Any surgeries scheduled for October?

NoMoreKindaCCups

Newbie here, but I've been reading a lot to prepare for sx. Having BMX w/ TE on 10/18 and I think I'm mentally ready to do this, though I'll probably have my own little breakdown the night before. My PS doesn't allow any showers until all 4 drains come out, and they're currently predicting 5 weeks! While I'm not a huge fan of showers (only to wash hair), I take a bath at least once a day, so this is going to be the hard part for me... you know, other than pain, uncomfortable sleep, reduced mobility, etc.

I've bought BC shirts every October to support my friends who've already had cancer over the last 12 years. My favorite says, "You're stronger than you think" - yeah, we've all seen that, right? But my boss read it and said, "You're stranger than you think?" Always makes me laugh when I wear that shirt.

My silver lining in all this is that eventually, I'm gonna have the full C cups I always wished I had. Good luck to all of us this month!

BAMR

Eigna, had my hospital pre-op today. They repeated I have to be there at 6, injections at 8, and surgery starts at 10:30. The nurse told me they would give me valium before I have the dye injections. She said the injections can be rather painful. I could have done without hearing that. It's going to be a long day, but hopefully I'll be sleeping for most of it. My sister and mom will be here tomorrow, although I told them there is nothing they need to do. My work schedule is clear now for the next 2 weeks. Hoping I will be able to go back by then.

Honestly, I don't feel as much alone since you and naaluhunet will be having your surgery the same day. I'm spending the night in the hospital, then will hopefully be home the next morning. I know I won't be able to access the internet until after I get home, so I'll be praying for you two, and will be anxious to hear how you did. I'll post on here as soon as I can.

naaluhunet, where are you in Hawaii? My sister will be here tomorrow from Maui. I'll be heading over there for a wedding in January.

famous, great news! So glad about your dog, too. That would have been really tough to deal with.

Moderators

Welcome, NoMoreKindaCCups! We're so glad you've joined our community, and hope you find this place to be a source of support as you get closer to your surgery date, through your recovery, and beyond. We'll be thinking of you on the 18th!

The Mods

alto

Eigna, they estimated my ER at 5%, so they said there would really be no benefit to me, and it wasn't worth risking any side effects for no benefit.

Best of luck with your surgery! I remember being so nervous before - this was my first experience with surgery, other than having wisdom teeth out - but it was really all very manageable. You have a team of highly trained people who will handle everything and keep you safe and comfortable. Better to get the surgery than have that cancer in you.

FWIW, I wasn't in a lot of pain with anything - there was some brief discomfort with shots and stuff like that (needle localization, tracer), but nothing terrible. A nurse told me surgery was the easy part, because you sleep through it. That sounded crazy to me, but she was right. I'm normally a busy/worn out person, and I remember waking up from surgery feeling so well-rested. Just try to breathe and relax as much as you can through it all. These people do surgery all the time, so they know what they're doing, and they want a good outcome for you. You'll do great, and we'll be thinking of you and looking forward to hearing from you.

Eigna

Thank you Alto for your wishes.

BAMR - this is it ... tomorrow is the day... I’m so nervous and emotional today. But we can do this. I will post as soon as I can tomorrow. Wishing all of us best of luck tomorrowwith clean margins and negative lymph nodes 😉 ....

Teslafied

BAMR, yes I was nervous about the injections also. I had mine the day before after they did the magseed placement. I was given an Rx for Emla cream which they told me to put on 2 hours prior to my visit. It does numb the area quite well, although you do feel what everyone describes as something like a bee sting. But it only lasted a couple of seconds. They did four injections around my areola, and the last one I didn't even feel at all. It took the Dr. about a minute, maybe less, to do all of them.

Eigna: try to do something fun today if you can. You will be fine.

StAuggie

I'm scheduled for BMX with immediate reconstruction (for implants) on Oct. 29. Apprehensive but glad it is finally going to be done.

famousthecat

Big love to all three of you having surgeries tomorrow! I'll be sending much love and good vibes your directions. I know that pre surgery stress so well at this point, and I'll be hoping that you come out of it feeling good and pleasantly surprised by how good you're feeling. You've got this!

I had the best visit ever to my PS. Horrid bandages are gone and two drains pulled! The surgeon confirmed she doubled my breast size (which was still 100cc smaller than what she initially suggested for me!). I know there's still a lot of fluid in there, but I think I'll be really happy with them in the end. I was preparing myself for hating them, to be honest, mostly because I just wanted to keep my own breasts. But... I am starting to think I might actually like them! And no more cancer is the best part. It's very, very strange to have almost no feeling in them, though.

Lots of love tomorrow, friends!

alto

Wishing you well today with your surgeries!

Newlife4me

I had right mastectomy with immediate free flap recon on oct 1. Was in hospital 3 nights to ensure flap was connected well to new blood vessels etc. It’s been 10 days and not in much pain. I have a flat stomach now and a belly button I have not seen in 25 years.

However am still extremely exhausted and if I try anything with my brain it takes immense focus. Right now on short term disability till oct 28 which is 2.5 weeks away. I hope I can think by then.

3 drains in with hopefully breast drain coming out next week

Eigna

Hello everybody! I made it to the other side. I’m so relieved that it’s over. Surgery went well. No complications. Surgeon took two lymph nodes. She said they looked fine but need to be tested to be sure. Let the healing begin. Waiting to hear from BAMR and naahulet ( sorry if I misspelled your name). Not much pain for now. Just taking Advil and Tylenol.

Yesterday though was another story. I had a terrible headache and at some point I vomit. I guess I was so scared and stressed.

It’s all over till the next step.... 😔

Bejeweled

I am having a lumpectomy on 10/28 as well!

Bejeweled

I am having a lumpectomy with oncoplastic reduction on 10/28. I am ready to get this show on the road.

Eigna

Hey BAMR and naalehunet I haven't heard from you since your surgery. Are you okay?

alto

Newlife4me, Week 3 was when I started to feel like I was getting my energy back and my brain was working normally again.

Eigna, glad to hear you're doing well!

naalehunet

My surgery went great! I am back home with pain under control and so very, very happy! And my nodes looked normal, so I am much less worried now. Best of all, my drains may come out Monday. Hope all are as blessed!!

Eigna

That’s great naalehunet! Take care of yourself! Glad everything went fine.

naalehunet

Aloha Eigna - BTW, I posted on DMHGF's thread for much more details! My drainage tubes are my sites of pain. But my drainage is decreasing and I still hope I can get the two of them out on Monday. Tylenol seems to give the best pain relief for the tube pain, but the oxycodone totally knocks it out and I still needed that total relief so I could really rest this afternoon. And catch up on this conversation! Glad to hear you are having a swift recovery.!!

naalehunet

Aloha BAMR - we hope all went well for you, too. Eigna and I did fine and are thinking of you now. I live at the southern tip of Hawaii Island in a tiny town called Naalehu. I had my surgery about 70 miles away in Hilo and was treated extremely well by everyone. I do better without crowds of people and my Dr. does enough surgeries to be highly skilled and few enough to still care a lot.

Glad to hear your family will be there for you. Must husband surprised me with my favorite chicken salad sandwich which he had slipped out for while I was sleeping. It is his way of saying I love you and you are lucky your family will be there to show you love, too.

My "nurse" husband says I must get off the computer now. Good wishes to you.

Eigna

Aloha naalehunet! Glad to hear from you. I’m starting to worry about BAMR. She hasn’t posted yet. Hope everything is okay with her. Yesterday I didn’t take much pain relievers just a couple of times. I feel ok but trying not to do much. What’s your next step after surgery

BAMR

I'm here! I had some reactions to the anesthesia and had to stay another half day until we got the nausea stopped. Wasn't fun, but honestly, wasn't bad. I certainly got a lot of personal attention from everyone in the hospital and I liked being taken care of! The dye injections were not comfortable, but after everything else we've done, it's no big deal. BS thinks my breasts look "spectacular" and my husband agrees. I think they look pretty smushed and swollen, but I'm happy that they are smaller. Still taking my Norco pain meds, but every 8 hours and I expect to switch to Tylenol today. They gave me morphine in the hospital and I was groggy the whole time. Now, I'm working on the constipation. Took a shower this morning and I feel much more human. Will get pathology results Tuesday or Wednesday but BS said it all looks good. I'll have my post op next Thursday, the 17th. So happy to be over this hump. Next for me will be radiation in 4-6 weeks.

I must go catch up on everyone's stories! I hope you all are doing as well or better than me.

Eigna

Hi BAMR! So glad to hear from you finally! Take it easy! I have some problems with constipation as well 🙄 dont know what to do about it ...should I use a stool softener

BAMR

Eigna, stool softener for sure. Colace 100 mg twice a day is what they gave me in the hospital. I also use Miralax in the morning in my coffee and I'm taking 400 mg Magnesium Glycinate at night. It's all starting to work again for me, thank goodness.

NoMoreKindaCCups

Congratulations to all of you who have made if to the other side! I love reading how everyone is doing post-surgery, especially with the drain situation. Seems like some people are getting them out really soon! My BC nurse navigator assures me that the 5 weeks my PS told me to expect is a worst case scenario, but still expect maybe 3 weeks. No showers until all drains are out, but my friend sent me products from Medline Remedy like No-Rinse Foam Cleanser you can use on your hair and skin. We'll see how that works out. Five days to go until my big day...

naalehunet

Good to know 10/10s are all ok! I had my shower this morning and my (and husband's) first look at my bilateral mastectomy. I was surprised to still see a little cleavage. My BS was terrific.

Also, started 1 Colace a couple of days before surgery and moved to twice daily since surgery and had my first bowel movement this morning. BMs are critical to feeling better post-surgery and not given credit for their importance.

My only pain, but it is not insignificant, seems to come from my two JP drains. The amount of drainage (30 mi/24 hours) is what determines when mine come out. I read on BCO that plain mastectomies have less drainage than lumpectomies and reconstruction. Getting out my drains is my next goal! The flow is dropping so I hope maybe tomorrow or Tuesday.

I hear about what's next when I see my Oncologist on Oct 25. Being 73 years old with ILC, I may well avoid chemo and radiation. But I don't want to get too hopeful until we review the pathology report on the breast tissue and sentinel node.

I am just happy that today I had my first shower (my BS just said to put my back to the shower and did not require keeping the drains dry) and moved my bowels!!

Eigna

Hi all. I’m just concerned that I haven’t had yet a bowel movement since before surgery. I started this evening with one capsule of colace and take two tomorrow ( should I take one in the morning and one in the evening or two in the morning?) hopefully it works or else I don’t know what to do. I went for a walk today hoping it will help too.

I’m also very tired but can keep up with family activities.

famousthecat

Eigna, what finally worked for me was prune juice (in addition to all the other stuff - I was taking a stool softener and miralax daily). 1-2 glasses of prune juice a day, and you'll be golden!

Eigna

Thanks Famousthecat I will try prune juice 🥤

Hope it works

Eigna

I’m looking to read a book about breast cancer... does anyone have anything interesting to recommend?

Teslafied

I'm glad to read that everyone's surgery has gone well and wishing you all speedy recoveries. I met with my surgeon last Friday to go over my results. Unfortunately, 4 margins tested positive, so I have to have another surgery on the 21st to remove more cancer cells

I still feel really good, I have had no pain at all at the incision sites. Dr. says I'm "healing beautifully!"

As far as stool softeners, I recommend SuperLax from Grandma's Herbs - they do the trick for me. You can order them online-just google Grandma's Herbs.