March 2017 Surgery

wallan

Raven:

Yeah!!!! the drain is gone! How marvelous. And no infection either. Woohoo....

I hope you have a wonderful Easter weekend.

I am undecided about changing my surgery date. I will see how I feel. Maybe i am fighting a virus or something.

Happy Easter!!

Tappermom383

Good news, ladies! Clear margins, negative nodes! The BS said that I am surgically cured! His staff will be referring me to an MO and RO; I'll have radiation and go on treatment for my positive hormone receptors. Once the lymph node surgical site stops hurting like a bear, I'll feel like myself again!

MJ

Sitti

Raven, great news! Yay on both no infection and elphaba being banished! Enjoy your weekend!. Wallan, do take care of yourself, you know your body better than anyone, and you are your best advocate. Tappermom383, so happy for your path report of clear nodes and good margins! Thats wonderful news. I will tell you I'm 3 wks out from SNB and the nerves are finally calming down. You'll get there but my experience is it does take time.

wallan

Tappermom: Congrats on your wonderful news! Its a wonderful feeling to be surgically "cured".

Happy Easter!

wallan

Molly50

Raven, woot woot! Farewell to the evil drain.

lovepugs77

second surgery was yesterday. I think it went well, and am just hoping to hear that there was very little (or no) further node involvement. I have a drain now (yuck!) and am not allowed to shower until it comes out, hopefully next Friday. Double yuck! I did buy some rinseless shampoo and am hoping that will help some with the gross factor.

I am in more pain this time than last. Has anyone else here had an auxiliary dissection? When I forget and try to lift my left arm, I get a sharp shooting pain in my shoulder blade. I'm a little worried about that

LisbethS

Raven, yay!!! She's gone! And yay to negative culture!

Scottie, I definitely need to go gluten free. it's supposed to help with autoimmune diseases and I have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. But that will have to wait for when I have more energy.

Molly, I totally forgot that the PS instructions said to take Arnica, but they said to start two weeks before surgery and they didn't give me the instructions until i was there for the markup the day before surgery, grrrr. I remember calendula cream from when my kids were babies, I loved the smell of it. I'll get some of that too, thanks!

Love pugs, I only had my sentinel node removed at my first MX. It was the worst part pain wise so can't imagine what you're going through. Maybe a PT would be helpful eventually? Sending healing thoughts your way and praying for clear nodes!

Wallan, I would schedule your surgery for when you are ready. I'm pushing out my exchange surgery until at least Sept or Oct. (after swim season hehe) if I can survive these TEs that long. One more week until my compression bra burning party!

Sitti, I haven't heard of Biocoreum & Retamax I will definitely look into them.

Tappermom, great news!! So happy for you. Yay to surgically cured!!

I go to my MO tomorrow (I haven't seen her since November) to find out my next step with estrogen blocking meds. Even though my ovaries were removed, I still have to go on one. She originally said Tamoxifen but that's usually for pre-meno, I wonder if she forgot I'd be getting my hysterectomy. I think I'd rather go on the dreaded Tamoxifen than an AI though. I don't want to go on either actually, I just want to be done!

Lots of love and hugs to all! I don't know what I'd do without all you wonderful ladies!!!

Sitti

lovepugs77 Prayers for clean nodes. Sorry you are dealing with the pain of the node dissection, with my bmx the SNB was the most painful.

LisabethS Telling you to use Arnica two weeks prior to surgery the day before??? That's ridiculous. I did look up to see what Arnica was and like the idea that it, as well as calendula, is natural. Good luck with your MO appt. today.

Molly have you used Arnica before? I saw where it is a gel or tablet, is it for scarring or pain or both?

I love the wealth of info and support everyone brings. I find myself wanting to hit a "like" button. Hope you all have a wonderful and blessed weekend! ❤

lovepugs77

Lisbeth, I definitely plan on asking the surgeon to write me a prescription for PT. I think I'm going to need it for mobility in that shoulder (it was already tight after healing from the SB) and I know it can help with lymphedema, which I am very scared of

raven4mi

Tappermom, congrats on the clean nodes and no margins! Wonderful news!

Lovepugs, yuck to the drains indeed! Sorry you're having so much pain. I only had one node removed after SNB so I can't contribute there, but on a much simpler note I will say that I am a HUGE fan of dry shampoo!

lovepugs77

raven4mi, what brand do you like? I went with a foaming liquid that you just towel dry off. It's the stuff they use in hospitals and nursing homes. I looked at the dry shampoo sprays, but didn't know which to get

raven4mi

Lovepugs, I use Not Your Mother's brand, usually. Have also used Tresemme brand. Both are good.

lovepugs77

Thanks. I remember seeing the not your mothers brand at Walmart. I'll give it a try if I don't like the foam

raven4mi

I've never heard of the foam, Lovepugs. Where do you get that and what brand?

Molly50

Sitti, the pill can be for scars and healing. The cream for pain or scars. I use it on my son for pain. I have a lot of scars this go round. Love pugs, I had alnd. Ask your surgeon when stretching is okay and you may want to ask for a couple sessions of PT for the right exercises.

lovepugs77

Raven, I got it at Walgreens. It was their store brand and is on the aisle with the home health equipment.

Molly, has the ALND caused you any problems?

Molly50

lovepugs, the alnd was a bear to recover from but really the most trouble I had was my TE drifted right into that area and I had constant irritation. It is weird now to not have that.

LisbethS

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. Finally got to get out of town for a few days, first time since July! Now I'm back to reality and the joy of finishing my taxes! Yuk!

Love to all!

Sjsparks

Hey girls, I seem to be healing nicely! I am still on no driving restrictions and my weight limit is under 5 lbs. I am 2.5 weeks post surgery. I am just curious how long you ladies with TE went before you could lay flat again? I am still pretty propped up on my wedge pillow in my bed. I miss being able to lay on my side and flat. My next doctors appointment is the 27th, they said they could possibly do another fill then too.

lovepugs77

Molly, did you have any numbness after the ALND? I don't have a lot of pain right now, just itching (from the bandages pulling) and numbness that is driving me crazy.

Sjsparks, glad to hear you are healing nicely.

raven4mi

Sjsparks, I couldn't lay flat or on my side until my drains came out. After that it was a gradual return to a regular sleeping position, maybe over a couple of weeks.

Saw PS again today after having drains removed on Friday. He aspirated 90 ccs of drainage from a seroma - pretty much the amount that would have come out through the drain tube over that time period. But he said that I am essentially "self-expanding" so he went ahead and filled the TE with another 100 cc of saline to take up the room the seroma had made. Heading back again on Thursday.

4/15 was the one year anniversary of my original bmx. Cripes.

Sitti

Raven - my PS aspirated about 80cc of fluid the first time and said the same thing to me, that I was doing my own self expansion. Then he did a fill. He's aspirated 2 more times, one being today. He did another fill today. But today's aspiration has been different b/c it keeps leaking where he aspirated. Have you experienced that at all?(sorry if tmi) A year....sure hope things stay on track from here on. After fills are done how long do you wait for exchange?

Sjsparks, I stayed elevated until the drains came out too. I'm almost 4 weeks out but still not sleeping on my side (may just be me). I'm a side sleeper also, so getting sleep has been a challenge.

Molly50

Love pugs, I was numb for well over a year in the axilla. I can feel now which is good because I don't have to feel the TE any more in my armpit.

LisbethS

Oh great, if seromas are causing self expansion, then my foob will be in my armpit because I think I have a large sermoma there. But it's so hard to tell with these TEs, when it was just my MX it was so easy, but now I have so many squishy sloshy areas, hard to figure it out. But definitely swelling has increased under my armpit whereas swelling has been going down everywhere else. It's so big it's hard to put my arm down to my side, have to hold it out.

I'm supposed to be getting my first fill this week but don't feel ready at all. Thinking of pushing it out a week

Sitti

LisabethS, I have swelling (at least I thought it was swelling) in that area too. I've consistently asked about it but no one seems concerned, seems it can be normal but as you said all the other swelling is going down except that. 😕 It doesn't feel like fluid though.

raven4mi

Sitti, my PS likes to wait 4-5 weeks after final fill to do exchange. It may be longer than that for me. I just might wait until my kids are back in school in September to do the final exchange. I lost an entire summer of golfing last year due to that stupid infection and I don't want to lose another one.

LisbethS, I don't blame you for wanting to wait on the fill but at least go in and have them check the swelling. If it is a seroma they'll want to drain it.

Forgot to say, Sitti, the site where they drained the seroma leaked just a short bit yesterday after I left the office but then closed up all on its own. Were you the one whose drain incision kept leaking also once the drains came out? Maybe your body just doesn't close those wounds as quickly.

LisbethS

I went to my appt and the infected incision on my right is clearing up nicely but he wanted to wait a couple weeks to do a fill. My left has a seroma but he wants to see if my body will reabsorb it. I was cool with that, it hurts but that side has been hurting since the surgery so not much difference anyway. That is the side they did 400 cc at the time of surgery so wasn't getting a fill on that side today anyway. I'm happy I didn't do a fill today but at the same time would like to get the first one over with so I know what to expect. I hate the unknowns.

Raven, I'm waiting until Sept/Oct for my exchange surgery too, its swimming for me that I don't want to lose out on. It's supposed to be 103 degrees this weekend, but I have to wait 20 more days. I suppose I could go up to my waist.

Molly that is good to know, I had no idea I might get some feeling back. Do you know if we ever get feeling back in our new foobs?

Sjsparks, i too hope someday I can sleep on my side again. I want out of this recliner. My PS said I could sleep on my side when I'm comfortable doing so. I think he wanted me elevated 30% for the first 3 or 4 weeks. Do these TEs ever get comfortable enough to sleep on your side though? So far I'm not close to being comfortable enough, but I did manage a painful one hour nap the other day in my bed and woke up with the worst back pain, uh oh. One perk of the recliner is no back pain. I'm looking into an adjustable bed, anyone have one, anyadvice?

Sitti, I don't think seromas are that big of deal unless they are very painful, or get infected. They don't usually get infected unless something foreign is introduced like a needle to drain it, at least that's my understanding. I could be wrong. I've heard they're draining them less often because of the risk of infection that comes with inserting the needle to drain it and instead letting the body reabsorb the fluid and using compression so there's no where for the fluid to accumulate.

I have a question, after an MX with recon, under what circumstances do you see the BS afterwards? Or does the PS take care of you from there on out?

Thanks!

lovepugs77

I have my follow up from my ALND this morning. I'm REALLY hoping he takes out the drain...I need to shower. I also have a LOT of bruising on my left breast (same side as the ALND), and I'm not sure if that is normal, because the lumpectomy was 2 weeks before the ALND. It doesn't really hurt, but freaks me out to look at it.

raven4mi

LisbethS, glad the incision infection is clearing up! That's great news. It's been a year since my original bmx and I still have zero feeling on the left side. I don't expect to ever regain any.

Regarding side sleeping with TEs, yes, it is possible. I've had a TE on the left for a year now and can comfortably sleep on that side no problem. The right side hurts to lay on - but it always has, even without the TE in, so I don't anticipate to ever have comfort on that side. Not sure why the two sides are different but I'm sure there's some explanation. Not sure I care at this point enough to find out.

I have not ever seen my BS since he stopped into my hospital room post-bmx to discharge me.

lovepugs, fingers crossed the drain comes out this morning! Let us know what they say about the bruising.

Had another drain/fill yesterday - they drained about 60 ccs this time then put in another 50 ccs of saline to take up the space. He said the drainage looked good but then did another culture just to be on the safe side, so I'm not sure I believe him. No pain, redness, or swelling though so I'm not going to go looking for trouble where it doesn't exist. Back again on Monday for another drain/fill go-around, I'm sure. I'm currently at 450 of 750 ccs and it's not even remotely looking like I have a foob. I expressed my concern that the two sides would not ever remotely look alike but the PS assured me that they would. My expectations on "looking good" have dropped so drastically through this shit storm that it's not even funny. I told the PS that as long as I looked good in clothes I'd be happy and he said "Oh, we can do better than that." I'll believe it when I see it.

Tappermom383

lovepugs, my surgeon's reaction when he saw my breast two weeks after my LX was, "Wow, you really bruised!" He seemed so surprised. I was a glorious shade of deep purple. Now there's a lot of yellow and green. Quite lovely! Best of luck at your appointment; sure hope you can say bye-bye to the drain!

MJ