it's healing I've noticed that in 3 different spots, there are small pieces of string sticking out of my incision, about 1/4 of an inch long. Not the clear fishing line looking stuff, but actual white string. I don't have my follow up with the surgeon until February 25. I've tried gently pulling on them and they are still attached inside. Is this normal? Will the surgeon just snip them off?
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Momofboys glad those dreaded drains are out! You are entitled to vent, we all are. I agree with you on the mental part. I went through a rough few weeks after MX. Just know it gets better!
Ange no experience with that but I'd call the nurse/office just to make sure.
Hoping everyone continues to recover well
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Good morning all,
Post op day 4 doing well. A bit more sore today than yesterday but once I get moving that will pass I hope. incision lines look good
Momofboys 3 sounds like your doing great. I know what you mean about " okay, cancer is gone or removed, move on". It will still be with us. What we went through, the chemo, emotional, physical, the unknown, surgery. The unknown for the future.
Ange743 it is probably a suture that worked it's way out. physician will clip it.
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Doing well post op, incisions healing. I had 40 ml of fluid removed from axially site yesterday. Seroma. feels so much better I can actually put arm down. Got final pathology report back. All clear margins and lymph nodes!!!! I'm so thrilled. Now onward to radiation in a few weeks.
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Great news Marta! So happy for you.
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Radiation has started and I have done some research to share. 1. EXERCISE. I found a great source from Memorial Sloan Kettering https://www.mskcc.org/ Also I watched a video from www.youtube.com/watch?v=Me1jucc My swelling was causing a tightening in my arm and the exercises really helped. My radiation therapy was postponed 2 weeks because of the excessive swelling. I also used Salonpas pain reliving liquid on my shoulders and muscle to my neck. I had to ask what kind of radiation I was getting. I didn't know there were different kinds. Mine is external beam radiation of the whole breast with hypofractionated radiation. That means I am getting an accelerated dose. The actual radiation is taking about 5 minutes, but getting positioned is what takes a little longer. I have my arms over my head for about 10 minutes max. Unfortunately I am beginning to swell again so I have 3 more weeks to go. Don't know what to expect, but I am keeping up my exercises.
I do have a concern about the radiation. I did not realize they x-ray me every single time before the radiation therapy begins to make sure I am aligned correctly. That's a lot of x-rays when you add all the mammograms and CT scan. I have read that women especially need to be sure their thyroid should not be radiated. I have asked my technicians about covering my neck area, but they assured me that the radiation doesn't go there. I just am very insecure about that. Even my dentist has me wear a special drape before any e-rays on my teeth.
Originally I asked how to prepare my breast for radiation. I was told they would monitor my breast tissue and take care if any problems arise. Since I am a proactive rather than reactive I did research about preparing my breast tissue. Close to 100% of patients get a skin toxicity so I found MIADERM on the internet. My technicians had not hear of it, but it is especially designed for radiation burns. I put it on 3x a day and so far I am doing very well.
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So I ended up at Emergency last night. High fever and fighting some sort of infection. I was given IV antibiotics and discharged with a prescription for oral antibiotics starting tonight. My fever is down now. Thank goodness and my right breast is very sore. Feels muscular but maybe it's the source of my infection in the tissue expander. We shall see. Hope everyone is doing well
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Sorry to hear that Sugar. Hoping everything is okay and you feel better soon.
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Sorry to hear Sugar77. I hope you feel better soon!!
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sugar77 feel better soon.
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sending you some healing vibes Sugar!! 💗💗
Please keep us posted on how you are feeling.
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Off to oncologist this am. Partial mastectomy with reconstruction little over a week ago with lymph nodes. Good thing is all margins are clear. Healing well except for large seroma under my armpit that has been drained twice. This is the only thing that hurts. sutures healing well, breast look great, bruising faded. I start radiation in 2 weeks. I was in clinical trial that will be discussed today if I continued it. I had a major rash last time but they were unsure if it was trial drug or other two chemos I was receiving. I don't know if I need post chemo. I hope not unless it is oral. Doing well. Just need to get this seroma under control.
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Martaj - 💗💗💪🏽💗🙌🏽
Good luck with everything today. Stay strong! 💪🏽0 -
60 ml of fluid aspirated from seroma under armpit. Feels so much better. Considered pathological cancer free. No needed chemo. I had neoadjunctive chemo prior to surgery which shrunk the tumor. and lymph nodes clear. mastectomy right breast with reconstruction. Healing well except for seroma in armpit region where lymph nodes took. That is only thing that bothers me. Recheck tomorrow as it has started filling in again. Going to ask for a drain if they do that. Restart clinical trial drug in 2 weeks. If I develope rash like last time will be pulled from trial. I feel great. Can't wait to get back to gym and want weather here in New England to be a warm spring. Have a great day everyone
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70 ml aspirated from seroma under armpit where lymph nodes removed. 3rd time this week. Anyone else have problems with seromas refilling and what did you do? This is getting frustrating. I am heeling well everywhere else. Becoming discouraged.
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Martaj - sorry to hear about your seroma. I can relate to the discouragement. I still have my right drain and it’s producing over 65 ml per day after four weeks! I’m beginning to wonder if I’ll ever get rid of it.
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Marta and sugar so sorry that you guys are dealing with this. Hope things get better soon!
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Sorry to hear of everyone's complications! Ugh.
I had a good-sized hematoma after my lumpectomy that's fading, but is not gone yet. Re-excision Tuesday, and I suppose BS will clean it out then.
FWIW, I had to get a pre-op mammogram last week and was a little worried about pain, but it was no problem. In fact, I invited the tech to squeeze tighter at one point! Also no abnormalities, so yay.
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