Was your surgery hard or easy?

What bugs me is when the doctors tell you it will be a piece of cake.  I fell for this over and over again....the first was some exploratory laparscopic surgery.  Dr. said I'd be okay to go back to work after a few days.  It was over a month before I could even take a small bag of garbage to the curb.  And then the mastectomy.  The first, my surgeon told me after 2 weeks that I could go back to work, and I had to argue with him and explain why I needed him to write me a note for more time.  I sometimes lift plywood at my job.  It was like almost two months before I could get back.  I was a basket case:  problems with meds, pain, you name it.  I'm going in for a double DIEP (which I always think sounds like some really yummy dessert!), and I AM NOT FALLING FOR IT anymore!  Surgeon said 2 months?  I booked an additional month off.  But the previous posters are correct:  it depends on the person.  I just wish the doctors would say:  most women need "x" amount of time to get over it, but some need way more...at least you'd be prepared!!!  Don't get me started.  ;-)

I had a mastectomy and my stitches went from the sternum all the way under my arm.  This was the very first time I was ever in a hospital and I never had surgery before, so I expected nightmarish, horrible pain, etc., etc.  So, in comparison to what I expected, it was easier.  I do remember waking up and screaming in pain.  They were still working on me, I think in the recovery room.  My armpit was beyond what I could ever describe.  They asked how bad the pain was on a scale of 1 to 10.  I screamed out -- 10!!!!!!  They put me out, and I woke up in a room -- no pain.  I had what I would call discomfort with the drains.  They seemed to press on my ribs and yes, they pulled when I tried to get in and out of bed.  No one told me about the constipation either and I had a terrible time with that. 

All in all, I would have to say the radiation IS BY FAR much more painful for me than the surgery.  I am a burnt extra crispy, peeling, weeping, oozing mess!  Can't wear clothing on it and just in the most horrible pain with it.  I'd take surgery any day!

I think that surgery is much like having a baby.  It is horrible pain while it is happening and then as time goes on we say "it wasn't that bad."  I feel the same way about chemo.  It was awful at the time and I would never do it again.  Now, if I needed to, I could do it again.

Brenda my surgery was tough - but doable - before I had the MRSA. I thought I was mentally prepared for the pain since I had 3 c-sections and a hernia surgery. After my unilateral mx with immediate free-tram, I stayed in the hospital for 5 days (Mon - Fri). I was fine in the recovery room - and later, the pain was bearable WHEN the nurses brought my pain meds on time. Then, on Wednesday when the night nurse came on duty and never brought my pain meds (she was busy doing paperwork), I had to ring and ring and ring and no one came. The pain became a nightmare! So finally I dragged myself out of bed, bent doubled, made it to the doorway and yelled "WHERE ARE MY PAIN MEDS!"  Boy that got people running in a hurry! (BTW - I did register a complaint against her. All my other nurses were angels.) By Friday, when they sent me home,  I was feeling better - I wasn't able to raise my arm over my head or stand up straight, but I felt happy that I was well on my way to recovering even with the annoying drains.

Two days later, I was in the emergency room with pain off the scale, difficulty breathing and a fever.  When they finally got the pain under control with IV Dialuaid they found I had a gallstone and said it was the cause of my fever. A couple of days later they scheduled me for a special gallstone cat scan - which meant I couldn't have pain meds. They brought me down in a wheel chair for the scan and the women technicians said, "Ok - hop on the table." The table was narrow (about 8 inches wide) and very hard. I was able to sit there but I couldn't lay flat. They tried to help lower my torso down flat, but I started crying and then screaming in pain! The woman looked so surprised - and told me, "didn't they tell you this procedure requires you to lay flat for nearly an hour? without pain meds?" I said "No!   Then with a negative comment against the doctors who ordered this test (because obviously the doctors were CLUELESS as to what was involved in the test and my ability to withstand it) - the technicians (who really were angels) sent me back to my room. Low and behold - turns out I did NOT need that test - they ordered a different cat scan which did allow me to have pain meds. Another angelic nurse ran downstairs right before I was to go into the machine and started the IV pain meds - which took effect immediately. I was in heaven - was able to lay flat and withstood the shorter scan very well.

UNFORTUNATELY - all that laying flat on my back put undue stress on my abdominal incision which, on top of the loss of muscle due to the free-tram and the MRSA staph - made the incision reopen. Yucky mess - packing that wound twice-a-day for four months! And all that gall bladder scanning was for nothing...........because when they finally got hold of a gastroenterologist - he looked at all the liver enzyme numbers and scans and declared that it was NOT my gall stone causing my fevers but the fluid build-up under my abdominal incision. So finally after 10 days of testing and poking and pain, the plastic surgeon was forced to aspirate the fluid in my side. I remember hearing nurses in the hallway whispering about the large amount of fluid he took out, but I don't remember the number they used. Two days later - it came back positive for MRSA - even though I was already on IV antibiotics including vancomyacin (my lungs had already tested positive for MRSA when I first arrived in the ER.) So they finally added another antibiotic to my cocktail and within 3 days my fever stopped and I was able to go home.

SO........my answer to your question is - my surgery was EXTREMELY hard - and so often I look back wishing I had opted for just a lump with rads. Still, finding out after my surgery that I was Her2++++ made me feel perhaps it was worth going through it to reduce the risk of a recurrence and, in the long run, when I get all my revision surgeries over with - maybe this time next year I'll forget what happened to me and will stop venting here at bc.org. In the meantime - thank you all for patiently listening to me tell my story over and over again - I love you all.

P.S. Barbe - do you sense MY anger here?

Bilateral mastectomy with tram reconstruction here. I felt like I had been hit by a bus!

Node removal is probably the worst part though - I don't like all the creepy sensations that go along with the recovery

Hi everybody, I had my lumpectomy on 3/17.  I took 3 Vicodin total afterwards.  No pain at all on second day, just had a pulling sensation of discomfort.  When I removed the dressing that night, I discovered it was the tape pulling on my skin.  No more discomfort.  Basically no pain or discomfort since then.  When they took of the steristrips, I couldn't believe the incisions were as big as they were, as no discomfort involved!

Tomorrow I go in for my mastectomy.  My surgeon told me it will not be much worse, the incision will be a little bigger.  So I don't anticipate much more of a problem than I had a month ago.

Worst surgery I had was 10 years ago, total hip replacement with bone graft.  If that's a 10, the lumpectomy was about a .5.  Had a lap cholecystectomy 2 years ago, that was the easiest surgery I'd ever had.  The lumpectomy was no worse.

Hi I had my mastectomy Tuesday morning at 7:30.  I was home by 1 pm.  They put in one drain.  And something new (they told me it has been available at our hospital at least for only a week.)  An automatic pain medication pump.  I have had virtually NO pain.  This afternoon the doctor pulled the pump and since I have no pain anyway, I am much more comfortable tonight.  Couldn't pull the drain.  He thought maybe tomorrow but I think it will probably be on Monday.  My main problem with the drain is I have a lot of difficulty sleeping on my back.  Tuesday night I slept about 2 hours.  Last night, from midnight until about 3, then restless for an hour an a half or so, then slept until about 7:30.  Dr gave me Ambien today.  It's now 8:30 and I'm feeling tired now, so it will probably go better than last night.

The supervisor from my office in the hospital went back to see me Tuesday afternoon and I was already home.  Two of my friends stayed with me and took me home. 

Wednesday the bra lady is coming to see me.

So far, this has been a lot easier than I expected.

Hi - had my lumpectomy and sentinal node removal 3/25 (no node involvement found but only sentinal removed) and never had to take a pain pill at all.  However, path said all margins were not clear so had a re-excision on 4/8 and I am still suffering!  It was so very painful that when I woke up in recovery, I was crying.  My breast surgeon assured me it was due to having to reopen the large incision and go back into the recently healing area (she took a lot the first time) and then excise even more.  She again said she took alot as she wanted to be sure of clean margins.  If this didn't work - mastectomy would be next.  Fortunately, my margins were clear after the re-excision.  My growth was 1.2 cms but in 11:00 position deep below the nipple but not to the chest wall.   My incision is freaky.  It is my right breast and incision starts just a small distance from sentinal incision, actually on right middle side of breast to the nipple, then it goes up and around the top of the nipple and back down to the middle of left side of breast almost to sternum, so it is quite long.  She reopened the same incision.  All I had for pain was darvocet and she had me on Keflex for a week.  I went back to work, still in pain with my sports bra on and a panty liner in my bra to catch the "ooze" that was coming from the corner next to the nipple where it met with the straight incision and began to go up and around the nipple.  She saw me one week later and said everything was normal and that it would be painful as she took a lot more out.  She said I didn't need to refill the Keflex - just to give it time and see her in six months.  It was two weeks yesterday and I am still in pain.  The whole damn thing hurts and now my nipple has become extremely sensitive - almost feels like it's burning from the inside.  I am miserable.  My onc (start chemo on the 30th) saw it Tuesday and suggested I go back on the keflex for another week.  I am suffering now and have to start chemo on the 30th.  Ought to feel just grand after that too.  The oozing of that corner, which was raw looking, has just about finished and I took off my sports bra to sleep for the first time Tuesday night - left off the damn panty liner, figuring I was keeping it too closed up and airless.  That has helped alot as it does not look raw any longer, but now the damn nipple hurts.

Does this damn crappy pain  ever end.  I hate this damn cancer.  I guess from the above, you can tell I am not a happy camper.

Linda

Much thanks, Brenda - and I wish you nothing short of the best.

Linda

I was dx in April 2007.  I had a lumpectomy in May 2007 because my surgeon wanted pathology on the monster first.  I told him I'd be getting the bilateral mx for peace of mind. 

The lumpectomy was easy; the sentinel node biopsy was a bit painful in terms of reaching high up afterwards.  In 3 weeks, the SNB issues were fine and in June of 2007, I asked for a bilateral MX for peace of mind (docs were very upset with me and insisted I leave the lumpectomy but I did not want radiation).  For ME...and yes, we are all very, very different, the bilateral mx was a cake-walk.  I took no pain meds (my surgeon was horrified when he came to see me the next day and saw the chart and the pain pump in the hall).  Since I'd already had a SNB, I didn't require anything further with that and the healing was much easier.  For ME, I was able to go back to my yoga within 1 week.

I opted for no reconstruction and I know that helped with the recovery.

Wow - didn't realize how lucky I was. I had a lumpectomy, and then they had to go back in to clear margins - have two two inch scars. The most painful part for me was when they injected the dye for the SNB. Nobody warned me about that lovely part of the procedure - my nipple hurt worse than the two incisions.