Surgery is Over!!!!

macdebbie

I apologize if I already posted this. I feel like I've lost 2 days, and certainly the surgery day is a bit of a blur.

All in all, I feel so grateful. NO axillary dissection. That's a huge one. I know my BCS came to see me after but I was so out of it I don't remember anything she said except it went well. Unfortunately with SC being so high in COVID cases my hubby was not allowed to come up to recovery and be with me. I was a bit taken aback at how fast they wish you out of there! I had just opened my eyes and someone came over and gave me some water and said "we're going to get you out of here". They had to help me dress because I was so loopy. As I was getting dressed the BCS came in, and I asked for my blood sugar and vitals to be taken before I left.

I've had minimal pain, been using ice packs, and have just been taking Tylenol. I'm more sore than painful, and the underarm incision makes my skin feel tight. Other than that I am dealing with dilated pupils that apparently are the result of the Scopolamine (nausea) patch that was given to me, which I really didn't want. It freaked me out when I saw my eyes the day after surgery so I took the patch off. Have spoken with my BCS and anesthesia, and they said it should resolve by Sat. If not, I am to call anesthesia back and potentially have someone look at it.

I can't believe how nervous I was about all of this. I had myself SO worked up. Part of it is I am super sensitive to meds, and have had many a doctor make some pretty big mistakes with meds that ended me up in the ER.

I will say the worst part of the whole thing was the tracer injection. My BCS said that the anesthetic injection is almost as painful, so she advised just to get the tracer injection with no anesthetic. I hope there's never a next time, but if there is, I would never do that again. Ever. Most painful thing I've ever been through except for when I broke my foot and lay waiting in a room at 3am for 2 hours before anyone came to tend to me.

Now it's just the agony of waiting for the path report....

Thanks to everyone who got me this far. You've all been a lifesaver for me. So much experience, understanding, and compassion here. Love you all!

***UPDATE - My BCS just called with the BEST news ever! No lymph node involvement, margins were widely clear, and tumor size was 3mm. I am SO happy. I'm assuming with this info I don't need Oncotype??

Roo73

Macdebbie, I'm so happy to hear this! I was thinking of you and wondering if you'd check back in!

I have also have zero memory of the surgeon telling me anything afterwards.

Really glad to hear it went well. May the path report come quickly and all your margins be clear!

MarvieS

Macdebbie - wonderful news, congratulations! Very happy for you! I believe someone mentioned that for oncotype testing the tumor needs to be 5mm or larger but not entirely sure.