AUGUST 2015 SURGERY SISTERS!!

aviva5675

Those having one side mx or lx= dont be afraid to ask about other side plastic surgery/lift/reduction, to match up. Its called oncoplasty and is covered legally by insurance. I originally had one side lx and they were glad to do a lift/reduction on the other side. And so was I!!! It was just my case, but they both came off 10 days later, but I was sure happy in the meantime.

Molly50

Thank you, Aviva. My PS plans to do a lift on my right side during my reconstruction. I will be having a TRAM Flap once all of my treatment is completely healed. In the meantime I will be getting a TE on the left side. I am at my pre op appointment with the hospital now.

mjh1

eamazing - there is some really great advice as to what you may need in the topic: Shopping/packing/to-do  list for surgery + recovery.  The mods also posted some other topics that you may want to read on the bottom of page 7.  You can also read this thread from the beginning and find very useful advice.  Hope all goes well and you have a smooth recovery.  Warm hugs!!

Artista928

Question: How can you wear a sports bra when you haven't started fills yet? I'd love to get out of the cammy but with fills, will I need to put the bra aside and get a new one each time? Gets expensive?

AudreyB

Artista, get stretchy ones that will grow with you. I also bought no underwire bras, Warners No Side Affects. They are lightly padded and I grew into them. They also gave me a realistic shape in clothes.

Molly50

My question is how do you buy a bra for a TE on one side and your natural breast on the other? So far my left breast doesn't tolerate pretty much any bra after Lx but I am going to have to wear something eventually after UMX.

AudreyB

Molly, I would look into getting a fitting at a shop that specializes. Perhaps you could get fitted for a bra with a prosthetic on UMX side. I know there are affordable prosthetics and perhaps you could size down as you fill. Does that make sense?

I'm going for my first professional bra fitting in one month. I am going to Nordstrom as they have ladies who specialize in mastectomy fittings and are comfortable with scars etc. I can wear underwire and push ups in 4 weeks but PS said to make sure they fit perfectly. No more Marshalls or TJ Max bras for me. LOL.

I did hear a horror story of a woman who went to VS for a bra fitting and the poor salesgirl ran out of the fitting room crying because she couldn't handle it.

Artista928

Thanks AudreyB- glad to hear things went well. Long countdown to get rid of these TE's for me but the bra should make me feel better. 2 drains out, 2 to go. Once these are out then definitely wan't to ditch the cammy cuz it's hot!

Molly50

AudreyB, Thank you!! I had no idea some regular stores can do mastectomy fittings. Once my PS gives me the green light that is what I will do.

quiltlibrarian

Hello Ladies, just a note to say I've had a bit of a set back. I went for my first post appointment, and I have a infection in surgery site. I am still taking t3 everyday for pain. Part has healed well, but other looks really scabby. Hopefully this will clear up quickly. Needless to say I am disappointed.

Ladies take good care of yourselves. Hugs

quiltlibrarian

Just wanted to say that only Sears department stores had mastectomy bras in stock. Other wise it was a special bra shops or aids to living shops. This is what I found.

Hugs

mkinoly

Thought I'd check in and let folks know how my surgery went. Had UMX plus 2 sentinal lymph nodes on Monday around noon. Sent home Tuesday before noon. Today only three days out from surgery I saw the BS and he removed the bandages and the drain! I was really surprised about the drain especially. I'll share that there's really no way to prepare yourself the first time you see your surgery site. I'm just telling myself that it will get better over time and that I'm so grateful the tumor is gone.

Well, tumors. Turned out I had a secondary tumor that nobody knew about! Pretty disconcerting after all the imaging. The MRI had shown something they thought was an intramammary node, but turns out it was this 7 mm tumor. I had been given the option of lumpectomy originally--then that second tumor would have still been in there! So glad I chose UMX. The primary tumor turned out to be 2 cm instead of the 3 cm they had thought.

And 1 of the 2 nodes they removed had 4 mm cancer. I was pretty hopeful there wouldn't be any since there was no enlargement and the BS said the nodes looked good. Still processing that information. Overall I'm stage 2A, which I know is a much better stage than many women get so feel fortunate that way.

A little too much reality today for me.

Artista928

I'm not familiar with MRI but I was told 4 cm and came out with 7! I guess unless this thing is 3D how can they know for sure, and add to it for me, I had very dense heavy breasts.

AudreyB

quiltlibrarian, so sorry about your infection. I hope it clears up quickly.

Mkinoly, so sorry about your findings. We are all here for you as always.

Kimmer33

thanks for the updates mckinoly and quiltlibrarian. Drains out in 3 days? Wow! Sorry about your setback quilt - positive thoughts and prayers!

Molly50

quiltlibrarian sorry for the setback. Mkinoly sorry for the news but very happy you already have your drains out.

georgie61

Suzy,

Thanks so much for offering me the inspiration I need right now.

Everyone - I can't tell you how much support you have been to me - especially on subjects that you don't feel like you can talk about to other people.

I am so impressed how well most of the surgeries seem to be going and how well you are recovering. It helps a lot. 1 week from today!

hummingbirdlover

Hi ladies, I haven't posted a lot on this board but I just wanted to offer my support for those of you who are recovering from surgery, or preparing for surgery and especially for those of you who are getting final pathology reports that are not the news you hoped for. This is such a long, draining journey but it's so good to have friends here to lean on who "get it". For those of you who haven't had surgery yet, I promise, it won't be as bad as you're probably imagining it's going to be. I was a total train wreck before my BMX and I was surprised how quickly I recovered. The drains are annoying but not particularly painful. They are typically only in for a week or so and are manageable. My exchange surgery is next Thursday and although I'm thrilled to be losing these miserable TEs (the coconut bra) I'm really not looking forward to another surgery. At least (I've been told) this is outpatient and I shouldn't have drains, so I'm feeling really good about that. I can't wait to be on the squishy side!!

Georgie61 - don't worry, you're going to do GREAT!

AudreyB

Here are my new girls

.

Molly50

very nice and symmetrical Audrey! !

HazelFrances

HazelFrances 8/14 BMX, no recon

Pat307

Hi fellow sister warriors I had my BMX with Lat flap on the 20th. The surgery was from 8:30am to 5pm. I came home yesterday around noon. I have six drains and my PS let me take a shower today so I feel human again. Happy to say my sentinel nodes came back negative! She also wants me to move around as much as possible because if I don't I will end up in a lot more pain. I even made the bed and fed my dogs this morning but you get tired very quickly so you have to be careful not to over due it. I have to say it wasn't as bad as I imagined it would be. Don't get me wrong, it hurts like hell every time I move but it's tolerable with pain meds and Advil. My husband has been an angel, helping me with my drains and my shower today. but it's now past me and let the healing begin!

Ringelle

Curious if any of you have had delayed reconstruction? I had my bmx on the 13th. I'm healing well and it seems quickly. My bmx was needed on the right and prophylactic on the left. One of my biggest deciding factors was not wanting to deal with a uni until I was a good candidate for reconstruction. I'm curious if you all are happy with the results you are getting and if the added surgeries and recovery time is worth the results you are getting. I read recently that reconstruction sometimes surprises BC patients because they think "boob job" and it's definitely not those kind of results. Just curious about your personal feelings. I'm absolutely convinced my bmx was the right decision for me. I can't stand the cami with the pillow boobs and I'm wondering if I will feel the same about the prophylactics. Most days I'm absolutely fine just as I am. My goal right now is reconstruction in 6-8 months but I have this thought - do I really want to go through all that! Thoughts & opinions?

hummingbirdlover

Hi Ringelle,

I had delayed reconstruction. My BMX was in October and I had TEs placed in March and am heading into my exchange surgery on Thursday. I hated the pillow boobs too but absolutely loved my prophylactics. They were kind of heavy and hot but I didn't mind them at all. I knew I wanted reconstruction all along and it was for several personal reasons. When I took my clothes off, I still felt like I needed to hide from my husband. He's been nothing but totally supportive and didn't care what I chose to do, I didn't do it for him, I did it for me. I'm young (48) and just couldn't picture myself flat for the rest of my life. I'm SO happy with the results and so happy just to have my shape back. It's such a personal decision. My mom had a BMX and chose no reconstruction and she's happy with her decisions. Feel free to PM me if you'd like and good luck on your journey.

hummingbirdlover

Ringelle,

I forgot to mention that although the extra surgeries were draining, both physically and financially, I totally feel like it was worth it, absolutely! I would do it again and I have NO regrets. I was envious of those who had TEs placed during BMX surgery but that wasn't offered to me as an option for whatever reason. It hasn't been a walk in the park but it has been do-able and I'll be happy to be done

Artista928

I'd be curious to know why TEs weren't offered upon BMX. I can't think of any reason. For me there was no question. I wanted this all to be done and over asap. Least amount of sxs and back and forths.

And financially figuring this all came upon me in June, that I wanted as much as possible to be "free". As it is, chemo will be since I've already met my out of pocket max of $2250 and $500 deductible. Rads won't be since it's not scheduled to start until Jan, which puts me back to 0 with things met with insurance. So rads, TE exchange, and whatever else fu appts and all will all be on me for awhile. Too bad I didn't catch this thing in Jan 2015. I'd be further ahead financially.

Ringelle

for me the PS had a compassionate but direct conversation with me about my weight and my sugar levels. He would have done immediate reconstruction if I really wanted but he told me for the best results he wanted to know I didnt need radiation and he wanted me to lose some weight and get my sugars under control. I want to give him the best canvas to work with so to speak.

quiltlibrarian

Js5, Molly, 39andhip, hummingbirdlover, SummerAngel, Georgie, vogliodipiu, mjh1 and Kimmer

wishing you the best in the coming week.

Hugs all

quiltlibrarian

Feeling better after 4 days of antibiotics. Pain is almost completely gone. Drain is a lot less, hopefully tomorrow will be gone. Surgery site is looking better and not so pink looking. All in all feeling a lot better.

Wishing everyone the best

hummingbirdlover

I honestly think I wasn't offered reconstruction at the time of BMX because the BS/PS and operating room availability didn't work together and BS wanted surgery asap which I appreciated. I met my $2500 out of pocket last year and now I get to do that all over again which is frustrating. My BS told me "we just don't do that" meaning straight into recon but when I told my PS that, she rolled her eyes and said "we do it all of the time". Who knows but I did appreciate the healing time between surgeries