October 2014 Surgery Sisters

SCMom

Galsal, a friend had suggested looking into renting a recliner from a Medical Supply company, but I had assumed it would be a lot more expensive. I don't mind paying an extra $40 or $50 for the peace of mind...I have visions of cockroaches crawling out of the chair at the Rent a Center. 

Sandra, yes, thanks for speaking out about the pain of the injections. I'd rather know ahead of time than be surprised and afraid that something was wrong. 

Swoobs, I am having a mastectomy. I'm embarrassed to say that I just don't know what will be involved in the reconstruction. My surgerys been scheduled for over a month now and I really just started asking some questions of my surgeons last week. I guess not asking questions was my way of not dealing with it. At this point I'm just putting my faith in them that they will do the best job that they can. 

sandra4611

OceanSky,

No, it's not the same as dye. Radioactive isotopes are injected right around the base of the nipple, where the ends of the ducts are located. The material flows back through the ducts and lobules and gets to the first set of lymph nodes in about two hours. The surgeon uses a Geiger-counter type instrument to locate the right lymph nodes. That way they can take out just one or two rather than lots like they used to do. (Which tends to cause lymphedema.) Lymph nodes are small so some doctors inject a blue dye to stain the lymph nodes and make them easier to see.

Cleaning a house from top to bottom and banishing your pets is certainly not the normal advice but if your doctor requires it, that's a different story. You will probably have a surgical bra on for at least the first few days. Your incisions will be closed with sutures, surgical glue, steri strips or maybe more than one of those. You won't have any kind of open wound!  

Fourminor

Swoobs, you look mah-vah-lous!

Radioisotope injection for sentinal node mapping I had was at the TUMOR site, not by my nipple.  The nerves around your nipple are a lot different than regular  skin, which may be why I had such a different experience  Mine was 4 cm lateral to nipple.  I was really nervous since some people said it hurt, but it was the absolute least of what I've been through.  Less even than a mammogram.

Blue dye was injected while I was out.  I did pee blue and green for the first 24 hours.  

I was told at first SNB would all be done with one incision but i have a separate incision in my armpit.  This really kills me with the post surgical bras I bought because they seem to come up pretty high on the side, close to this incision.  Its also where my skin folds.  I put a combine pad over the whole thing and make sure its hanging out of the bra.

My cat is by me feet right now.  I wake up every night around 3-4 o'clock and reload on painkiller.   I tried laying flat on my back yesterday, which was fine, but getting up was awful.

I want to be normal again!  Its hard to know that "normal" isn't going to be what I was before.

Galsal

I rented lift chair, not just a recliner since the use of arms was to be protected.  Second time I rented it was for the Diep and we KNEW it would be needed.  My arm strength isn't great and those regular wooden recliner handles are too much to pull right away.  Plus, the wife of one of my VPs at work had BC and he'd spoken of get the best qualitfy recliner and power if possible - they'd not and often he'd have to pull the handle for her.

OceanSky

Sandra, what's the protocol for tracer injection?  He's not doing 'both' but I thought he said tracer.  It's done the day before surgery, in my case tomorrow.  Maybe it's dye instead?  My head is spinning.  I had doctor appointments every day last week.

It's not my idea to banish pets and scrub!  Am just saying another Oct sister said her surgeon told her to do that as did my sisters surgeon.

In my case I will not have a surgical bra. I asked.  The cancer surgeon said just bandages over the incision.

Was anyone given a bottle of 'stuff' to wash with the night before and the morning of surgery?

The thing tomorrow with the injection is freaking me out a little.  A bee sting is nothing to me but am trying to figure out the difference between protocols...Dye and tracer. 

Btw, If I had a big dog that layed at my feet I wouldn't be concerned.  My dog considers my breasts to be his personal pillows so that's my issue.  Big dogs usually aren't on top of you the way some smaller animals are.

On a different pet issue, my dog had been sniffing my left breast for a long time before I got dx.  I remember laughing and saying to him 'Are you a cancer sniffing dog now?'  Pretty odd. 

Fourminor

Some hospitals do both, tracer and dye.   Tracer for me was done the day before.  Dye was performed while I was under anesthesia so I don't know what they did.

I think maybe if they use both methods if its just a double check to see if the same lymph node that's hot is the one that's blue?  Or maybe the radio tracer lets surgeon zero in on where to make incision and blue dye to help find the node out of the subcutaneous fat?  Or both?

OceanSky, don't get nervous.  Either way its just a few seconds and is something that is being done to help you.  Its just a blip on the road we are all on.

3littlebirds

OceanSky, I had both the day of surgery. The radioactive tracer was injected about 2 hours before. It stung, but only for a moment and then it was over. I had both breasts injected. The blue dye was injected when I was already under anesthesia. I had bluish-green urine for about a day after and I even thought my incisions had a faint bluish tinge to the scabs.

I was told to shower with Betadine, Hibiclens or Dial soap the day before and the morning of surgery, paying special attention to surgical areas. I used Hibiclens and I bought it at WalMart, the doctor didn't give it to me.

That's so interesting about your dog sniffing your breast. Maybe he is a cancer-sniffing dog! I have a little dog, but no one ever mentioned a thing to me about pets. 

Slavrich

Hi All,

Thanks for all of the well wishes and support. Hope everyone is feeling well and my thoughts are with Cartini and Oceansky on your procedures. I had a rt mastectomy and node removal wednesday. Home on Thursday.

All went well except as Kristie had expressed, I was dissapointed after surgery to find they has put in a tissue expander rather than an immediate implant. I got the feeling from the PS he did not favor Immediate implants, but having small breasts, he said it could be possible. I told him just put in whatever would fit and I would be satisfied.  I was dissapointed to wake to find he had done a tissue expander. The PS team had come through so early, i didn't realize who they were b/c the dr was not with them, and didn't give me any info. Later, I called the PS team member back b/c they literally had never given me any details about the tissue expander. I just wish the PS would have given me more info before surgery on why the TE would be better and I may have been convinced. It wasn't even discussed why he didn't do the implant-If he wasn't going to do the implant he should have said so-if there was a possibity, it would have been a pleasant surprise if I wasn't expecting it. I gues it was the first time I didn't feel part of the process and not in control.  I still have 6 weeks of radiation and hoped to have everything in my past by the new year. This will drag things out 12-16 weeks to March or April. Just did not want another surgery, general anesthesia, and incision to heal. He probably knows best, but would have liked to be more informed.

OK-enough complaining... the BS was great and did perform the nipple sparing surgery which I think drastically reduces the trauma. I hope the path work comes back good, I have been lucky to have early diagnosis and very treatable type of cancer. Chemo went very smoothly and I was able to work everyday and wasn't sick.

I had a pain block with surgery which kept the pain down for the first day. I came home Thursday on Tylenol and 5mg. of Oxycodone. No problem and little pain. Great recommendation from nurse to buy the 325 mg. tylenol so I could take two every 4 hrs. I then had the great idea to skip a dose of meds b/c I felt so good. MISTAKE! In a couple of hours I was in pretty bad pain begging for meds and then jumped to 10 mg of OXY. Things were good again until the next day when I was nauseated and vomiting from the oxy. Never got sick during chemo, but had sudden vomiting from oxy's. Dr. said to stop Oxy and since I feel much better and pain is really not bad on just tylenol. Should have done that from the beginning. I have never taking any narcotic in my life.

Next appt is Tuesday with PS and he told my husband they injected three units so far and will add more Tuesday. 

Again-best of luck to those facing surgery or still healing. Thanks for all of your adice and support.

OceanSky

Slavrich, I know sometimes PS can't do immediate implants during the cancer surgery.  I'm sure your PS will explain why when you see him.  My 'immediates' are put in 10 days after the cancer surgery.  I'm sorry you didn't get your implants and I'll be interested to hear why.

Bear in mind that not all PS are really good or experienced at doing immediate implants.  If that's the case then it's best if they don't.  I'm not suggested that was the case at all, because I do know there are good reasons why they can't do them.  Someone else may be able to explain it.  It may have to do with skin sparing issues.  Glad you got the nipple sparing though that's a huge plus.

Mine must be tracer but am going in tomorrow, the day before surgery.  Seems odd since some here had it done the day of surgery but I guess they all do it a little differently. It's interesting that they did it in both breasts for some, (which is smart) to make sure there's not unseen cancer in the breast where no cancer is seen.

For anyone who wasn't able to spare their nipples here's a wonder happy story for women who were not able to spare their nipples during surgery to get nipples tattooed by the guru of nipple tattoos.  Loved this story!

http://www.wdsu.com/news/tattoo-artist-completes-womens-breast-cancer-journey/26963290

sandra4611

Most of us have at least one meeting with both our breast surgeon and plastic surgeon prior to hospitalization. I met with both of them twice to get questions answered...once right after diagnosis and again a week before surgery. (1 month) Some doctors will not tell you much unless you ask a question so you have to be your own advocate and do your own research so you know what to ask each one of these doctors before your surgery. If your doctor is reluctant to answer your questions to your satisfaction, SPEAK UP and tell him that it's important to you to find out these answers. If you still get nowhere, it may be time to find another doctor.

Direct to implants is not as common as tissue expanders. Ask your PS how many he has done. Also ask how many of times each method had to have follow up revisions. There is a learning curve for plastic surgeons with gummy bears, for instance, and you don't want to be the first patient.

The plastic surgeon should have explained to you that he won't be able to tell if he can do Direct to Implants until he gets into the OR and see what the breast surgeon has left for him to work with. (They tag team. My breast surgeons part took 4 hrs for the double mastectomy, probably because I had extremely large breasts, and the plastic surgeon took 4.5 hrs to put in the much smaller permanent implants...and he does Direct to Implants all the time. A less experienced PS might take longer.) They are supposed to have you sign before surgery that you understood that along with other alternate risks or outcomes.

Here's what happens: the breast surgeon has to meticulously separate the skin with a thin fat layer (for padding) from the underlying breast tissue, cauterizing as he goes to control bleeding and leaving enough blood vessels to keep the skin flap alive. Sometimes the breast surgeon doesn't leave much fat attached to the skin, so when the PS gets in there, if he sees that the flap is too thin and the blood flow may not be sufficient to keep it all alive if it's stretched over an implant, his options are limited. In that case, he puts in the much smaller tissue expander. It's also possible that the flap on one side is fine but the other side is too thin. If you had radiation, there is a big difference in skin integrity as well. All these things and probably a hundred other things I don't know about are part of the decision the Plastic Surgeon must make as to whether he can safely put in a permanent implant.

My left flap is thinner than the right. It shows more rippling and is quite a bit colder to the touch than the other side because of the lack of fat. Certain spots on my chest show dents and divots because the fat underneath is too thin or not there. I can have fat grafting later to correct this. Tiny amounts of liquefied, processed fat are injected into these low spots. Some of it is absorbed by the body, but hopefully enough finds a blood supply and stays put.  I'm reading more often about women who've had radiation getting fat grafting before reconstruction begins and how that increases their chances of success over the 50/50 rate.

What kind of TE's did you get? The manufacturer includes a credit card size patient information document that is meant to be given to you. Both TE's and implants are registered medical devices and under law, you have to have the identifying info. If they don't give it to you, find out why and GET it. The kind of implant you can have depends of the kind of TE the PS put in.

Slavrich

Ocean sky,

Thanks...I do feel very grateful for my circumstances. Actually already had plans to go to Little Vinny's for tattoos before finding out I was a candidate for nipple sparing/skin sparing surgery. Planned to go with a friend who needed re-tattooed after 11 years of fading. I may still go with her for support unless she has some nipple reconstruction first. A truly inspiring story. The nipple image, flat or 3d is amazing. Although I think the prothetics could be fun too....like the wigs....I bought 4 different ones(clearance sales) and named them and had fun with them. People who didn't know I had a wig preferred the wild color wig to my natural style. Might as well have fun on the ride... Think I was just feeling down...but feel there is a reason for everything and it will all work out.

Best of luck to you...hope everything goes smoothly. And think, you already have part of the procedure behind you and you'll be out that much quicker!

sandra4611

OceanSky, I think Fourminor has it right. The dye must help the breast surgeon differentiate between lymph nodes and other tissue surrounding it. The geiger counter device locates which lymph nodes are the sentinel ones so only those are removed and the blue dye makes sure it the right ones are easily seen. They only want to take out the ones that are the very first (sentinel) ones to show a spread of cancer from your particular tumor. I've seen pictures and they look like little tiny bunches of yellow grapes surrounded by yellow fat.

If you have the radioactive isotope injections, they may give you a little card with info on it and tell you that it is detectable for several days. (In case you go through airport security?) I don't know why some doctors do it a day before surgery and others do it two hours before. It won't matter which procedure you have or if you have both like many of us do. It has no bearing on the mastectomy or your recovery.

SCMom

Hi Slavich, I'm glad your surgery went well with the exception of waking up with TEs instead of implants.  That's one of my biggest fears. You are lucky that your nipples were saved, my BS already told me she won't be able to save mine . I hope you're able to get some rest this weekend, please keep on top of your pain meds!

Ocean, I didn't read your link yet about the nipple tattoos but after reading through the NOLA thread there's a women that does this that's about two hours away from me...I looked through her pictures and they're amazing!  Good luck with your tracer tomorrow. Hopefully it will be easier than we've read it will be!  Mine will be done the day of my surgery, and I never thought to ask if it will be in one breast or both. How does that work, getting your implants 10 days after your mastectomy?  Is it another general anesthesia type surgery with a hospital stay?

I was told to wash myself with Dial soap the morning of my surgery when I pre-registered by phone. If I had registered in person the nurse said that they would have given me something to take home to wash with. 

Galsal, thanks for the tip!  I went ahead and rented a recliner today, it is electric but I'll still have to reach for the control which is where the handle would normally be. I looked at the website for a local medical supply company, they had hospital bed rentals and even beach wheelchairs but no recliners. I'm going to spray the heck out of it with Lysol while they're taking it off of their truck!

sandra4611

I was diagnosed with cancer in only one breast but decided on a double mastectomy. My breast surgeon always does the SNB on both sides if the patient is having a BMX, regardless of whether the diagnosis shows cancer in both sides. In grateful he did...the "good" breast turned out to have it too.

Slavrich

Thanks Sandra4611,

Thanks for all of the info. 

In review, I think my time with the PS was cut short due to him being called to an emergency. I do know we were are planning on the gummy type-I had talked to my BS the day before surgery and reviewed everything-including we were not planning on general anesthesia- instead the pain block-which I had- and then sedation with propofol.(sp?) Then after the pain block, the anesthesiologist was discussing the general anesthesia-and I spoke up and said that was not the plan, but I suppose it was too late at this point-the surgeon was in the next room waiting.

I did get a card- the Mentor CPX4 medum height style 8200. I will have to google to find out more info about it. I do know the PS would rather wait until after radiation to do final implant, but there is 2 different schools of thought on that and the radiation team is going to discuss what would be better. Hope I have the right type for the gummy!

I appreciate your help. I'll get researching before my appt. Tuesday so I can go in more informed.

Slavrich

SCMOM- 

Good luck! Smart renting an electric recliner. I have given up putting mine up and down and straddle-but I only had one side done. My friend showed me her tatoos (that she wants redone after seeing Little Vinny's video) and they really look realistic and amazing-even faded. She has been such a great support and inspiration every step of the way! She is gorgeous and her new breasts will continue to look good into her 60's+. She had both done at once-and the biggest problem she had was using the restroom for the first couple of days. Think that might be beyond my hubby's limit-but true love conquers all! He's been emptying my drain for me.

sandra4611

 

Ridley

Oceansky - you might be having the SNB injection the day before your surgery if you have an early surgery time.  It takes time for the injection to reach the node and then they do some imaging to confirm location and mark the node.  I had one side done the day of surgery as my surgery time was at 11.  When I had the other side done, it was done the day before because my surgery time was at 8.

Ridley

sandra4611

Slavrich, if you haven't been there already, go over to Breast Implant Sizing 101. Deborah (Whippetmom) is an expert on tissue expanders and implants. She will tell you what you should have depending on what you want to look like and what you can have based on the kind of TE you have. She prefers silicone rounds and is not a proponent of  Allergan 410 gummy bears like I have because so many PS lack the expertise, but does not let that stop her from recommending the right sized 410's when that is what a woman wants. There are other kinds of gummy bears from other manufacturers and other kinds of anatomical shaped implants. She has helped hundreds of us.

Be sure to ready the ENTIRE long header. It has all the info you need to understand the difference between all the options. It also will tell you about the things she'll need to know to be able to help you. At the bottom she has links to all the manufacturers data. https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/44/topic/746448?page=403#idx_12086

mefromcc

Wow. Lots of healing going on. Sorry to hear a couple of you got blind sided by your PS. My PS does not want to see me until I have healed from the BMX. Like others, I had both the radioactive tracer the morning of my surgery (the needle and injection hurt the same as if I was getting any injection. Fortunately, it was not in my tender nipple, but further along near my lumpectomy ) and blue dye while I was asleep. My DH had recommended using a recliner, but I have trouble getting out of a recliner even without surgery. I made a nest of pillows on my bed. One thing, though, I have my bed on blocks so it is chair height so I don't have to over bend some arthritic joints. So that has made it very easy for me to get in and out of bed unassisted. If you know you are going to have drains, you might want to take precautions in case they leak. (yep, it happened to me with a previous surgery and has happened again). I put water proof pillow covers on the pillows my arms rest on and once I started leaking, reinforced the area with the small blue piddle pads I had on hand from puppy training.

Slavrich

thanks Sandra.

Love the comic.

nancybel

Thank you all got your good thoughts. I too went home the same day but I was in a lot of pain and kept doped up so MADD it thru. I am now 3 days post op and feel better. Still in pain but able to deal with Tylenol  the drains are the worst part. This has been such a roller coaster ride and this site and you wonderful ladies have made made it  more bearable. Thanks again for keeping me in your thoughts. I hope everyone else is feeling good and recovering fine

OceanSky

Ridley, thanks for explaining the day before reasoning on the SNB tracer injection.   Did most people have both sides done?  Meaning the non-cancer side too?  It would make sense.

The more nodes they remove the higher the chances of developing lymphedema.  I spoke to my surgeon about this.  We all want to know if there's node involvement and how much, but lymphedema is a concern.

Btw, what kind of pain medications were prescribed for most people in here.?  Have most people felt they've had good pain management?

We were going to go to our little condo at the beach to recover and there's a leather recliner there, but I don't have one at home.  Will make do with a big leather club chair.  I'll see how I feel before 'traveling' anywhere.

Slavich please let us know what your doctor says about why he didn't do the immediate implants  but I think Sandra gave a good explanation.  Ask him though, I'd be very interested in hearing what he says.

As far as Whippetmom on the Breast Sizing thread...She really is amazing and has helped so many women.  She's done some serious work on the subject and her estimate (implant size in terms of cc's) of what my PS would choose was right on the money.

Fourminor

Hi OceanSky,

There is some variability in all treatment, but most of it is about things that don't make a big difference, like tracer day before or day of, no shower or shower.  I will say that I did consider doing a prophylactic mastectomy at some point because I had a second primary in my left breast, not a recurrence,  although in conversation with my BS and PS ultimately decided against doing it at this time.  After my biopsy was confirmed malignant, I had a contrast MRI of both of my breasts.  MRI is not routinely used for screening because it is very sensitive and not specific (picks up all kinds of stuff that turns out to be nothing).  However, once a patient has a known cancer, it is a useful tool in being able to pick up possible smaller additional lesions that are too small to be seen with mammography and ultrasound.

I bring this up because my surgeon said at her institution, if i were to pursue prophylactic contralateral mastectomy, the MRI would determine whether they did a SNB on the non-cancerous side.  Basically, if it looked clean on MRI also, they would not do the SNB.  If they saw any kind of focal uptake of contrast, they would.  I guess, although I am not up on this detailed bit of breast cancer therapy research, that its been shown that a negative mammogram, ultrasound, and MRI is associated with such a statistically low yield of positive lymph node, that they feel comfortable skipping that step.  Of course in medicine, nothing is 100%..  Its not even 100% that removing a clean breast means you will never get cancer on that side again.  But there is also a small lymphedema risk with SNB, also very low, but when you get to the point that the risk versus benefit math is equivalent or lower, people gamble with the numbers that are on their side.  But it depends on your comfort level with risk, and risk of what.  

You're going to be fine!  It gets easier in a lot of ways after the surgery!  I was almost having a nervous breakdown over whether to remove one or both breasts, but once I got out of surgery, all focus is on recovery which is a lot less anxiety producing.  The emotional and mental anguish prior to surgery is just terrible.

3littlebirds

I had a SNB on both sides because of my BRCA1+ status. Since I was identified as high risk, I was alternating MRI with mammogram every 6 months. My DCIS showed up on MRI only. They wanted to do either US guided or mammogram guided biopsy, but it didn't show up on either one. I had to have an MRI guided biopsy. I was hesitant to have a SNB on my non-cancer side, but my BS was insistent. Now that I know it was clear, of course I'm second-guessing myself whether I should have pushed back a little harder on that. For me, the pain and swelling in my underarms was the worst. For others it is minimal. If only we had a crystal ball!

I echo that Whippetmom is a marvel. She was right on for me, also.

OceanSky

Fourminor, Thank you for sharing that.  I had a MRI after the mammogram and ultrasound but without contrast.  The MRI did show a fourth tumor though, all are in the same breast.

Did you say you did go with a double mastectomy?  

It's funny about the node.  It's absolutely true statistically but my sister had mixed cancer (both IDC and lobular) in both breasts.  Very very  small tumors and was a stage one and they felt certain she would be node negative.  She was node positive so I guess you never can know for sure.

I have to leave in a few minutes for the tracer injection, and wore myself out today and yesterday  by doing of all things cleaning.  My husband is not happy with me because he feels I should be resting but I just wanted that peace of mind.

I agree with you about the shower soap, (mentioned they gave me a bottle of some kind of special soap) but agree with you...They're going to probably to  put betadine all over, or do they?  Some kind of antiseptic I'm guessing.

And the tracer...Today or tomorrow, probably just each surgeons preference.  

Am on autopilot now but I agree with you, am not going to worry about the small stuff.  It's going to be what it's going to be.

Mostly I appreciate your well wishes, it means a lot to me!

Slavrich

Good luck to you OceanSky. Let us know how it goes. Thoughts are with you. It's all eyes on the finish line now.

KayG

Two weeks later....

Just wanted to offer up some recovery stats in case anyone is getting ready for surgery this week.

MY BMX (preventative) was Oct. 6. I have to say - much better than expected. Was able to wash and dry hair right away (my PS allows showers after 48 hours). Pain very manageable. Mostly just regular Advil. Occasionally a painkiller in evening. 

Driving in second week (not long distances, but can run errands around town). Two of four drains came out after 8 days. Two more remain and are making me nuts. HOPEFULLY they can come out (fluid amounts going down slooowly) Monday or Tuesday.

I am going back to work tomorrow. I mostly work from home and on a laptop though, so totally do-able. I can even get in an afternoon nap if I have to.

Sleep and the drains have been the biggest frustration. Have not slept through the night yet -combo of pain, drains and sleeping on back. Hope to remedy that soon.

But overall, feeling really good. Chest doesn't look too bad. Have about 200 ccs in already from surgery. Go back Oct .31 for more.

Good luck to whomever is next and anyone else in the recovery process!

Lilith08

Stay away for a couple days, and then it takes at least an hour to catch up on the updates! I don't remember who asked what, but here are some of my responses--

Dogs/cats: no doctor has said anything about pets, but I'm going to have someone else scoop the cat litter for the first few weeks--I think at least until the holes from the drains are closed up. When I had my lumpectomies in July, I kept the cats out of my room for maybe two days, but then they got very anxious and I let them back in. I just made sure to cover my chest with a pillow or two, in the event that one decide to walk over me. But as someone said, pets often sense when something's not right, and they really just kept to my feet. Also, there's a discussion thread about pets, if you want to check it out: Comfort Dogs [and Cats?]

OceanSky: Your dog may very well have sniffed out your cancer! It's amazing how animals react to things we're not even aware of. One friend who had a BMX some years ago said that before she was diagnosed, her cat had taken to sleeping across her chest. A couple years later, the cat started sleeping above her head--and she was then diagnosed with brain mets. (She seems to be NED for a couple of years now, thank goodness). A former colleague jokes that her breast cancer was discovered by her own personal "cat scan"--her cat jumped on her chest and that's when she felt the lump for the first time! 

Pre-surgery showering: Florida Hospital in Orlando also gives you a couple small bottles of "surgical soap". The instructions I got were to shower with it the night before surgery--chin to toes--and then to wear fresh pajamas and sleep in fresh sheets. Then the next morning, before surgery, shower with the stuff again, chin to toes. When I had a PS consult, they were very informative with every aspect of post-surgical care--that doctor's preference was to shower as soon as possible, even with drains in, and to use an antibacterial soap, such as Dial or Lever. My BS told me that I will have an antibiotic patch over the drain sites as well as a clear plastic waterproof dressing that will come off by about Day 3. She says I can shower after 24-36 hours. I think what I'll do is get some of the same waterproof dressing, even if it's just for showering (my skin is very sensitive to adhesives). The PS had also said that when stripping/milking the drains, I could use either alcohol wipes or some antibacterial soap--it would both help your fingers glide down the rubber tubing more easily AND keep the germs off.

SNB: my BS said she always uses the radioactive isotopes and the blue dye is an additional step. I don't why the dye isn't always used, but she's going to use it on me. The argument seems logical that the dye just helps make it more accurate--perhaps less invasive. My BMX is prophylactic for both sides, and yet we're doing the SNB on both sides. I've been through a good few discussions about the risks already, but am just trusting my gut and praying to God that I'm making the right call on this! Plus, my BS seems to be approaching it very thoughtfully and I just have to trust that she will be as little as she thinks is wise.

Good luck tomorrow, OceanSky, and for the day after mine, howdidigethere and lynetteb! Will try my best to check back in on Wednesday.
Treat yourselves well, Ladies, be gentle with your bodies as well as your souls

Slavrich

KayG:So you have expanders for now? When do you expect to have implant exchange?