July 2016 Surgeries

Mom4four

Thinking of you Molly!

Musosgirl

I have had new pains come and go today. Had to take a pain pill tonight--beyond just Tylenol. It makes me a little nervous about adding recovery from my breast reduction Wednesday--hurting up top and down low. Can I just skip August?

Mom4four

Musogirl, it's rough, you can do this, could it be nervous tension? I want to skip this month too, but you are strong. You got this

Musosgirl

mom4four, there is definitely some tension. I am constantly doing relaxation exercises and discovering various areas tensing up. A massage sounds really good right now! Wish I could figure out how to relax the ligaments that were rearranged during the hysterectomy--no manner of deep breathing or focused relaxation can reached that tender area.

Molly, thinking of you! Hoping things have gotten fixed and you are just resting

Molly50

Musogirl, you are very early post op from your hysterectomy. It takes time for everything to settle down. I am doing better. Had surgery last night followed by two liters of blood. TE still intact. Going home this evening

twintwin2

so great to hear from you Molly. I know everybody here was sending good thoughts your way. Wishing you well with your recovery.

Musogirl, I'm wishing you a speedy recovery and hoping that you feel better soon. Hopefully everyday will get a little better.

LeslieMemsicMD

Dear Libby. I hope you are doing well. It is rare that a patient cannot undergo reconstruction at the time of mastectomy and that usually relates to aggressive tumor status not skin thickness. I hope you got a second plastics surgery opinion. Most mastectomies today can be done through inframammary fold or circumareolar incisions with preservation of the nipple with immediate reconstruction - either with an expander, immediate implant (utilizing a dermal matrix internal sling support) , or using your own tissue such as a DIEP abdominal flap. Thin skinned women who undergo implant reconstruction are better served by the "gummy bear implant" which although firmer, shows ripples less under thin skin. Fat injections after surgery can also fill in defects and hide implant ripples and generally improve the contour of the reconstructed breast. There are lots of techniques to reconstruct breasts for optimal cosmesis. The first step is to find a breast surgeon who preserves the nipple and creates excellent skin flaps that do not die so that the plastic surgeon has good tissue to work with. This is mandatory and totally compatible with an oncologically sound mastectomy - that is removing all the breast tissue while allowing a great reconstruction. Every woman deserves reconstruction after mastectomy - and it is rare when it cannot be accomplished at the same operation. Take care, you are in my thoughts.

WenchLori

Molly, keeping you on my thoughts and prayers! In your pocket!!

WenchLori

My appt with my MO went well this morning. My PET scan came back clear. Yay! I start chemo on Friday as long as my Eco comes back normal on Wednesday. Keeping my fingers crossed all is well!

Mom4four

Musogirl you are doing everything you can and doing it well so I know that will in time take hold- so sorry you are having emotional hurts along with the surgery. Take care of you

Leydi

Looks like I scraped in just under the wire to join this thread with surgery on July 28. Had BMX and ALND along with installation of a chemo port. No recon at this time. It's great to read about the experiences of the folks who are just a week or a few weeks ahead of me. Here's a few anecdotes from my recent experience:

1. I was more worried about feeling sick after surgery than feeling pain. I expressed my concerns to the anesthesiologist and I must have "oversold" my concern because I later heard the other staff kind of laughing in the hallway that he had ordered three separate meds to ensure that I felt no nausea when I woke up. One was a motion sickness patch placed behind my ear. I don't know what the other two were but the combo worked great. No feeling of sickness!

2. I started another thread earlier about my vision issue and I know now that it is not a common experience because of the lack of feedback. I'll definitely be bringing it up at my post-op appointment and making a visit to an eye doctor as soon as I feel up to it if my vision doesn't improve on its own by then.

3. Overall, received great care. One exception was the pre-op nurse who mangled the insertion of my IV. I'm an easy stick and I guided her to my easiest arm. She mangled that side so bad that she abandoned that side and gave the other side a try. The first side ended up with a 6 inch bruise. Even when she finally got the IV going, she forgot to add an extension to make it easier to disconnect and then reconnect the IV. The room nurse complained about that and ended up disconnecting and reconnecting me the hard way, leaving the IV barely inserted. That arm ended up swelling with the IV fluids going into the tissue.

Went home at my insistence the next day. Getting good rest but swinging wildly from "wow, this isn't so bad, I feel pretty good" to "OMG, this sucks" and back again. Assuming this is pretty typical. Definitely focusing on eating right, getting lots of rest, and being sure to move around and use my arms, per surgeon's recommendation.

Molly50

Welcome Leydi, I am the same way with nausea so three IV meds and a scopolamine patch are what works. Plus now they numb the chest prior to surgery to cut down on the number of anesthesia used.

Molly50

With this mx I had them put my IV on my foot. Unfortunately last night they used my alnd arm for the bp during surgery. Too late to do anything except hope it doesn't trigger LE.

Mom4four

Molly and Leydi - I get bad nausea also but they used the patch on me in May and it made me dizzy! They took it off as that is a common side effect! Still got nausea this time but knew the drugs to ask for and that really helped. I guess I always thought the medical doctors would know what worked for me but I have found that the more I know the better I can help with my care. I have LE in both arms so it was a mess trying to get the IV in. So glad it is over for now

Bigbluefish

Leydi, your vision problem if it started after surgery was more than likely caused by the patch behiind your ear. Very common side effect. it will go away shortly after you take the patch off. good luck to you

WenchLori

The anti-nausea SEs are very interesting, I was lucky this time and didn't have any problem with nausea. I don't know if they gave me anything for it or not? I have noticed my vision is a lot worse now than it was before my surgery but I didn't make a connection. I have an eye appointment on 8/22 to check things out and hopefully I can get some relief from all the fuzzy things around me.

Musosgirl

Okay, surgery #2 tomorrow. Left side reduction. Check-in 9:00. Nothing after midnight--including pain meds. The nurse said if I am hurting when I get there they will give me something--they better have something good on hand

Molly50

in your pocket, Musogirl!

Leydi

Thank you Bigbluefish. I read up on side effects of the scopolamine patch and I think you are spot on. I took the patch off and vision seems to be getting better. I wonder why none of the nurses or aides I complained to in the hospital made the connection.

Have my post-op appointment later today. Hoping to get 2 of the 3 drains removed as they aren't generating much output. Third one is prolific, just my luck. Better out than in

Tight and achey every time I start moving around. Loosens up with movement and stretching but stamina is low. After resting back at square one.

Bigbluefish

today is exactly one week from my bmx with te. just got home from plastic surgeons, 2 drains removed, the next 2 hopefully will be removed next week. still feel like my chest is in an iron bra. guess this is to be expected. i just hope when they remove the expenders it goes away. meet with the BS tomorrow - hopefully with good news.

WenchLori

I keep putting myself down due to low stamina, I'm so not used to this much sitting. PS said I've got a little more waiting before jumping back into anything strenuous. I felt great this morning so I got my bed set up for chemo treatments (plastic mattress/pillow covers) clean sheets, did a load of sheets and towels. Scrubbed the bathtub floor with my trusty foot brush, picked cucs and tomatoes from the garden and now just resting. I'm beat, I should have known better but did it anyway. I'm my own worse enemy! :-/

WenchLori

Musogirl, in your pocket and praying all goes well! Gentle hugs!

Musosgirl

Surgery went great. It was supposed to take about two hours, but he finished in one and I have no drains. Coming out of anesthesia was another story--went in at for surgery at 11:00, didn't wake up till 6:00 and still could not keep my eyes open. I do remember being yelled at a lot to breathe in recovery--don't remember anything else. For the second time they shut down the women's surgurical floor and had to send me down to general surgery to finish recovery. I just do not come out easily--they always say 2 hours--hahaha!! Made it home and promptly went back to sleep. Hoping I don't stop breathing in my sleep tonight. All set up in my recliner with pain meds and an ice pack. On a positive note, no hysterectomy pain today!

WenchLori

Musogirl, I'm glad everything went well and no drains! Yay! What an experience you must have had in recovery. Scary even! I hope today finds you resting and feeling no pain from either of your surgeries. It's amazing what our bodies can be put thru, sounds like you just needed a little more time to recover. Gentle hugs and healing prayers!

Molly50

Musogirl, glad you are doing well. Scary stuff that you don't come out of anesthesia well.

Bigbluefish

musogirl, so glad everything went well and you are home. best wishes for a speedy recovery, so glad no drains - they suck.

Bigbluefish

back from bs today, with good news. 3 lymph nodes were clear. and while the tumor measured 1.3 on mri it was 8mm when they removed it. so now its onto MO waiting for the rest of pathology to come back. Plastics next week - hoping drains come out. in the meantime, still pretty slow moving.

Novmoon

I have been following all you gals but not felt up to writing much. Wishing you well on your procedures and treatments. Got fill today of 50 cc for total of 400. Thinking about stopping there instead of going for the 500. Won't know whether chemo is indicated until August 17. Praying for better days to come for us all.

Bigbluefish

novmoon, how are the fills going? i woke up with 250 and feel so tight and sore. im afraid of getting anymore.

Novmoon

BBFish, I had 300 at time of surgery and today was my 2nd 50-cc fill. Today's seems easier so far but tight. I skipped a week in between the 2 fills. They say low and slow is the way to go.keep up with pain meds and rest if you can.