Preparing for Single Mastectomy
Hi- I have right side ILC and will be having unilateral mastectomy surgery in April. How do I prepare? Looking for tips including products to ease my recovery for both me and my family (My husband and our 10 year old daughter at home/18 year old son away at college, plus we have a young dog). Thanks in advance for sharing your insights.
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I can’t post links but there are several ongoing threads to help you. One is called Preparing for surgery? Start here.
All the best.
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Welcome, @becksaway! We're so sorry for what brings you here, but we hope this community can be a source of encouragement and support for you.
As exbrnxgrl mentioned, we do have several threads in our Surgery forum that you may find helpful. This one in particular, Prepping for Surgery? Start Here! is a very comprehensive collection of resources to help you prepare for your upcoming mastectomy. There are also many, many insightful threads in this same forum, with members sharing their experiences, advice, and recommendations on what helped them before, during, and after their surgeries.
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I had a left mastectomy 9 days ago. I just wanted to share my experiences to perhaps help alleviate some others' fears. I found most of the comments on blogs helpful. From reading some of the comments, I was concerned that I would be in a lot of pain and not be able to take care of myself, but that was not the case. My tumor was very small (8mm). Margins and nodes were clean, so I probably will not have to have chemo. I realize that makes my case much easier than most. But I wanted to share that the post-surgery care was not as limiting or painful as I expected. I stayed in the hospital overnight and most of the next day. I stayed alone the second night with neighbors close. I was able to take my dogs for a walk (no leashes!) the next day, and have continued to walk 2 miles every day. I am also able to do most exercises in a chair yoga routine with minimal pain. I could raise my arm slightly above my head, dress myself, fix meals, do dishes, and shower with ease. I took acetaminophen for 3 nights, but have not needed any other pain medications. I was able to sleep flat after the first week. I am 71 years old, overweight and not in good shape. My drain is still in, but may be removed in a couple of days. I hope others have as easy a time as I have recovering from this type of surgery.
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Thank you so much for sharing your experience, @riciam! It's so encouraging for those who are about to head down this path. We wish you a continued easy recovery!
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