💗 September 2026 Surgery Support Thread — You’re Not Alone!💗

I have a question. My unilateral mastectomy ( no reconstruction) is Sept. 23. I am booked for a bone density scan and an abdominal ultrasound on Set. 29. Will I be able to have these tests? My husband would be driving me so that part is not an issue.

@bmatthews how are you holding up? Sending you a virtual hug! I also thought about not waking up from surgery....I think that is pretty normal. Talk to your people and let them know you are scared....and lean on them! We also got you here in this group.

What day is surgery?

@bmatthews I am also having deep anxiety over my upcoming surgery. Maybe it is just our brains coping with this enormous loss. I don't know if I personally worry so much about not waking up, but of having a part of me I love dearly, amputated. Not being able to focus is the anxiety. In my opinion,if writing a letter gives you some control over what is happening, go for it. The letter could just be for you, maybe knowing you have it, just in case will help ease your pain. ❤️ I also have a heart murmur, and all kinds of other issues. In the words of my med onc, one thing at a time.

I had my nipple sparing DMX surgery (no reconstruction) yesterday and it went well. I’m resting at home and want to thank this group for your insight and encouragement while prepping and going into surgery! I’ll wanted to wait sometime before entering into the reconstruction journey.

thank you for the well wishes on upcoming surgery. I’ve got this.

made it through surgery today and did indeed wake up. I feel like weight has been lifted off my shoulders and my anxiety level is now not through the roof. Good luck to others out there. Now to wait for pathology report to move to next steps.

I am feeling very down. I have a lot of discomfort with tissue expanders. I had a rough week of feeling cranky, annoyed, down. Seriously reconsidering reconstruction. 😥 the TEX are so awful.

Just needed to vent

Hello. I found a lump on my breast May 31st. I have since been diagnosed with stage 2 invasive ductal carcinoma, grade 3. I had surgery August 31st, so not quite Sept. I am currently 3 weeks post surgery.

Before this, I had never had surgery or spent the night in a hospital. I chose to have a double mastectomy with reconstruction. It was a little bit of a tough choice because I didn't really want to go through all that. Honestly, I didn't want to, still don't want to, deal with any of this, but I was lucky to catch it so early, I guess.

To be honest, it was not an easy decision. I asked myself if I was vain to want two nice looking breasts. I questioned whether I could handle having no breasts. In the long run I made my decision because I have a tendency to be unkind to myself regarding my own body image and I didn't want more ammunition to think not nice things about myself. Maybe that is not the best reason, but I am the one who has to live with me and deal with my thoughts.

The surgery went well and I only spent one night in the hospital. I went home with 4 JP drains and have been living in a breast binder since. I am a t-shirt type of girl and found I was severely lacking in button up shirts which turns out are necessary when you can't lift your arms up.

These days, my wonderful husband does dressing changes for me twice a day. I'm not going to lie, looking at my chest can be difficult at times. I have tissue expanders which are basically inflatable placeholders under my skin and it doesn't look or feel nice. The drains are gone and I will be starting chemo Oct 5.

Life can be hard and overwhelming at times, but I am fortunate to have a good support group. I'm also grateful to have been able to share some of what I have been through. I feel like I have been carrying a lot and no one else quite knows what its like.

Hi all, checking in after surgery on Sept. 11, Excited to be getting my drains out later today, but now wondering if the TEX are going to feel like this for the next four months??

@lab_heme_scientist and @daphne12777, I am wishing you strength. I had such similar questions about whether or not it was vanity leading my decision for reconstruction. But since surgery, I've been more focused on physical recovery than the mental aspects of this - more to come on that I'm sure. Keeping all of you in my thoughts and wishing you rest and physical/mental healing.

Home from the hospital yesterday afternoon. Unilateral mastectomy, lymph node biopsy, tissue expander placed. My reconstruction surgeon said no compression so I wasn't put into a surgical bra. I really don't like that, I want support for my other breast. Had some really high bp issues but am doing better. Grief hit me when I was in the hospital bed. I feel the missing weight of where my left breast used to be. They were able to save the nipple and some skin thanks to the treatments I had before surgery. Waiting on pathology…

Got my pathology report from surgery and biopsy but don't see the surgeon until next week. There are some very scary things on it…130mm tubololobular, Invasive plus in situ, plus the word metastasis but doesn't say where. If the lymph node is positive do they test to see where it has spread. And how? I did understand it said neuadjevant therapy did not work. The tumor was twice the size of any other imaging. 13cm seems huge, it had said 6.7cm with satellites. I'm pretty freaked out but also, trying to decipher the report is alot.

Thank you for sharing your update! I'm having a double mastectomy on Monday, October 5 so it's nice to hear your recovery is going better than you expected. Do you have tissue expanders? Any advice for recovery would be greatly appreciated!

Hi https://community.breastcancer.org/en/profile/daphne12777

I did not do any reconstruction so no expanders. That definitely simplified my recovery. I wanted to wait a bit before deciding about reconstruction (had conversations about this and discussed options with my PS before my DMX).
Hope your surgery and recovery goes smoothly! 💛