April & May 2015 Surgery Sisters

SuzyQ42

Marketingmama, I'm so glad the benadryl helped!! That stuff has been my savior for years. I haven't been able to wear a bra since surgery. I can tolerate camisoles with shelf bras and I have been making that work. I did buy some mastectomy bras, but they don't really work yet as there is nothing to put in the cup! I suppose I could stuff, but for now the cami's are working and I'm OK with the looks I get being so lopsided. It's hard to hide here in Hawaii as it's too hot to wear too much bulk.

Midgiemoon, so glad you're doing well! Good for you on walking 2 miles! I was lucky to walk a block right after my surgery.

Downdog, I do own my own gear and I am definitely concerned about my BCD. I'm going to try it on this weekend and see if there is even a chance. As DH pointed out, I've been wanting a new BC for years, so maybe this is the time. I live in Hawaii so the diving is tropical, but I got certified in Washington state. In October. Brrrrrr!! Thank goodness for drysuits!

Still waiting on the genetic results. I hate waiting. Especially when I'm waiting to see if I have more decisions to make like whether to take the other breast and/or ovaries. I also want to know for my 24 year old daughter. Her father is adopted so we know NOTHING about his family medical history. And I don't know anything about my sperm donors family so that's a lot of gray area.

Hang in there sisters! Sending you all peace and strength.

Charlotte57

Met with both BS & PS for post op visits yesterday. BS stated removed 2 SLN both benign. Sending out tumor for breast for testing and that will determine whether I have to take a pill (hormone) or chemo. PS stated everything was progressing really well, but did not get any drains removed, so 8 days out and still 4 drains. Boo hoo! Plus I went out of state for surgery so I really want them removed so I can go home! My house is good for convelesing, plus I live on a ranch so miss seeing "outside"! I am staying with my sister and she's been great, but I just want to go home!

Note to those dealing with constipation. I use magnesium and it works wonders to keep things moving. My favorites are from a health food store (actually I order from Amazon) and are Magnesium Glycimate 400 and Magnesium Taurate. I also have heart arythmias and they have helped with that. The magnesium you get like at Walmart, etc, works as well, but has more of a tendency to cause the runs! Most of your "movement" formulations you get have a heavy base in magnesium

SummerAngel

Marketingmama, I've met with a lymphedema specialist and my BS for my surgery and they both tell me to get the bp cuff on my leg (for repeated bps) and the IV in my foot. For future typical doctor's appointments I've been told that it's fine to do one bp on an arm, and a blood draw can also be done on an arm as long as it's done by a very good phlebotomist with the smallest butterfly needle available.

DayLily15

Best wishes for mdoc524 tomorrow !

good news on your nodes charlotte yeah

downdog - i have done massage of the actual incision scar and it is fine, my problem is the muscles up the arm and across the chest area,and the side of the rib cage a bit, must say the stretches that i have been doing more often have helped, i was more flexible today.

hugs for all!!!

mjh1

mdoc - good luck tomorrow.  Hope you have an uneventful recovery.  Warm hugs!!

PMR53

Midgie and Mama: glad your not itching so bad! I am still waiting for Path on my LX. The holiday weekend slowed it down. On chemo thread Jan chemo it was recommended that a bra at Nordstrom was comfortable. I looked it up online. Bra is a Yummi. Several different styles. She got the Audrey.

PMR53

DayLily15

Best Wishes for saugagirl and loriekg tomorrow !

it is now three months since my dx, almost 3000 people have joined this web site since i joined, this makes me so sad, on the other hand having this site has got me through each day , taking little bites.

knowledge learned here has made my adventures in C land my less frightening. i thank you all !

sending hugs and a reminder to be kind to oneself [ i learnt that here ]

loriekg

Hello Ladies...looks like I am just squeezing in here! My surgery is tomorrow morning! BMX with TE's. Looking forward to posting and getting to know y'all! It's funny, one of my girlfriends just asked if my doctors had told me what to expect after surgery. I thought for a second and realized that they really had not gone into much detail at all. What I have learned...I've learned here! So grateful for everyone that has shared their experiences. --Lorie

lovevt

Welcome loriekg.  Good luck tomorrow and a smooth recovery...

downdog

saugagirl, hope your surgery goes smoothly tomorrow and that your lump is benign.

Welcome, loriekg! Sending good wishes for your surgery tomorrow and hope you've had a PCR and the chemo's done the trick.

AudreyB

A big hello to all and wishing smooth recoveries to all.

My recovery is moving along. Had a wierd thing happen last night. All of a sudden, my expander boobs decided they don't like bed clothes lying on them. Just like that. Couldn't stand the weight no matter what I did. I even made a cover cave so I could stay warm but not have covers touching me (air conditioning has to be on all night for Rob). Sleeping on my back so not many options.I ended up sleeping on the couch.

treelilac

Lorie: Good luck!!

Audrey: Do you have the the mx bra? I suspect it will dull the sensation, especially if you pile up the pillows so you're not lying entirely on the back. (I feel the bra is uncomfortable to wear, but uncomfortable not to wear either.)

mjh1

lorie - welcome to the sisterhood!!  Best of luck tomorrow.  I hope you have a smooth recovery.  Warm hugs!!

saugagirl - good luck in the LX tomorrow.  I hope you'll be one of the lucky ones and hear it's benigh.

audrey - I pretty much had that same feeling through my whole expansion process.  It just felt like a really bad sunburn where you don't want nothing touching your skin.  That's from your skin stretching in the expansion process.  If it still persists, tell your PS and maybe he can do less cc's in each fill.

AudreyB

Treelilic, you're right! I did not wear my bra to bed last night. I feel so much better wearing it. Let's see what tonight brings

mjh1, I was filled 400cc in each at surgery, and had my first fill last Tuesday of 100cc each. As I'm off work for 6-8 weeks for recovery, I want to get my fills done as quickly as possible. So I won't slow down or reduce my fills, I'm just sitting around the house anyway so can deal with the discomfort.I actually want to get back to normal soon as possible too.

PMR53

Lorie

Prayers and hugs for a successful surgery tomorrow. We are here! Let us know how you are doing.

Jackbirdie

Lorie- Welcome and best wishes for a successful surgery tomorrow.

Saugagirl, best wishes also for good surgery and no news but good on the path.

Wishing everyone else recovering minimal pain and distractions. You have alldone yourselves very proud!

saugagirl

Thanks girls for the best wishes!  I have to be at the hospital now for 6am surgery at 8. Originally, surgery was scheduled for 11:30 and had to be at hospital for 9:30, but because I'm diabetic,  surgery was changed yesterday. 

I found a lump in my armpit this week but I've felt it there for two months now. I  originally told the ultrasound tech and ultrasound had showed 5mm thickening in that spot  (axilla ) and it wasnt palpable. When I did ultrasound guided core biopsy, BS and radiologist saw said it tissue was dense and nothing to worry about.  Now I have this huge lump in the same spot that I can feel and see. If I hold my skin tight you can see the round lump. I called the breast clinic and spoke to the nurse who in turn spoke to the surgeon.  BS said he wants to deal with this surgery first then the lump after.  I was hoping he would at lease do a biopsy of it. Oh well. Praying for a good surgery and  b9 results. 

Best of luck Lorie on your surgery tomorrow. 

I had fallen asleep but woke myself up snoring.  Now can't sleep as I'm nervous

Sulev21

DayLily15 - I just saw your post. Finally after 5 days I put a compression wrap to hold the gauze and the next day it stopped draining. Then the next week had an additional 100cc added to each side. The discomfort started again especially when I was tying down even in my semi reclined position.

I now 5 wks post-op. And still am having trouble a night being comfortable and get shorting pains on the sides or within my ribs.

When will it go away? At least I have my exchange scheduled for 7/27.!

PatRN10

best wishes lore and saugagirl!

DayLily15

hi sulev21 - sorry you are feeling pain i see you are having recon etc. mine is just flat so i know its not expander pain, just tightening of the sinews and muscles, today its is better, not perfect, so im going to keep on stretching as much as i can , as often as i can. the snow angel stretch is the most difficult for me. it pulls from my 'good' left breast all the way across my empty chest to my right elbow.

8 weeks since surgery and my seroma is all but gone now.

lol yesterday at the cancer hospital a guy asked if i had a question because i had my hand in the air stretching and doing finger taps while "waiting" for my appointment.

saugagirl its good that you get the first slot tomorrow. more time for them to do it right. hugs to you.

Debutante8

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My good news this week!

Debutante8

Saugagirl, and Lorie----Best wishes tomorrow!

Debutante8

lulu2533, I had horrible itching and broke out in hives. They never did figure out what caused it. It was either the percocet, the Mobic or the big body wipes I had to wipe down with prior to surgery. I was on Prednisone. UgH. Hope you are getting better!

Jackbirdie

Great pic Debutante! You look so young, like a teenager!

Getting the drains out is cause for celebration! Congrats!🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

Best wishes for continued healing.

Hugs and mojo, coming your way.

lou23

Hi, I am new on this thread, I had a masectomy on left side and central lymph node removal On the 7th of May.The reason was I had pagets and my first operation unfortunately didn't have clear margins. I am still having pain under my arm, the only time I feel comfortable is whilst lying down and have tried lots of bra's and can't wear any for very long. My scar looks good but under the arm he has done a fish tale to prevent dog ears, I'm wondering if this is causing the problem, or if it's normal after removing lymph nodes. Any one else having this problem? I see my surgeon on Wednesday for the dreaded path lab report, is it the norm to wait this long? I'm hoping because they haven't phoned no news is good news.

Wishing you all the best Lou.

lou23

Hi, I am new on this thread, I had a masectomy on left side and central lymph node removal On the 7th of May.The reason was I had pagets and my first operation unfortunately didn't have clear margins. I am still having pain under my arm, the only time I feel comfortable is whilst lying down and have tried lots of bra's and can't wear any for very long. My scar looks good but under the arm he has done a fish tale to prevent dog ears, I'm wondering if this is causing the problem, or if it's normal after removing lymph nodes. Any one else having this problem? I see my surgeon on Wednesday for the dreaded path lab report, is it the norm to wait this long? I'm hoping because they haven't phoned no news is good news.

Wishing you all the best Lou.

lou23

Hi, I am new on this thread, I had a masectomy on left side and central lymph node removal On the 7th of May.The reason was I had pagets and my first operation unfortunately didn't have clear margins. I am still having pain under my arm, the only time I feel comfortable is whilst lying down and have tried lots of bra's and can't wear any for very long. My scar looks good but under the arm he has done a fish tale to prevent dog ears, I'm wondering if this is causing the problem, or if it's normal after removing lymph nodes. Any one else having this problem? I see my surgeon on Wednesday for the dreaded path lab report, is it the norm to wait this long? I'm hoping because they haven't phoned no news is good news.

Wishing you all the best Lou.

Sulev21

Hi DayLilly15, my pain is the expanders, at least I can look forward until they are out! However tightness is still a problem as well. I have been seeing a PT who specializes in Lymphodema and BC. She is great. I only had one tx so far but that one felt great and got me going on the other ex I should be doing. Good one is walking the wall while in the shower so the heat helps loosen you. In full disclosure I am a PT by profession but I am bad at treating myself and am more in administration now. If you have not had PT then look for either a PT or OT who specializes in this. Well worth it! Lots of pain free hugs to you!

Sue

Sulev21

Hi Debutante8, I had a horrible rash too that I noticed when I came home from the hospital. All over my trunk front and back. Dr also thought maybe it was from the medications and kept switching them around but nothing helped. We then realized it probably was from the antiseptic wash they use prior to surgery. Using Benadryl cream helped and finally after a week it went away. Good luck!

Sue

lulu2533

Hey Debutante-my itching has gotton so much better. I think it was from whatever they put on me before my surgery.

Great pic, congrats on the drains. Got two of mine out last Wed, two more to go!

Hope you are doing well!!!