March 2022 Surgery
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Nipab, I didn’t expect drains, but I’m pretty sure my i incisions are less than she described earlier. With Good point about drinking lots. I’d forgotten that. Hope your chemo goes well.
My day started out with my Daisy dog who did something she shouldn’t have, failed fence climb or ??? Resulted in a nice gash in her chest. So she will have the stitches I didn’t get. Glad I was well enough to drive her there. Still have to go back to pick her up when she is done. Chilling on the couch til then
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SarahMaude, So happy it went well! Been thinking about you!! And isn't it crazy how things happen like with your Daisy? We have had so many crazy things happen today, I literally laughed until I cried with some of it.
Had my re-excision today. I have to say it was a bit more challenging than the first lumpectomy, but since they did sentinel node biopsy as well with this one, that may have a lot to do with it. The radioactive shot for the SNB burned pretty bad going in, but only for a few seconds, so not too awful. I apparently had a reaction to the blue dye they use coming out of surgery. The nurses started calling me Smurfette because my entire body turned blue. I then turned red and started itching all over. Benedryl seemed to help. But I went back to blue and stayed pretty blue skinned for awhile. I also was really swollen, to the point my husband opened my door in recovery room and stopped to turn around because he thought he was in the wrong room and didn't recognize me. My face looked like a really bad plastic surgery/botox job. When I got home, I had gained 5 pounds! Losing it again now as the fluid goes through. I will say I am really skinny, so it's probably more noticeable on me. The blue-skinned boob and peeing blue is interesting though.
Pain was a bit worse initially than with the first one. But calmed down now. The small SNB incision under my armpit is actually more painful than the big one.
Surgeon did say the sentinel node lit right up and was shining like a Christmas tree so he got that one. Praying now for clean margins this time and negative on lymph node. So glad I'm moving forward in the process.
Hugs to you all!
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Alleycatt5, I’m cracking up at the Smurfette vision. That had to be surreal. I’m glad it passed. My SNB incision is also pretty sore. Ice and pain meds help. I’m very hopeful that I also have clean margins. As much as anything, I don’t want to have to do 3 more days of Lovenox self injections. Those were not my favorite. The injection itself wasn’t as bad as that it made my heart race a little, I was achy around the injection site, and overall, it seemed to zap my energy. I feel so much better today, even though I’m sore.
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SarahMaude, I kept asking (or slurring) for a mirror or for someone to take a pic because I wanted to see it. It must have been really something. I had probably 8 or 10 nurses and techs come by and everyone stopped and said, "Wow! You are really blue!" When I said the other nurse called me Smurfette, they all said it was perfect, because that's exactly what I looked like.
I used to be on Humira for RA and those self injections are bad and I only did them every two weeks. Can't imagine every day. Hoping beyond hope you have clean margins and they don't have to go back in!
I forgot all about the ice. Gonna grab some of those little ice packs now. My hand and arm are still really swollen. Not sure what that's about. Hoping just fluid retention.
(((Big Hugs))) to you!
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Om my all, the blue dye did not do that to me!! I had my left mastectomy in Feb 2022. For sure the three lymph nodes take out under my arm had the most residual pain. The drain came out in a week, but the underarm area was super sore. Today, 6 weeks later it is still a bit sore. The occupational therapist assigns stretches every 3 weeks, so it helps get loose and feel better. My breast was numb. Not a bit of pain to it. I have the skin saving technique and the expander. I was told some numbness might never leave. Very odd. I moved too much, so my breast drain did not come out for 3 plus weeks. I too pray you have clean margins.......mine were, but the tumor came back with HER2 postive.....No longer negative from my 1st and 2nd report.
I might also add that i had my ovaries and fallopian tubes that same day removed. The pain around my middle was like doing to many situps. After not having done any in a decade. I had to roll off the couch where i recuperated. Along with that was the bloat. They cannot get rid of all the gas they put in. It takes easily a week to leave.
As to the injections, my sister has RA and takes them. She says the same about the injections and how much they hurt. She had her tubes and ovaries removed last week as she found in early 2022 that she has the BRCA2 gene! After her surgury they gave her a 30 day set of shots to prevent blood clots???
Thanks all for all the information. Praying for clear margins!!!!!
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Thanks katg! I'm HER2+ as well. It seems like there is so much about all of this to research and try and keep track of! It gets overwhelming!
Has anyone else had problems with swelling after surgery? My face was so swollen afterwards, Ever since then (over 24 hours now), it keeps going up and down. Swelling to the point I don't look like myself and then going back down. It has turned red on my cheeks and forehead too just before it happens and while it's swelling. The swelling is really bad above my eyes/eyelids and forehead and under my eyes. My legs and feet have a lot of fluid and so do my knees, although again, it's swells and goes back down. My ears get really red and hot and itchy too. I've been trying to drink a lot of water to flush some of this out maybe, because I feel like I need to keep my kidneys working well. But this swelling is so strange. Thought some of it may be from the reaction to the blue dye or maybe just they gave me a lot of IV fluids yesterday? Not sure when I should worry about it and maybe call someone?
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Alleycat5, I would call someone now. The swelling sounds allergic. My husband had something kind of similar, med related, not surgical. I think they gave him benedryl and maybe epinephrine. But what you are describing doesn’t seem normal.
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I agree. Do they have a 24hr triage line? I know there is some swelling. My sister said my face had a red flush, but i did not have what you had. In the hospital over night, I had had the two surgeries, so i was nicely numb and medicated. No swelling.
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Thanks SarahMaude and Katg. I think you're right it was an allergic reaction, which makes sense after the all over itching and redness and swelling I had coming out of surgery that they gave me Benadryl for in recovery. I ended up sending my husband for Benadryl last night and took two of them which put me to sleep. Woke up this morning and swelling is gone. If it comes back today, I'll definitely call someone. Thank you!
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Great news! I love that you have a supportive husband. I have 2 cats. Comforting, but not so helpful. i hope your body settles. For me, i have called triage 4 times since August. Always a help and always good solutions.
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Alleycat, I’m so glad the swelling is gone. Make sure you try to figure out exactly what they think caused that reaction. (dye, anesthesia whatever). You want that on your do not use list for the future. And make sure your family doctor and surgeon know that the swelling and reactions continued through the weekend. That was a lot!
Hope today is a better day
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alleycat,
I had weird swelling for about a week. Eyelids, ankles, hands and fingers. I always have some swelling when I have to have an IV but this was worse. I went away at the end of the first week. I didn’t turn blue tho! That’s a pretty impressive party trick
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drains out!! Hallelujah! I did get a little sneak peek at my Oncotype score at the surgeon of 15. That could make things interesting when I see the oncologist next week. I am prepared with grade 3 and node positive that chemo is still likely in my future but it was nice to get a low score
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A low OncoType score is great news! Hopefully it will translate into some easing of your treatment plan.
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Had my one week post surgical follow up. I’d already seen the online pathology report, and was thrilled that I have totally clear margins and my sentinel node is cancer free. The tumor end up being a bit larger in pathology than imaging, so 4 cm on largest measurement. That puts me at pT2 pN0. I’m waiting on my OncoType Dx to see if chemo will or won’t be recommended.
Pathology description also showed the volume removed was equivalent to a peach. I started out as a grapefruit, and am pretty pleased at how normal I look. The surgeon rearranged my remaining tissues and glued the together, so while I look somewhat deflated, there is no divot. I’m fairly bruised, and for that she recommended arnica montana, which is homeopathic. According to the Memorial Sloan Kettering website, the is some evidence it may help clear the bruise on my breast and belly where I had to do the Lovenox injections.At 8 days post surgery, I’m feeling very well. I’m extremely glad surgery is over. I don’t have to see the BSO again until six months from now. I’d say that my armpit incision is as annoying to me as the breast incision. She only took one node, but the incision is about 2 inches long. The purple surgical glue and bruises make me look pretty ugly, but I can see that I’ll likely heal quite nicely.
Now trying to get an appointment with a radiation oncologist. I thought BSO would refer me, but said I could call them. Called the RO office yesterday and it was clear they aren’t set up for patient self referrals. I left a message mid afternoon yesterday, still hadn’t heard back mid morning today. I called the surgeon’s office to ask that they do the referral. Still haven’t heard back. Not too anxious, I know I still have to heal and get an answer on chemo before radiation happens.
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BeginAgain - Happy to hear about the low Oncotype! See below for more on my party trick - would be perfect for Halloween I think
SarahMaude - So happy to hear about your clear margins and negative node!!! I just got my pathology back today from the re-excision lumpectomy (after not clear margins with the first surgery) and sentinel node biopsy, and both of those came back clear too! Clean margins and negative node! So very happy tonight! I see the oncologist for the first time on the 18th. Because I'm HER2+, I feel sure chemo and radiation are in my future. From what I can tell, on pathology my IDC is still at 6mm, so pretty tiny.
Just like you, that underarm incision from SNB is the most painful/annoying part! I think it's because the skin under there just rubs together. I have a bit of a raw spot on it and was a bit concerned yesterday about an infection, so I called the surgeon's nurse and went in and saw him yesterday afternoon. He said it actually looked great, but in an over-abundance of caution put me on an antibiotic since it was a second surgery in 10 days. When asking if I was allergic to any meds, I told him yes to whatever dye he injected me with during the SNB because my face was so swollen after surgery on Friday and continued swelling all day Saturday until I took Benadryl that night. He said he knew I reacted to the dye, because I had a really rare reaction they don't see often where I looked like a Smurf (his words) and my body was blue in Recovery. He said people from all over the hospital came in to see the unusual reaction since they don't see it very often. He said my skin was so blue, the pulse ox they clip on your finger that uses a red light to measure blood oxygen level couldn't get a reading because the blue skin blocked the red light. So all the alarms in Recovery went off and they thought I wasn't breathing.
I'm ready to move forward now with the next steps and get a plan in place.
(((Big Hugs)))
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alleycat5, wow! it is a rare occurrence that even the oxygen measuring thingy could not read! You can announce to the world that you are unique that way! So glad your margins and nodes were clear. Now rest and heal up until your oncologist sends you in another direction.
My margins and nodes were clear too and at 5 weeks, they decided to start chemo. But of course, how can it be that easy that something happens when you decide and make plans?!!! I had redness around the newly reconstructed breast, so the oncologist decided to push chemo until it subsides. Put me on antibiotics and PT started to give me massages to move lymphatic fluids around. It has been three days, looks like one or the other is working. Be careful and ask questions about how to move lymphatic glands.
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So, after 6 weeks of surgery and expander, redness did not go away after 10 days of antibiotics, so last week's consensus was to remove the expander! It has been 10 days since they removed the expander, and I am healing nicely. They found some fluid when they removed the expander. Everything was sent to the lab and the result was a big fat nada! Everything came back clear. I felt like I was robbed of having an expander and then an implant! It would have been one thing to have an infection or bad expander, but to have nothing wrong and still get it removed, is just another punch to the guts!
Well, my chemo starts tomorrow, and now the waiting game begins with what other punches are waiting for me!
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Nipab, I’m sorry they had to undo your progress toward reconstruction. That sucks that there wasn’t any reason found fir your swelling. Good news though that you are feeling better. Gentle hugs and hoping for better days ahead.
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surgery 3/18/22 early diagnosis rbreast. Lumpectomy performed.Mardines clean , node’s clean ,HER2 good. All went well. Surgeon spoke of radiation probably short term only thing needed. Next visit with radiology oncologist who disagrees. Tried estrogen blockers one month with extreme side effects.Still recommended no radiation so no treatment.So very disturbing to have no idea what to do. Radiologist made a snarky uncalled for remark about surgeon right in front of me. Do not trust a professional acting this way. I my 45 year nursing career never encountered a Dr doing this publicly. What to do??
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Hi daisy3dog, and welcome to Breastcancer.org. We're so very sorry for the reasons that bring you here, but we're so glad you've found us and decided to join and post. We're sure others will be by shortly to weigh in. In the meantime, since this thread has been pretty quiet since April, you may want to try to post a new thread in the Radiation Therapy forum where others can reply specifically to your situation.
So sorry for the inconsistent information you're receiving, as well as the inappropriate comments by your team. Have you considered a second opinion with another radiation oncologist? Here's some good info on Getting a Second Opinion.
We hope this helps and that you get some good advice soon! Welcome again and let us know if there's anything else we can do to help!
--The Mods
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