Lumpectomy Lounge....let's talk!

brithael

Jersey renee - there a recipe for making your own flexible ice packs which work quite well using alcohol, water and ziplock bags. Use one part rubbing alcohol to two or three parts water. More alcohol makes softer gel. It does take about 12 hours to freeze so you may be over the worst of the pain by the time it's frozen

PontiacPeggy

MLP3, That was bad from that inconsiderate person. However, I will say this in defense of our non-BC sisters, a lumpectomy does SOUND like it is minor surgery when compared to a mastectomy. If you don't know any better (and I know I didn't), then it is easy to say the wrong thing. I'm sure that person was intending to cheer you up that you didn't need an Mx. If you have problems with the "one-up-manship", just tune it out, walk away, change the subject or ignore the blabber mouth. Or just be excessively polite and say, "Thank you for your opinion/information; I'm sure you thought it was helpful but I don't." (isn't that nice and nasty? sometimes I'm not very nice).

It won't be fun coping with all the stares and seeing-a-ghost looks but again, ignore them!

HUGS!

marijen

Brit, yay wig #1! It's more you.

Brutersmom

Jonsey22 The moderators have been working with me for similar issues. I want to add a signature and it won't let me save.

Sloan15

brit - "chemo sobby." Hahahaha. That was me at times! Your attitude is great, and yes, bald is beautiful!

JerseyRenee - Whew! Keep the bandages tight, though. I'm sure your doc will tell you that. Eventually I changed to a sports bra with a soft tshirt UNDER the bra. The tight bra or bandage will prevent swelling (and hopefully seromas !)

Jonesey - keep the bandages or bra tight. You either get fluid-fill spaces, or not. Nothing you can really do except keep bandages tight to reduce swelling. Regarding LE, you probably only had 1 or 2 nodes removed in a SNB, right? If so, you are not that high of a risk for LE, so you'll eventually be told not to lift anything heavy, no repetative motion with affected arm (like scrubbing) without a sleeve or rest, no blood pressure or needle pricks on affected side so lymph doesn't swell arm, etc.

Sloan15

MLP - one-up on cancer, oh my! But you know what? You're "lucky" you have better social skills. Haha My lx luck didn't help me on PowerBall.

I agree with Peggy and MLP, though, that some people don't understand that cancer is cancer. Some people dismiss DCIS, but it IS stage 0 cancer that can progress and is still really, really scary. Yeah, I think it was a feeble attempt to make you feel better. Someday we might even say, "You younger girls are 'lucky', because in my day they had to do surgery to remove the cancer." (And I don't think we are too far away from treating bc without surgery someday!)

LovesToFly

Yes, cancer is cancer. There is no one upping,. As I have said, my sister-in-law had a bmx immediate reconstruction. It's funny now because when we talk, I can tell that she feels bad for me because I need chemo. But I feel bad for her because she needed the double Mx. All that really shows is that it's not so much about things being better or worse, it's just about what's the right treatment for the right person at the right time. It was scary for us both, and we both needed life-changing treatment, and we will both live with the changes that treatment has brought, and the diagnosis has brought, for the rest of our lives.

Peachy2

Well said, LovesToFly: "it's just about what's the right treatment for the right person at the right time." My sister in law didn't have lymph node involvement like I did, but is triple negative so needed 3x chemo anyway. I had more infusions, and am feeling a little guilty that four years later her eyebrows haven't grown back and mine are going to rival Lily Collins's any day now. I also feel a bit guilty that I will have Tamoxifen and it won't help her.

HappyHammer

Ivy2 your t-shirt... "if it doesn't matter- does it anti-matter?" HAHAHA!!!

JcLc- YES! I had weird patches of red on cheeks, red/purple rash on hands and feet. The skin was irritated feeling sometimes but it looked weird ALL of the time. Finished chemo in Sept and skin finally getting more normal looking- pasty and pale as we only have had sunshine about once every 10 days or so here. What's going on with your skin?

Sloan15

Yaaaaaaay!

LovesToFly

sweet^^^^^

Peachy2

Sloan, that is excellent news!!

HappyHammer

BTW: Am almost finished with the boosts- only 2 more to go....to say that the position I am in for these could be considered a "porn position" is no joke. I got so tickled today as they were positioning me that I almost fell off the table. No real way to convey why I was laughing....anyhoo...might try it at home sometime...wink, wink!

HappyHammer

MLP3- just got why Sloan mentioned the word science as a verb...love the way you put it. Peggy is right...ignoring/walking away/ etc are good tactics and, that sometimes a bit of bluntness goes a long way- especially if the same person says stupid stuff more than once.

Sorry about the "small town" stuff. That is no fun!

JerseyRenee01

thanks, ladies!!!

Just woke from a 2 hour nap, just ate homemade chicken noodle soup my friend dropped off. Other dropped off chicken pot pie & a cake! So blessed with sweetest friends!!!

Just took more Percocet. This left boob hurts!!! Just to get up & down, walk to bathroom. Feels so bruised!

ChiSandy

Renee, those surgical bras they put on you in the OR are a bear! Why they don't make them in sizes above XL (or if they do, why surgeons don't order the larger ones for their bustier patients before surgery date) is beyond me. I had been warned by my BS' nurse (who is even bustier than I am) I might wake up wrapped in a giant Ace bandage instead, but I did wake up in an XL Royce front-hook surgical bra that smooshed me to the point where my right boob was slopping over the top of the “cup" and my cleavage was halfway between the center & my left armpit. I was SOOO happy to be able to remove it after my first shower 48 hrs. later and replace it with a Leading Lady front-close leisure bra (it'll make a great slingshot). Also, a bag of frozen peas or corn kernels makes a great moldable and refreezeable ice pack--just remember to mark it so nobody pulls it out of the freezer to cook & eat the contents!

Jonsey, wish I could tell you that compression and an SNB will prevent seromas--despite that, I got a large axillary seroma that burst, and a breast seroma that was aggravated by radiation. And despite all precautions (except losing weight, which I felt too sorry for myself to try), I still developed mild cording and subclinical stage 0 LE. It is what it is, it probably won't happen, but if it does you can catch it early, keep it from progressing and keep the symptoms pretty much at bay. Sucks that I can't do saunas, hot tubs (there goes the walk-in whirlpool I was going to install) and schvitzes, but them's the breaks. If that's the worst that happens to me over the next 20 years, can't complain.

Brit, “chemo sobby" is brilliant. (I call my MO “Chemo Sabe"). And I might like wig #1 more if it were trimmed and styled a bit edgier and more youthfully.

Finally, anyone here on an AI finding they're getting not just drier but, paradoxically, “teenage" skin? I think with aromatase being inhibited, the androgens are doing their thing. Time to break out (pun intended) the benzoyl peroxide.

JerseyRenee01

chisandy:

I had a laugh reading your post!! I certainly dont have that problem with my little A's!! 😁

I bought a surgical bra at the hospital boutique. My nurse practitioner gave me a script so my insurance covered 1/2. So I switch to that tomorrow.

mustlovepoodles

Brithael, I love the wigs, especially the last one. It's kinda cut like mine. I love the straight look. My hair is straight as a board and I didn't want some short, curly old lady wig!

mustlovepoodles

Wow! This board is moving so fast! I've been away from my laptop for 2 days and look what happens. The board blew up~!

Just to update you on our bad, sad, mad situation...you know my MIL died suddenly Monday morning. We went to FL to assist my husband's sister and start funeral arrangements. It has been a total mess. Thankfully, there are pre-arrangements, but still there's a LOT of stuff to be done. Yesterday my DH found out that his father is NOT in his proper grave, under his headstone. WTF??!! The diggers were probing to find out where to dig the hole and found out there is NOTHING where Dad's vault should be. However, they found what they think are THREE vaults set at the far corner of the plot, with no headstones. Then today they were probing around and found ANOTHER vault just to the right of where DAD should be. ??? And now we think the headstone may have been moved, so we aren't sure where the grandparents are????? OMG, it's such a mess. The diggers are going to probe around the grandparents' headstone and see if they can find them today. My DH is livid, his sister is near hysterical, and we're all just devastated. DH & his sister did NOT need this kind of stress~!

PontiacPeggy

Poodles, I can't imagine how awful that situation is, especially for DH and SIL. As one not emotionally involved, it sounds like a soap opera but it's not funny. I hope it gets straightened out quickly. Some pretty shoddy work by the cemetery. Here in Detroit, the family would sue the cemetery owners up one side and down the other. Just sayin.' And I'd be mad as hell.

Good luck getting it sorted out. Give DH a hug for all of us and tell him it will be all right - eventually. And hugs to you! My sympathy for the loss of your MIL. Never easy. I know mine was like my mother.

HUGS!

Molly50

JerseyRenee! So happy to see you check in. Sorry about getting sick but holding down a banana is a good sign. Take the percs on a full tummy though and please take stool softeners with them. They are so constipating! Octogirl, glad you are healing from rads. I still get tired 5 weeks out. Creative Vintage, congrats on finishing rads! Brit, I bet you look great even without a wig. I am not very organized. I have a huge folder I throw things in to. Usually I put my appointments in my phone but forgot to put my PS appointment in and missed it. For some reason I keep putting off making another one. I did journal through rads and the early part of starting anastrozole. Now I only journal when something changes. Finally saw my Dexascan report. Hopefully MO got a copy as well. Everything in normal range.

Molly50

Sloan, any excuse to drink coffee is a good excuse especially to make Tamox more effective! One upping...I have a online friend (another mom with two disabled kids) and she is TN. She asked me my diagnosis after telling me hers. I said I was lucky to only have ER PR+ and she said yeah "only". She got it. Cancer is cancer. It just makes me pray harder for my friends with cancer. TTFN. Early release day from work!!

brithael

Well I was at the point of the old joke: Doctor, my hair keeps falling out, can you give me anything to keep it in ? Doctor: Yes, here is a paper bag

Shedding everywhere, so my hairdresser took it all off. She also helped trim my #1 wig which looks much better (picture later.) She also did it all as her gift - what a gal!

As an actress, I'm paying for an old joke I used to do when I did murder mystery dinner theatre (my avatar.) I would find some bald guy in the room, wipe his head down and pretend to fix my make-up and adjust my boobs. Now, I'm just looking for someone to mount a production of Wit with me playing Vivien!

Melclarity

Jclc - I had skin pigmentation come up on my face, my freckles came out!!!! I hadnt had them since a kid haha!! but they will go away again I was told.

JerseyRenee - You are doing so incredibly well, its a big thing you just went through. The girls are right, stay on pain meds, so glad that nausea settled down, once it eases you can slowly eat. Take is really easy and let hubby pamper you and the girls!!!

Brithael - I was exactly like you, once your hair starts to molt its awful, its everywhere!!! so I buzzed straight after that, and its very emotional!!! I too got my wig trimmed and cut around my face like my hair used to be. Felt good to take control, but sad too losing a part of you. I get it!!!

Octogirl - Yay for post Rads!! sounds like you've got it all under control. The fatigue does get worse at the end and generally after 2 weeks you slowly pick back up.

Melclarity

Brithael - Look at your beautiful smile!!! Now thats someone embracing the change!

ivy2

Melclarity- I see from your profile you are in Melbourne. I am not far away-down on the Mornington peninsula.

PontiacPeggy- I didn't know about the public/private thing. Hopefully everything is visible now!

JerseyRenee- I was given a neck pillow, like the ones for flying, and I found that to be a HUGE help. I could take it in the car with me to serve as a buffer between the seatbelt. I also used it for support when I slept. I swear that pillow was my constant companion for the first 10 days post op.

HappyHammer -I will try to take a picture of the tshirt!

This forum has such supportive women, it has been such a relief to find you all.

LovesToFly

Brit you look lovely

Poodles what a mess. So sorry you all have to go through this.

I am now 10 days past my first infusion, expecting my hair to start falling out in the next week or so. It's already buzzed short, I'm not sure if I'm going to need to get it shaved again, or if it will be a short enough to just let it fall again? On another board I frequent occasionally, I think they said when it's buzzed

Melclarity

Ivy - Go to my profile, then settings, go to down to City, state and Country and make these public. Oh Mornington Peninsula lovely!

Loves to Fly - Wait til it starts to molt as it comes out alot and everywhere, you may find you need to buzz again like Brithael did.

Melclarity

Awwwww Sloan!!!! that didn't work for me 2 coffees a day and Tamoxifen

ivy2

Melclarity- Thanks! Now I can see where I live!