July 2015 Surgery Sisters

Molly50

octogirl, clean margins and no lymph node involvement woo hoo!! How much bigger was the tumor? Prayers for continuing good healing.

Lulu4975,

Welcome! Your surgery was July 7th?

octogirl

Molly50, tumor was 2.1 cm; I was expecting 1.8 based on MRI/u/s estimate. I know it isn't much difference in terms of size, but it does put me from Stage I to Stage II. Thanks for the prayers!

Molly50

Octogirl, my ultrasound and mammogram measures my mass as 1.2 but my BS believes it's more like 2.0 so she staged me as a 2. I'm still hopeful it will go back to stage 1. Are you expecting to do chemo? So far I have only been told rads and hormone therapy.

I will add prayers for no chemo for you.

octogirl

Hi again Molly50: will know more about chemo after my MO visit August 3rd. I think he is going to base recommendations in part on oncotype score, as I am estrogen positive and postmenopausal (oncotype is most predictive with those factors, if I understand all this correctly), but again, we will see. My bs today seemed to think that chemo was more likely than previously thought, based on tumor size, but as I mentioned elsewhere, I shall have to wait and see.

Scottiemom11

Bunnybumps hang in there. So sorry about the node, but prayers that it stopped there. Hoping you get some sleep and pain relief.

Scottie

TFoxy20

Did anybody's plastic surgeon give them the option of where to place the tissue expander? Whether you want it under the skin or under the muscle? The plastic surgeon isn't giving a strong recommendation either way.

My breast surgeon is talking about taking my nipple but keeping the areola. I haven't heard of this being done so I don't known what to think or do. Any experience?

Scottiemom11

TFoxy20. . .I don't think that placing the TE directly under the skin is an option. They take all of the breast tissue with a BMx or UMx so they have to place it under the muscle to protect it. The same as with the implant at exchange. It's different for augmentation because they can place the impant under tissue.

Scottie

IndyGal35

That's what I was told too, Scottie. Placing the expander behind the muscle allows you to detect any future recurrences (heaven forbid) much easier.

Mavski80

checking in. I'm 3 days post op. All went well. I've had nausea/vomiting the last couple of days but I think it's now under control. That's been the worse part for me. Pathology report was good - I had2 nodes taken and the are negative, got clean margins but the size was 6cm, so larger than expected.

I thought te's needed to be behind the pertoral muscles to support it.

Scottiemom11

Mavski80 ask about anti-nausea meds if you have any more trouble. I have to take Phenergan. There are newer ones they tried on me for BMx and they did not work for me. I know that Zofran and the Scopalamine patch work well for others. Congrats on the negative nodes and clear margins.

Scottie

I_Spy

yes, no one should be nauseated -- there are too many medications to combat nausea. I take Zofran, but there is phenergan. There is even over the counter benedryl in a pinch, which works to stop nausea too....

I_Spy

Lulu I added you to the list, and I saw your post on the other thread. You and I had our surgery on the same day....ummmmmm, yes it still hurts! No I don't want anyone to touch me, let alone hug me! I'm sorry you're in a household of people who don't understand the major, major surgery you just went through and the pain you're in, but that's what you have us for. You are two weeks out from major surgery, and it is going to take time to get back to your old self. Even if you didn't have a painful chest from TEs sticking you, you were under general anesthesia for a good period of time and it takes a while to get over that. You need to rest so that you don't get an infection, and that is what you can tell your family "I need to rest so I don't get an infection." Hang in there!

mfana

Going for my first filling tomorrow. Those of you who have had you fills, did you take pain meds before? How did you feel after?

IndyGal35

mfana, the needle is about the size of a needle that they'd use during a regular blood draw. My incision lines are numb, and the top skin is too. I don't feel the initial pierce, but I do feel a very tender pain when the needle passes through the muscle into the TE. It only lasts about 2 seconds, then the fluid injection begins. (I got 250 mL at surgery and have received two fills of 50 mL each since then.) The injection only lasts about a minute if they push it slowly.

I usually feel a tightness within 5 minutes of the injection. The tightness starts in my sternum then sort of spreads to the outer area of my fake boobs (foobs) and armpit. The worst of my pain kicks in an hour or so after my injection and lasts through that evening. It's usually 4-5/10 for me. It reminds me of getting my braces tightened as a teenager. I can get by with ibuprofen, but I usually take one of my pain pills to sleep since I still have drains, and they're still pretty uncomfortable. The extra fluid tends to make them sore that night until my body adjusts.

TFoxy20

Scottiemom1 and IndyGal35 now that makes me nervous. I had two plastic surgeons give me the option of above the muscle TE. I trust them overall and they have a great reputation. I don't know what to do. They mentioned if I was active and did heavy lifting that I should do above the muscle. I didn't think about detecting recurrence.

IndyGal35

Aww! Don't worry too much. Each case is so different. The fact that you were given the same options by two different surgeons should also bring you peace of mind.

My tumor was pretty big, and I'm also HER2+. I'm BRCA negative, but my mom had breast cancer back in 2003. All of these factors could've influenced the surgeon's decision since my risk of recurrence is statistically higher than average. (I also have a desk job, so my heavy lifting for 8 hours of the day is a cup of coffee.)

Keep the faith in your surgeons. If you are still worried, ask them what the long-term plan is for screening/detection when you see them tomorrow. My screening options are self-checks and a clinical breast exam every 6 months for several years. (Maybe you can get even better scans with a forward implant!)

I'll be thinking of you tomorrow. Check in when you can with an update on how you are feeling and with what you and your medical team decided to go with!

plumster1

Hi everyone-

I had my Lx today. I really want to express my gratitude to everyone who walked me through the process and especially all the advice about nausea post surgery. I did get the patch pre surgery. Plus, a different "cocktail" during surgery and have a prescription for zofran. Talk about an enormous difference. I will be forever grateful because I might not have known what to ask for/say and it as made a world of difference.

The surgery went well seemingly. Surgeon was happy with margins and initial node(s-?) were negative. Size was as expected. Keeping my fingers crossed for final path.

Xo michelle

Mavski80

i was asked if I wanted anti nausea mess before I left the hospital - silly me, I said no. This will pass soon. I finally got the phenargan and it was a tremendous relief. The te feels strange

Bunnybumps

Is it just me, or are any of you out there with BMX and DIEP having a hard time walking? Not walking upright, which I expected, but just walking? It's been four days and I can't get much further than about 20 feet my own (to the bathroom and back, with a walker) or without a break. The pain is waking me up every 3 hours. I'm walking about 4-5 times a day and the doctor is ordering PT. Just curious how much of what is happening is the surgery vs a Fibromyalgia flare-up. Will also be posting this question in DIEP 2015.

Free123

mfana, I had my first fill on Monday- it was much less traumatic than I expected! First of all, I was excited to start the filling process bc I wasn't expecting my Dr to do a fill that day, just remove my last drains, so I didn't really have time to get anxious like I normally have LOL. The freakiest part was when she used the magnet to find the place to inject- I felt a very weird pulling sensation as the two magnets met. Tried not to think about that too much!! I also did not look at what she was doing and just stared at the ceiling and could not feel any pain. Afterwards I felt a tightness for a couple of days, but really tried to see it all as "progress"- no pain, no gain, right?? All these sensations were very bearable with ibuprofen but I would certainly take your pain meds this first time especially just for moral support!!! Good luck!! You will be fine!

Scottiemom11

Bunnybumps. . .definitely ask this question on the DIEP board. My PS wanted me to have that surgery and part of me wishes I had, but I have a degenerated L4/L5 so I opted for TEs.

Hugs to you.

Scottie

queenmomcat

Scottie: thank you for mentioning the spine degeneration--I don't face reconstruction after mastectomy now, but do have spine issues, and wondered how that worked.

I_Spy

Bunnybumps why do you have trouble walking? Is it from pain or your legs won't do what you ask them to, or you are lightheaded? I have lower blood pressure, so when things happen like major surgery it goes lower. I get dizzy and lightheaded for about a week after surgery, and it is not pleasant. So I had trouble walking for that reason.

Going to ps today to get last two drains pulled I hope!

Mavski80

Finally able to keep food down. Now to work on the constipation part. I've eaten prunes, drank cranberry juice, taken senokot-s. Will try prune juice next. Got to wash my hair and sponge bath - the little things in life are making me happy.

I use a wedge pillow for my bed and that is helpful for me. It also prevents me from rolling on my side.

Scottiemom11

Just got my marching orders for Monday. It's a 45 minute drive to the hospital and I have to check-in at 5:30 AM for 7:30 AM surgery. My PS must be doing back-to-back surgeries or else she's having clinic in her office after mine. So guess I'll be leaving at 4:45 AM. DH will NOT be a happy camper but hopefully we'll get home sooner.

TFoxy20 - hoping everything wen't well today.

Yeg9525 & CAMommy hugs and prayers for you on Monday and Tuesday.

Scottie

I_Spy

Okay so she pulled one more drain today. The final drain on my right side will probably come out Monday. But she said I could drive! Yipppeee! I am very independent and not being able to drive has made me feel helpless and feeble.

Molly50

ispy, congratulations on being released to drive! Independence is a beautiful thing. I realized today that I have two more days at work and then surgery. It seems like I have waited forever only to have it come up quickly now.

Scottiemom11

I am sooo gonna pay for this tomorrow, but can't help dancing. Especially since most of the crowd is much older and putting me to shame. Gotta have a little fun before surgery.

Scottie

queenmomcat

Scottie: But will the memory of the dancing tonight keep you warm tomorrow? I actually didn't mind the early surgery--too tired/not enough time to get totally freaked out about going under anesthesia AGAIN. But everyone's different.

Carolyn62

I'm two days post-op and doing well. They loaded Me up with anti emetics, but I still vomited a lot the first night. I stayed two days inpatient. Pain hasn't been bad, and my family is helping tremendously. Doc says I can shower, so I plan to tomorrow. So far it hasn't been as bad as I expected