July, 2022 Surgery- Tips, Words of Wisdom, Others Scheduled?

Hi there! I'm sorry you have found yourself joining the club no one wants to be in. You have come to the right place for support though.

I had my BMX 9/2020 and I was very surprised how tolerable the pain was, I only used Tylenol when I came home. I was up and probably overdoing it two days after surgery. With regards to the drains, I didn't feel they were painful, but they were a little uncomfortable. The only time I had any discomfort with them was when I'd pull on them too much when clearing them. In all honesty, I felt they were a nuisance more than anything else. I am scheduled to have surgery in August and will have 5/6 drains placed. Hoping that this time around it will be just as doable.

All this being said, everyone is different, but I really hope that your surgery and recovery go smoothly. I suggest you go back and look at some of the previous months surgery threads, they are very helpful. It's what helped me prepare (somewhat, cause who is really completely prepared for this surgery.) I'm sure others will chime n.

My best to you!

I had a bilateral mastectomy two weeks ago after a finding of DCIS in the same breast I had it 14 years ago. Since I had radiation back then, in consult with my oncologist and surgeon, I decided to have both removed. Like you, nipple and skin sparing with expanders. At some point in the future, reconstruction with DIEP flap

The surgery was fine. It was a long day, but I was home and in bed by 11pm. All I needed was Tylenol for a few days for the minimal pain, gabapentin for the first week, and a two week course of antibiotics. No pain killers at all this week.

The drains are the worst/annoying part. Just two, but ugh. No showers. Double ugh. I bought a couple of camis with removable pouches to hold the drains and sewed ribbons on the post-surgical bra from my lumpectomy earlier in the year to attach to the o-rings on the bottles to match the bra from this surgery. Having two bras is a necessity so I can wear one and wash the other. I believe I have to wear these bras for awhile. Sigh. For daily cleansing I bought “Scrubzz” no-rinse cleansing sponges. I sewed my own pillow using a pattern I found online. I can rest my iPad or book on it and it makes nice padding so I’m able to lean over the kitchen sink to wash my hair.

The big annoyance is not being able to get anything out of upper cupboards. I moved everything down in the bathroom, but in the kitchen I expected my husband to keep things in the counter for me. He hasn’t 😡. Having a few plates, mugs, glasses, and bowls left out is a necessity.

Good luck with the surgery. I can’t stress enough that the pain was no big deal. Maybe it was the nerves being cut, I really don’t know. Take care

Hi cupcake -- hope things went well with your surgery. Mine was long -- 6 hrs for a flat closure and axillary dissection! Even after the Savi Scout, they couldn't find one of the lymph node clips so the took them all out. Not sure how many that is. I'm staying 2 nights in the hospital. My blood pressure went very low so they're giving me fluids. But my forearms and hands are swollen. Not much pain except for where the drains are attached.

Blinx, sounds like you had a awful lot going on and I'm sorry for that. Are you home yet? Wishing you a better-than-expected recovery.

Have my follow up with plastic surgeon today. He already told me the drains won't come out this week, so my hopes of that were dashed prior to surgery. Oh well! Path on sentinel node was negative but one of the three tumors was concerning. The next step is for the oncologist to look at the mammoprint to determine any post-op treatment. I am incredibly lucky I paid out of pocket for annual MRI, because the largest of the three would have changed my outcome significantly if it had continued another 6 months.. Wishing everyone nothing but good news moving forward.

I guess I'm joining the July club.....my BMX with tissue expander placement is scheduled for 7/29. I have pre-op with the plastic surgeon next week. It's been encouraging to read your messages. Hope everyone is recovering well!

Cupcake-

I did just order a wedge pillow from Amazon, as well as a few other things I may or may not need. I do have a question about the drains. Are they at all manageable on your own? My husband is SUPER squeamish about stuff like that and I feel like he's really going to struggle (hahaha). I've been trying to ease him into his upcoming role as nurse - but I know the drains are going to be an issue. Did you (or anyone) have enough range of motion to do the milking/emptying yourself?

Hello! I had my BMX on Friday July 8. Recovery is going well. My fun started back in April with a routine mammogram. I had been called back twice before so wasn’t too concerned. Three biopsies were positive and the node negative. That led to MRI and more biopsies on the other side, those were benign. Just got my pathology back and had two nodes positive and they labeled two tumors as one because there were areas of IDC/DCIS in between. So I will find out my staging when I got for my post op, but I’m most likely looking at chemo and rads.

Dani, I agree with cupcake, it would be easier if your husband could milk them the first several days. It isn’t that bad. We use the alcohol pads too , so you may want to pick some up so you don’t forget to ask.

I hope everyone who has already had their surgery are feeling well. I am so looking forward to losing the drains. One side is really annoying

Dani, it really would help if your hubs could manage the drains. Also, my surgeon gave me apron-like belts with pockets for the drains and they were quite helpful. As Cupcake said, keeping a spreadsheet for meds was a great.help. No one has mentioned this but both the nausea and pain narcotic will cause dreadful constipation. My RN friend laughed at me for getting magnesium citrate (said that was like using a nuclear weapon instead of a firecracker) but I ended up needing it. I was concerned about the 'big reveal' when bandages were changed. It was a ewww-moment, but not a huge deal. I am scheduled for drain removal on Tuesday and I think that will be a big accelerator in the recovery process..Plastic also plans to start filling expanders and I'm a little concerned that is a bit premature. However only one of us went to med school so I'm trusting his judgement, Best wishes to everyone on this thread!

Hi Emmaleah -- Hope everything went well with your surgery today. I had the SaviScout placed and you're right -- it's so high tech!

I'm 3 weeks post op from my BMX. Had 2 drains removed last week and 2 removed today. Phew!! So glad that they are gone. I didn't feel like going anywhere with those in. Now I might do some food shopping or mall walking. I have a week and half before I go back to work.

My surgeon was on vacation so the drains were removed by the nurse practioner. I asked her when my next follow -up will be, and she said that once the drains are out it might not be for 6 months! They're going to check on that -- seems like a long time to me. I also asked for an Rx for prostheses, but they said that since I'll be getting radiation, it wouldn't be until after that, since the skin and/or appearence may change. I was also wondering about some of the lumpy parts of the incision near my sides, but that will probably need to wait too. I have chemo next week and will be seeing my main oncologist -- she can let me know what the order is for everything.

Dani, all the best tomorrow. Hope surgery goes just as expected and that the recuping is as easy as possible. You got this. Sending strength from your July surgery sisters.

Thanks, everybody! I can't believe it's the night before already. I'm just trying to get everything as ready as I can. I've been happy to read that everyone has seemed to be recovering well.

Sparty - the expanders is maybe what scares me the most. I have an appointment with the plastic surgeon next Thursday for a fill, and he wants to be "very aggressive" with the first fill, because he says the more "pressure" is put on the things that may be leaking, the sooner I can get my drains out.

I've never in my life had major surgery. I just don't know what to expect, and my Type A brain is going nuts over the "what ifs."