Starting chemo February 2020
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ajminn3, I'm scared because my tummy tuck was so easy. I stopped taking pain meds after I left the hospital and I was back at work on day 21. I only took pain meds leaving work for the one hour drive home since my tummy felt super tight. I hope this one is easy as well.
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"None of my Drs. have mentioned sending me for a PET scan at any point yet. I'll have to ask when and why they use that."
I had to ask for one it's not standard and one of the MO i went to even said he didn't think Insurance would cover it. They did, so I got a PET-CT before chemo which showed there was no cancer outside my right breast.
I don't know why that's not standard, I would think at least 1 PET Scan should be normal.
@ajminn - i took 2 weeks off for surgery. I have a desk job, it's me and a computer and right now the office is closed due to COVID so I'm working remote. I'm hoping thats enough time to get back to work (sitting on my couch with a laptop).
Does anyone know what dictates Chemo success? At first I thought it was all dependent upon tumor size but, that doesn't appear to be the case.
Had my first HP today. The actual infusion time was really quick 1 hour total. Unfortunately, I was still there for 2.5 hours due to office limitations. They cut the number of chairs in half, can only allow 10 people in the lobby at any time and closed the lab so only have 1 person/room for port access.
My labs were low again. My WBC dropped a tiny bit but the infection fighting part (can't remember the name) went up. My Hemoglobin stayed the same and my platelets dropped a tiny bit. Nothing to interfere with HP but, they are a little worried about surgery next week. I'm going for blood work on Wednesday and if they don't like the numbers they're going to send me for a transfusion on Thursday before my surgery. I kind of just want to get the transfusion now, rather than waiting and seeing.
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ajminn3, another question lol. Did you wear a specific type of bra after surgery?
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For the first few weeks I only wore the compression wrap they gave me from the hospital. After that I just wore a flimsy, thin sports bra from Target, which would have never fit or been supportive enough with my original breasts, but my implants are a lot smaller so now my world of bras has opened up significantly. Or I can even go braless because the implants stay perky and I have no nipples. A silver lining when wearing cute tanks and dresses that I wouldn’t have been able to without a super supportive bra before
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ajminn3, I have a lot of sports bras so that's good lol. I'm still undecided if to get nipples or not. I hate the fat that they will always be on alert lol
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After my BMX I found front zip sports bras gave great support and I didn’t have to reach around my back to hook and unhook.
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MNSusan, I have some of those as well because I think I read about them here.
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Did you just use a normal sports bra? I was reading the surgery thread and they recommended from zipper or hook sports bras because you can't lift your arms to pull them over your head
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I had both just a soft/stretchy sports bra and a front zip/closure. I agree with MNSusan about the front zip- easier to get on without too much over head and back reachin
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In addition to zip front sports bras,I also got some pjs that were button-up. There was no way anything was going over my head, especially with drains.
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MNSusan, I got some of those too. Now I'm trying to decide what to leave the hospital with lol
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i bought this and figured it would be the best thing to leave the hospital in
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morrigan_2575, cool. It is unavailable now so I'll look for something like it.
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I think any front zip or button up shirt would be fine. I got the shirt/wrap thingy that had pockets for the drains and only used it once. You can kind of tuck the drains here and there.
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MNSusan, yeah. With my tummy tuck I used to pin them to my shorts or pants.
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I just checked out that mastectomy shirt link. I'm rather amused that the description says,
"to keep you looking beautiful & classy during your mastectomy recovery time"
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LMAO
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a lot of people use a fanny pack for their drains That may be an option if the shirt isn’t a
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believe it or not, I don't have a freaking safety pin in my house. Being lazy I just bought the shirts when I could have bought safety pins LOL
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When I left the hospital they sent me home in a Velcro/stretchy band that had holders for the drains. I wish I had kept it or had a picture...it was super nice and I didn’t have to worry about what to do with the stupid drains! But I agree with MNSusan, any zip or button up was good. It was winter here when I had surgery so living in sweat suits worked perfectly. Not sure what I would have done if the weather was nicer!
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Checking back in after being MIA for the past couple of weeks due to feeling like shit after chemo #6 (final one!!!) of TCHP.
I thought chemo would be hard, and it definitely was. I am down 35 lbs, though I am chubby so could definitely afford to lose the weight.
For the past 4 weeks I have been on a roller coaster of what comes next.
Initially the surgeon was adamant that I needed a mastectomy. I did not like how he used fear to not even discuss a lumpectomy with me.
I switched surgeons. My new one has great bedside manner, and REALLY, REALLY makes sure I understand everything. She thought there was a good chance I could have a lumpectomy.
Then, this past week I had a mammogram in prep for the surgery, plus a breast MRI (3rd one) to confirm the cancer was all gone.
MRI showed a suspicious lump in my opposite breast that was "glowing more" compared to the MRI 9 weeks ago. Freaked me out. My oncologist said she wasn't worried, which made no sense, it is a LUMP.
Talked to the surgeon last night. She is concerned about that lump in my other breast, but is also concerned that they did not put a marker in the lymph node in the axillary tail of my breast that they biopsied that turned out positive for cancer. So, she has no way to locate that lymph node and confirm the cancer is gone. So, between all those things, she thinks I should have a mastectomy instead of a lumpectomy. And, given that there is a LUMP in my other breast, I think I am back to choosing a double mastectomy.
I was so relieved when a double mastectomy was pretty much off the table and a lumpectomy was the plan, so having the lumpectomy off the table and going back to planning to do a double mastectomy is hard. Now I am back to trying to figure out if I want reconstruction, and super confused about what kind of reconstruction I can do given I need to have radiation.
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@TaraMom - Congrats on getting through Chemo. I'm 3.5 weeks out from final Chemo and I'm feeling really good.
Went for my first HP solo treatment and, so far so good. I'm not fatigued, my taste is coming back, a few things still taste funny but it's getting better. I am happy to see that whatever was going on with my mouth seems Chemo not HP related (fingers crossed that holds true).
Surgery is scheduled for Friday, I'm getting a little antsy. I'm excited to get it over with but, a some anxiety has popped up. It's a dumb really but, I have this fear of anesthesia awareness.
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TaraMom22, I'm sorry. That sucks.
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morrigan_25 - my husband is an anesthesiologist. I know some horror movies or stories about it are out there - and he gets asked about it from people with your same fear. Just tell your anesthesiologist and he/she will explain how it all works and how low the chances of that are and how they are constantly monitoring. I'm more worried about not waking up.
I feel like I have to prepare some letters to my kids just in case... but that's also an irrational fear. I also think about where my boobs will go... I picture them "on the loose" in various places and don't like to think about the part where they cut them off and then do what with them??? (Don't answer that, I don't really want to know.) Ach, this is all so bizarre.0 -
"my husband is an anesthesiologist. I know some horror movies or stories about it are out there - and he gets asked about it from people with your same fear"
Thanks. I woke up this morning thinking about it so I Googled. The rate is between 0.1-0.2% that made me feel a better. I just remembered when the stories became a big thing, it sounded so awful.
I will mention it to my anesthesiologist on Friday along with the nausea concern.
" I'm more worried about not waking up.
"I get that one too, although it's less of a fear and more of I should get my will updated, make sure I have my living will type thing
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Does anyone know how the do the sential node thing before surgery? I don’t remember what it’s called but I know they said they would inject a dye to see which lymph nodes lit up as the ones draining first and they would take those out. It’s only been mentioned to me once so I can’t remember exactly how they explained it but will we have to get an IV for that or can they use our port or what
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@hray - From what they told me last week, they inject the radioactive dye into the breast (near the tumor). My injection is at 9am Friday and surgery is at 1pm.
@Taramom - I'm sorry you've had to change your plans. I know lumpectomy is more appealing for several reasons but, with HER2+ BC and something suspicious on your other breast, it sounds like a BMX is the best option
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Taramom22- yay for ending TCHP! I’m 2 weeks out and feeling better everyday. I’m sorry about your surgery. It is disappointing to have the option you want taken away. Hopefully you can figure out a good plan you’re comfortable with.
Morrigan- I was super fearful of anesthesia since my BMX was my first time under. My team was so good to me explaining everything and comforting me (I sobbed the entire way being wheeled back because I was scared...and I’m not a crier!). Next thing I knew I woke up and demanded some lunch lol.
Hray- they injected the dye directly into my breast near the tumor for my BMX. I didn’t think it hurt at all, but needles and shots generally don’t bother me.
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Also for those who have surgery coming up, get ready for a bunch of people to sign your boobs before surgery...I guess when I went in I didn’t realize everyone had to mark me up and sign off...on my boobs. Slightly entertaining during a stressful time
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thank you everyone for the replies. That makes me feel much better. I can deal with them injecting directly into my breast. Having to get IVs are what I try to avoid now. I have terrible veins and chemo has only made them worse. They can never find a good one and most of the time they blow when they do find one so I hate getting IVs it's so painful for me. I know I'll have one during surgery but my dad said they can give me the sleep gas before they do the IV so I'm hoping that is a possibility.
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