Lumpectomy Lounge....let's talk!

etnasgrl

Thanks everyone, for all the assurance! I guess I'll just enjoy this down time!

614.....Yes, I'm being treated at MD Anderson in Houston, at the Texas Medical Center. It's a great place! I feel very confident of my team!

bluedog

For those facing rads soon, I also burn very easily in the sun but came through rads without too much problem. A little pink and some itchiness, that's all. Hang in there.

etnasgrl

Bluedog....thanks for sharing that! I'm very fair and burn easily in the sun. I've been worried about how my skin will react to the rads.
I'm so glad that you did so well and it gives me some hope that I may too!

OH_dear

So happy to have found this chat lounge! I was recently diagnosed - have had the biospy and am scheduled for a lumpectomy in 6 days. I'm a bit apprehensive about all of this. Doc says I'm the poster child for early detection, Yippee....but what follows. I'm told 6 weeks of radiation - which I understand...but have also been told that I will be taking Tamoxifen for 5 years afterwards. Not thrilled about that at all.. The side-affects of that drug really gnaw at me. I have a friend that had a lumpectomy - had radiation and no meds afterwards. Do the docs just do 'cookie-cuter' meds on all BC patients or is it unique to each patient..

Peachy2

Glad you found us, OH dear!

I'm also a poster child for early detection. Shortly after my diagnosis one of the nurses said that every treatment plan is different, and that you'll meet people with the same diagnosis but much different chemo, radiation, etc. Also, it seems to vary depending on the protocol of the hospital. My MO (Medical Oncologist) is at Dana Farber in Boston, and there their program is 10 years on Tamoxifen based on the patients that they've tracked for longer periods of time.

Italychick mentioned earlier in this thread to get cotton camisole bras from Old Navy for radiation, which was the same advice I received from my sister-in-law who was diagnosed in '11. They are inexpensive and great for sleeping too.

Yesterday my s-i-l sent me this quote for New Year's Day:

OH_dear

Thanks for the quick response - and the smiles! This is not the diagnosis I had hoped for. Would have much rather heard, "You need to lose 10 lbs!" However - since I can't change it, will run with it! I'm currently doctoring at a local hospital, but may look in to the UW-Carbone Cancer Center, Madison, WI...if I don't feel confident with Oncologists recommendations. Never hurts to have a 2nd opinion. Looking forward to future posts. Actually taking all of this with a grain of salt. Heck - worrying isn't going to change it..

PontiacPeggy

OH Dear, Welcome! Looks like you've discovered how warm, informative and comforting we all are (and a bit zany). If you would please fill out as much of your profile as you can and make it public, it would help us immensely. Tamoxifen is given when the BC is ER+. Your friend's might not have been or there were other things influencing the decision. Most of us take some sort of hormonal for many years. If you are pre-menopausal generally you take Tamoxifen; post-menopausal generally an aromatase inhibitor such as Arimidex. Most of us do well on both types of drugs. Some have side effects and they often post the most on their forums.

You will probably want to wear a front button/zip top to surgery especially if you are having a sentinel lymph node biopsy done. Ice is good. A front closure bra or step-in like a Genie bra. If you have been given a prescription for pain pills, fill it and use them if you are uncomfortable. Pain slows healing and is unnecessary. If Tylenol is all that's needed, take it! Take as much time off work as you can. Two weeks seems to be ideal. Even if you feel good (and you certainly may), your body is working furiously to heal from major surgery (which this is) and needs for you to rest. Don't plan on lifting much of anything with your surgery side arm. On they day of surgery, if you are offered a Valium or anything else - TAKE IT! It can help take the edge off. We are all frightened and being relaxed helps.

Keep asking questions - we'll be glad to answer!

HUGS!!

ChiSandy

UW Med. Ctr. is outstanding. My singing partner & his wife live on the n. end of the isthmus, and their insurance is WisCare, so they use UW for everything. A friend’s wife with bilateral DCIS (out in Middleton) is being treated at Carbone, and is very happy with her treatment.

Meanwhile, go back a couple of pages for the photo I posted. I am sure there was “somebody up there” in charge of writing that sidewalk graffiti--who could have known what I was facing and when I’d be walking that route????

LovesToFly

hi oh dear. I had my surgery on November 26, I intended to be off work for two weeks, but I ended up going back one week early. I still think it was good to plan for two, just in case. Because I absolutely hate button-down shirts, I came up with another plan. I wore tank tops that were stretching enough to step into them, and then cardigans over. Cardigans are more my style, and that way I didn't have to worry about anything over the head. Was my first ever surgery, and I was very scared, but it wasn't really that bad and I didn't have a lot of pain. It did take about five days for me to stop feeling groggy from the anesthesia though!

One other thing, and please don't take this badly, but in the waiting room for my postop appointment with my oncologist, I met a couple women who had been told they wouldn't need chemotherapy. Based on the pathology they actually good. Of course that doesn't always happen, but I guess I'm suggesting you slow down and take one step at a time. Whatever they are telling you your treatment plan is now is very premature, until they actually do pathology on your tumor, you won't know for sure

Thanks for my pale skinned sisters, I'm glad to hear that it is not a given that I am going to get bad burns from radiation. I won't be starting until June, but I am already nervous about that.

I am starting chemo next week, I think I'm going to buzz my hair soon. A lot of people are telling me I should wait since it will take 2 to 3 weeks after starting chemo to lose it, but honestly I don't want to wait to lose it, I just want it gone so I can stop worrying about it. I ran out of my favorite hair mousse today, the thought of buying a new bottle and then not finishing it made me want to cry. Am I crazy to want to be rid of my hair weeks before I need to?

PontiacPeggy

LovesToFly, while I can't speak at all from experience since I didn't have chemo, I think your plan of shaving off your hair now might help you feel more in control of what is going on. My DIL had a party with her niece and nephew and had them shave off her hair. Made it a fun time. She is a really positive person! That worked for you. I can't recall if you have children but if you do, it might be a good way to involve them.

Unlike you, I had no aftereffects from the anesthesia. None. No nausea (thank you Dramamine). I was more than ready to eat - anything. I felt good and only took Tylenol but I had the pain pills in case I might have needed them.

HUGS!!

ChiSandy

This is gonna sound crazy, but have any well-endowed ladies here had any luck using shapewear (such as Spanx and their budget-priced cousins) for compression, especially in lieu of bras, camis or for lymphedema? Got a drawerful of the stuff and was wondering if there was any use for it other than torturing myself into too-small dresses.

LovesToFly

thank you Peggy! I actually have two daughters, ages seven and 12, so it would be nice to have them involved in losing my hair. Maybe make it a bit less upsetting for them.

I was really surprised how much the aeneathesis bothered me, I felt weak and groggy and nauseous all the time for about five days. Most people I said that too were surprised. It's one of the reasons I chose not to get a port!

Melclarity

Oh Dear! - Welcome! I too was well ahead of the game 4yrs ago! in a perfect position, so its good news! Good attitude, just to roll with it right now. Peggy is right youd only go on Tamoxifen if you are ER+, honestly I was on it 4yrs with NIL side effects, everyone is different, but certainly nothing to worry about. Get the lumpectomy out of the way, because you'll have a complete picture of pathology and what treatment is recommended specifically for you. Then once you have all those results, Id get a second opinion on treatment, at the end of the day its what feels right for you, nobody else.

Loves To Fly - I did a buzz cut once I started Chemo, great idea! It was difficult to imagine losing my long blonde hair so I felt so much more in control. Now Im sooo used to being bald LOL...its starting to grow ever so slightly now and absolutely majority of people are ok with Rads, being pale skinned doesnt mean burning at all. I was just one of the unlucky ones and a minority..you'll be absolutely fine

Peachy2

OH dear, getting a second opinion is a good idea. Even if the diagnosis and treatment plans are the same, it keeps you from wondering later if you took the right path for the rest of your care without considering other options. You might also find that you prefer the environment of the other facility.

I was in your shoes in May, and though it's all overwhelming, I found my mind only let me process as much as I could handle at once. Getting rid of cancer was my six month project. Mine is almost over, and yours will be too before you know it. And you'll find that you have more strength than you ever thought you had.

brithael

Ohdear - get a second opinion! Most insurance pays for it, and you will feel so much more confident. I wound up going with my second opinion for my treatment and have never regretted it in spite of the slightly longer drive. Confidence in your team is all-important.

Italychick

LovesToFly, I did the exact opposite. I kept my hair for 24 days after first chemo and buzzed when I combed my hair and it turned into a two inch part at the top of my head. But everybody is different. I never shaved, only buzzed cuz my doctor said shaving can cause infected hair follicles. And I enjoyed my final three weeks of hair.

ChiSandy, I don't think I have lymphedema, but post lumpectomy I found my bicycle base layer compression shirts worked great, held everything in but weren't tight or binding. I really felt them reduce swelling. But I haven't ever tried spanx so I don't know about them.

Always get a second opinion, even if you go with the first one. I think most insurance plans pay for a second opinion. If nothing else, it gave me confidence in the doctors I chose

PontiacPeggy

I didn't get a second opinion. A couple reasons. One, I was very pleased with my BS and the course she plotted for me. Two, it was far too difficult to arrange someone to stay with DH and he wouldn't have wanted to be with me for any second opinion, he wasn't all that pleased to be with me for my first. I couldn't have left him. But I never felt the need to see anyone else. I did have the option of 2 different ROs within the same practice, though at different sites (one nearly 30 minutes away, the other 10 minutes). After I met the RO who was closest to me, there was never any doubt who I was going with. DH could sit in the car while I had my rads and it wasn't too long for him to manage. After 10 days, he was in the hospital for surgery that had been planned and then he never came home - went to rehab and a nursing home. I also like my MO. So the team I fell into was the one I'd have chosen anyway.

HUGS!

LovesToFly

oh yes, definitely I will get a buzz cut, not shaving.

I did not get a second opinion either. I felt very confident with my breast surgeon and now with my oncologist. There is nothing particularly complicated or questionable about my diagnosis, and I reviewed every single report (radiologist's, biopsy, pathology) very carefully. My treatment plan is very standard for my cancer. I think that anybody that is questioning their diagnosis, their treatment plan, or feels anxious and like they need a second opinion should definitely get one, I just didn't feel the need for it and as a full-time working mother with two young children, I was overwhelmed enough with all the appointments without adding another for a second opinion when I wasn't really feeling any questioning or concern about the initial opinion.

Molly50

Lisa,

I recommend you see a urogynecologist instead of just a gyn for your surgery. You want a surgeon that does pelvic floor repairs frequently and does not use mesh. I had a rectocele, enterocele and vaginal vault repairs with my hysterectomy and BSO. My surgeon was a gyn oncologist ironically but also one of the most qualified surgeons in my area for delicate repairs. PM if you want to talk.

Sloan15

Lovestofly - I didn't lose my hair until day 30, so I'm glad I didn't buzz it off. I, too, didn't want to see huge pieces of hair in the shower, so I opted fot a short modern cut --about 1 1/2 inches. You can always go shorter! It gave me an idea of what my hair would be like growing back. I loved the short cut! Then, when my hair started falling out, my husband helped me buzz it. My opinion is that it will take 4-6 months to grow back, so don't rush the buzz. Some people's chemo is postponed after lumpectomy, too, because they aren't healing fast enough or they get an infection. Maybe you and your daughter can look online snd pick a short cut first, and you can always buzz it off later. Hear lots of opinions, and you won't regret your choice.

I love this cut:

LovesToFly

Sloan thanks for the suggestion but Ive had short hair and tried cuts like that. I hate it so much on me (looks cute on you). My hair is wavy and looks awful short...too wavy to lie flat and too short to iron and too straight to be cute little curls so it just looks like a lumpy pile of cowlicks...if I cut it shorter than it is I may as well buzz it. I don't even like it this short, it was shoulder length a month ago. I'm also fully healed from surgery and have been checked by surgeon and oncologist. I may buzz after chemo starts...but not long after. If it turns out I buzzed too soon, I'll live with that. I've got some wigs, hats and scarfs I like and will make do.

This is how I normally wear my hair:

PontiacPeggy

LTF, I certainly understand where you're coming from. Whenever you decide to buzz the hair, I think you'll be happy and the kids more engaged if they help. Maybe even have party favors, cupcakes. It will make you feel better and the kids will look at it in a positive light. At least I think they will. Warn them that this is their one and ONLY chance to buzz cut your hair!

HUGS!

Sloan15

Lovestofly - Then you know what you want! Once you have a plan, things are so much less stressful. I have really curly hair, too, but I can use pomade with a short cut. That picture is the cut I'm shooting for (or one of an older actress with a little grey since I'm 50). Chemo is doable. Good luck!

LovesToFly

Thanks ladies! Don't mean to be difficult lol! Just...want to get it over with. I deal with things better after the fact then before!

ChiSandy

I too didn’t seek a second opinion--I was pleased with the breast center, surgeon and oncologists. My husband didn’t come with me for any visits until the day of surgery--as a busy cardiologist he simply hasn’t the time. He did take off the day of surgery and three days thereafter, however, until my sister went back home and my housekeeper came back.

Brutersmom

I sought a second opinion. My BS and MO kept changing their diagnosis and treatment plan before the Oncodx.. I lost confidence. I decided I needed a second opinion from a Teaching hospital. That was extremely helpful. I am not super excited with my MO. He is a little to laid back for me. I do have a 5 year plan and I can always go back to the teaching hospital if I need to.

HappyHammer

ChiSandy... so funny...we are on the same page....just asked my sister if she thought I should try one of my Spanx upper body/camis to help with what I feel is the need for some compression during rads.....need something to keep the bad girl from moving around and the bad girl nipple from rubbing or being rubbed by fabric....should we try it??? DO not want to awaken an LE devils out there as I haven't had those issues and sure do not want to have them if I can avoid.

Anyone have experience with this?

HappyHammer

Sloan....that is really a cute cut for the right person...maybe I will be one of them, haha. Keeping the photo just in case. All of a sudden (haha, after finishing chemo mid Sept) my hair is filling in Always looking for cute really short styles.

HappyHammer

ChiSandy- the sidewalk graffiti- a.maz.ing!!! Thank yous so much for sharing.

LovesToFly

I've got loads of those camis. Let me know how they are for rads??