February 2017 Surgery

nayda985

Good Luck KK!

kkdavis1961

Thanks nayda985. I'm just scared, and not knowing what to expect.

nayda985

The unknown is very scary @ KK...I am hoping that you receive good news lady.

Hahlyn

Thanks Nayda..I appreciate you! Im praying for Gods covering over me, peace and a sound mind.

nayda985

9lives and Hopeful Good Luck with your surgeries today!!!!

Sitti

EastcoastTS & Hahlyn,

I've been following the surgery boards and hope your surgeries went well yesterday and that you are resting okay today.

candles1

Hi all - I had my surgery yesterday. I had a BMX and the PS determined that my skin was viable enough to handle a "direct-to-implant" reconstruction. (This is the report from my husband-I won't see the docs until later today most likely). I don't know exactly what type of implant I got. I peeked and it looks a bit uneven, but surprisingly like my old self. I was able to do a nipple and skin sparing reconstruction. My surgeons re-used my old scars so no change there.

Here is my experience so far:

I climbed on the table at about 12 pm and my husband said it was all over by 2:45.

I spoke to the anesthesiologist about the anti-nausea med that works for me, and it worked again. Zero nasuea, but very hungry when I came to.

I wasn't - and still am not - thirsty at all, having drunk close to a gallon a day all week, and a bit over a gallon on Sunday. My veins were an easy stick (I can be a hard stick if dehydrated).

I ate very sparingly Sunday and the day before. I know I won't have a bowel movement for a few days, but when I do, it will be small and easy (I'm taking my colace faithfully, and when I get home I will insert a prep H suppository - sorry if tmi).

The anesthesiologist performed a double nerve block (since I was having a double mastectomy) on me just before I climbed on the table. Apparently this greatly enhances pain relief, but ALSO has been proven to reduce future breast cancer recurrence! Something to do with far less irritation during surgery that can "anger" or "awaken" bc cells throughout the body. Something to request when it's your turn!

I feel perfectly fine right now. I've gone to the bathroom (pee) and I can raise my arms pretty high up (tho I think I'm not supposed to). I mean, if I had to wash my hair, I think I could, if sitting down and bending my head down. I think I could dry my hair bending over, too. I've been told I can shower when I get home.

I have walked all around the hospital floor by myself - the nursing staff determined I'm not a fall risk. My room is lovely and has a nice view.

I've had dinner and breakfast and lunch. Food is not good.

I do have one spot of pain deep inside one part of one breast, when I first stir to move. Not sure what it is, but I will find out. Since I do have meds "on board," I'm not sure I should be having that spot of pain. It does diminish once I've walked around for a while.

In fact, I've noticed that the more I walk around, the better I feel.

I did not sleep well last night and I'm not sure why. The room was quiet and I was not interrupted much. I dozed for 45 minutes and then I'd be up for 45 minutes. Having my phone and iPad (and extra charger) was great. I wasn't uncomfortable, just not particularly sleepy. Maybe because I "slept" during surgery?

I have hot flashed more than usual in the hospital. It's not hot in here, and maybe it has something to do with the anesthesia or meds? If I'd predicted this, I'd have brought one of my little handheld purse fans.

I've woken from surgery every time with a sore throat in the past from the breathing tube - but not this time! I had told the anesthesiologist this, and maybe he did something different? Worth mentioning if this has happened to you. He told me that's just a normal thing to happen and he couldn't make promises, but maybe he was extra cautious since I had mentioned it. My normal throat lozenges that I always bring remain unopened!

I have four drains but only one is outputting a lot. The rest are fairly minimal. I know I will go home with two of them. The drains are a pain because you have to remain aware of them or you could accidentally rip them out (since you are numb). So, they can't just hang down untethered. But also, you need to make sure you aren't sitting on them or blocking them.Mine are pinned to my gown.

I have a ton of stuffing in front covered by some enormous surgical bra that would never fit me normally without all the cotton stuffing. I can pull it forward and peek in , but it's pretty tight. Not uncomfortable though.

If I can think of anything else, I'll post again. Good luck to you all.

Moderators

((((((((Hugs)))))))) to you all!! You've got this!

Hahlyn

Hello Ladies

Had lumpectomy and axillary lymphnode removal yesterday. Just got home this afternoon. Surgery was longer than expected due to scar tissue. Not sure where scar tissue came from since I've never had surgery or trauma to my breast. Doctor said I did well during surgery and said I looked good today.

After surgey I was starving and I was still hungry this morning. Good appetite. Thought due to anesthesia I would be nauseous but I wasnt. Havent had a bowel movement yet. Lot of urinating though. I have one drain that will be in for 2 weeks It is a little bigger than what I anticipated. Kind of hard to camouflage. Asked when I can drive I was told once I stop taking the narcotic pain pills which im taking as prescribed as i dont want the pain to get ahead of me. Hoping in about a week I can drive.

Yesterday was a long day. Glad I remained in the hospital nice to have the nurses taking care of me. Now I'm on my own. Well my hubby will help but he returns to work tomorrow.

Here's to a speedy recovery to all of us.

Hahlyn

nayda985

Good to hear from you Hahlyn.... Glad that everything went well with your surgery:)...my hubby has taken the last two days off...he goes back to work tmrw...Tmrw I will be on my own:(

heartfull

pickmorewildflower...I love that name! I am officially one week out from my BAX! I saw the PS today and had more fill. I agree that the surgery was not quite as bad as I thought that it would be. I have nipple sparing on one side and skin sparing on the other side. It's great to hear how you are doing 3 months out and so nice of you to take the time to help us all along. it's so nice to keep seeing the light on the other side! Lots of hugs and thank yous! XO!

heartfull

Hahlyn...glad your surgery is over! Sending you gentle hugs and bunches of love and care! I am at the one week mark tonight since surgery and doing pretty well overall! I thank you all for your prayers and am praying for each of you going through this! You can do it!

heartfull

Candles1...so glad your surgery is over also! You seem to be doing great! I am at one week out from a BAX and doing well! So far nothing found in the nodes....hope it stays that way! I appreciate all of your pre-surgery ideas! Sending you gentle, loving hugs to get you through the next few weeks! XO

candles1

Update: my PS informed me I received an immediate silicone implant over the muscle. I'm so hoping to avoid infection and stay on track with a speedy recovery. So far, I'd say my pain is a zero. I came home and hubby and I took the dog for a walk. That strange pain I described earlier was where a drain was placed; but since I've been so active, it vanished.

Unfortunately, I did come home with all four drains. On the upside, the poop fairy visited - a good 1-2 days ahead of my usual post-surgery schedule!

If you are a good candidate for an over-the-muscle one step implant, I highly recommend the recovery process (so far). I highly doubt I'll touch the narcotics. I may take a Motrin tonight just in case. I don't think I was given any narcotics in the hospital either; just Tylenol and a muscle relaxer? That could explain the early poop fairy visit.

PS says the pain is so little due to the nerve block and the fact that the muscle was not lifted. Apparently, the nerve block prevents the nerves from getting inflamed in the first place so after the surgery, they never even knew it happened, or something like that. And of course the undisturbed muscle makes for a much easier recovery.

I haven't found a lot of material about this particular procedure; I'm under the impression it's fairly new? It does look great and is easy. I sure hope it sticks.

candles1

heartful -back atcha! Hope your recovery is good and the nodes stay clean. I had 3 sentinels taken during an earlier lumpectomy. The node removal was the most painful of all my surgical recoveries. Hang in there!

BCinGA

I had my lumpectomy with sentinel node biopsy about 12 hours ago. I went in for surgery around 945am and was back at home by 130pm. I had a tangle of 3 lymph nodes in a cluster, which they said was odd. The nodes looked healthy so they didn't remove any more. I came out from anesthesia easily and have had no nausea. I've got some pain meds to take for a few days. I don't get to remove my bandages for 48 hours, so I have no idea what the area looks like. My throat is sore from the intubation, but I doubt that will last long. I am allergic to latex and have a mild reaction to paper tape, so I have a nice line across my face where the breathing tube was held in place as well as what looks to be an octopus attack to the torso (where my EKG pads were). My bandaged area is super itchy, but nothing can be done about that. All in all the surgery was about what I expected. I'll give it a few days and then update again.

Glad to hear everyone else from the past few days is doing well!

kkdavis1961

I had my excisional biopsy surgery yesterday. It went a lot better than I thought. I was scheduled for 1-1/2 hour surgery but was only in there about 45 minutes. I was asleep the entire time. The last thing I remember is sliding over to the operating room table. I'm really surprised that I have not had much pain. Also no nausea. They gave me a pill for nausea before the surgery and it has really helped. Also have taken the pain pills. I haven't taken any since midnight and it's around 6:30 am now. So I think I'm going to see how I do if I take any. My incision is about 2 inches. The dr said it would be 3-5 days for the pathology results. I just feel that a weight has been lifted offf my shoulder jus getting the mass out.

candles1

Update: day 2 post surgery. Last night was the first night in my own bed. I don't have a recliner to sleep in. I used one of those dorm-type pillows with arms on it to prop myself up, and wedged some smaller pillows at the base behind my back. I also used two regular sized pillows under each arm, by my side. As a lifelong side sleeper, it wasn't the most restful sleep, but I did sleep through the night and felt good in the morning.

Still no pain today and I was able to stick my head in the shower and wash my hair with the handheld showerhead (I am not allowed to shower yet so I did this fully clothed AND with a makeshift garbage bag shielding me). I kept my elbows fairly close to my sides and didn't reach up much. I don't have anywhere near full range of motion yet, and I'm unsure whether I'm supposed to even try to reach far at this point. So, I'm refraining from doing so in case it's important to promote healing. It's not a pain issue for me.

I also am having some trouble reaching behind to put on a shirt or coat. Not because of pain, but because it feels like I might pull something out of place. I will ask the surgeon if it's ok to just "go for it" or if I need to continue to refrain from such movement for now.

Because I now know I had silicone implants placed directly over the muscle, I can't find much information about post-surgical protocol, so I feel like a lot of the normal advice might not apply since there's no muscle layer holding them in? I don't want to do anything to dislodge them from where the PS placed them.

Suburbs

Candles1, my surgery will be months from now. Thank you very much for all the detailed information. This is so helpful to me and will be incorporated in my list of questions for the surgeons. Really, I can't thank you enough. Wishing you a continued successful and uneventful recovery. Your notes are most appreciated. All the best, Suburbs

heartfull

Met with the BS today and he pulled one drain...three left! All nodes came back fine officially. The docs, pathologists, etc. will meet tomorrow to discuss my case as well as others and let me know the next step by the end of the week. Thank you for prayers! I am sending prayers and positive, thoughts to all of you getting ready for surgery and for those of you recovering! We can do it! XO!

abg712

hi all ladies! I'm just wondering how everyone is doing who had surgery in Feb. Mine was Feb 6. Mastectomy and SNB and tissue expander. Post- surgically, I'm doing ok 3 weeks out. I am doing my arm exercises and waiting for oncotype.

Some things that were WORSE than I expected:

- my fear the morning of surgery

- the pain the first 2 days in the hospital, holy hell! But it did get muted by drugs.

- the constipation from painkillers (need to take colase etc and get ahead of it)

- some tingling in my hands and head 3after surgery- don't know if it's related.

- giving up my normal life and routine for 3 weeks

Some things that were BETTER than expected:

- the nipple injection of the the nuclear material to locate my SLN 2 hours before surgery - I expected epic pain, it was not much worse than a regular shot in the breast (like what you get before a core biopsy)

- getting the drain out a week later was painless

- eating after surgery, I got my appetite back and was happy to eat that first week after

- the pain after 9 days:- it really subsided after 2 weeks - I was able to get off the oxy and Valium and do Aleve

- giving up my normal routine for 3 weeks!

My favorite item was the Ameona Hannah surgical camisole. I bought 2. They are comfy, have drain holders (that can velcro out now) and it zips up the front. Three weeks later, I still wear them everyday.

I'm doing ok phyisically, just still reeling and dealing a lot mentally. I know there is more to do, but with this step taken, it feels good to have done something.

Hope you are recovering well. Take care of you! And let others help too. I hope you guys are doing well. If you are one week out - keep going and taking care of yourself!!

heartfull

abg712...thank you for your wonderful message! I am on day #9 and doing fairly well! It's really great to hear from someone who is further ahead! I can't wait to be able to wash my hair by myself! Haha! I'll get there though! I haven't met with the oncologist yet, but assume that I will in the next week or so. I hope your Oncotype test comes back with a low number! Sending you hugs and a big thank you for your encouragement! XO!

Hahlyn

Hello Ladies

Feeling a little better still sore under my arm. I haven't been on the heavy duty meds since Tuesday only been taking OTC Tylenol twice a day. Finally I was able to have a BM I was getting a little concerned as I hadn't gone since Monday.

My husband bought me a recliner I was so happy and grateful until I sat in it. Lord it's so uncomfortable my back hurt so bad today. He is so proud of himself for buying It i just don't know how to tell him this chair is hurting me. To save face I will just try and put some pillows or just avoid it all together. I asked for a recliner I actually love them this hands down is the worse I have ever sat in.

Anywho wishing continuous speedy recovery for all of us.

Hahlyn

Ruby3813

Morning Ladies!

I haven't been on this thread previously. February was just a whirlwind of bad news and unexpected surgeries! Had my lumpectomy on February 13th, then sentinel lymph node surgery on February 20th. The lymph node surgery has left me sore under my arm and I have the nerve issue (feels like a sunburn under the arm and down the interior of my upper arm). Anyone else dealing with this, or dealt with it? I know everyone heals at a different rate, but this is really irritating. Saw my dr yesterday for post-op and he said my lymph node incision looks good, but just said nerve healing takes time. Ugh.

The lumpectomy was a breeze. Never thought the lymph node surgery would be so hard to heal. Only had one taken.

Have a great day!

kkdavis1961

Just heard from the BS on my results from my excisional biopsy. NO CANCER. The report read that the changes that was seen on the last mammogram and US was due to scar tissue from the biopsy in July. Thanks everyone for your support. I go back to the BS March 8 for my pre op visit. I'll find out more then.

Hahlyn

kkdavis1961- Congrats!!! NO CANCER how wonderful to hear those words!

nayda985

YAY KK!!!!!!!!

That is great news lady!

nayda985

Hahlyn I am feeling very sore under my arm also... BS told me he took out 10 lymph nodes...I have been doing the exercises the PT showed me in the hospital...so it's getting a little better... Just a little...sorry about your recliner not being comfortable...but that was super sweet of your hubby to get you one:)....it might have to be broken in...like you have to break in new shoes...lol.

4nell

had left mastectomy with 2 drains, no reconstruction on Feb.24th, also came home with a breast binder but changed over to ace bandage, more comfortable, surgery went good, was only on pain meds till Sunday night then just Advil when needed.Had herceptin chemo on the the 28th The drains were removed on the 7th, not much out put at all, but since then have been dealing with nausea almost every afternoon, had followup with BS on the 16th, she said all looked good but did draw off 10cc of fluid.The great news was there was no cancer in any of the tissue or 2 nodes she removed!!!!! Has anyone else dealt with nausea that long, could it just be from all the trama to my body in the last couple weeks,and my body is just trying to catch up? Also blood pressure has been elevated since surgery also, any ideas?

Hahlyn

Nayda I was given some exercises while in thsome hospital by my nurse but then I was quickly told don't do them until doctor says okay. I'm a little better today the last time I took an otc tylenol was yesterday at 7pm. Still takes me awhile to get dressed. Still wearing button up shirts still dealing with this drain haven't left the house...Soooo ready to get out its been nice in soCalifornia and im stuck in this house...

My appt with BS and MO is monday hopefully she will pull the drain then. My husband empties it daily and the fluids are getting lower.

As for the recliner....lol so.sweet but my Lord its just bad but I won't dare say anything...knowing me i will just buy one for him and use it...

All you ladies have.a nice weekend and continue moving forward with recovery

Hahlyn