January Mastectomy

formykids:  I have been limited to only Tylenol for 2 weeks prior to surgery, other than starting on antibiotics yesterday to prevent infection.  So, no good drugs for me before SNB injection.  I'll try to let you all know how it went tonight, won't be home until after we put kids to bed at my parents house (they are spending the night there tonight).  On a good note on drugs, I have Darvicet and Vicodin waiting for me in my drug drawer for after surgery, just can't use before. 

I also have another issue that popped up today.  I started my period!  How inconvenient is that going to be!  I have a call into the surgeon's office to make sure it isn't an issue, but I've been assured by a few people that it's just going to be a PITA for me and a little messy for the person doing my catheter (ew!).  Anyway, why not add one more yucky thing to my life these days.  Oh well, bless & release!  I say that a lot these days!  Good luck to all!

Paula

pbebow - My prayers are with you today and I am sure you will do well. So funny you talk about your period as I have tried to calculate the days and see if that will be the case for me. I'm sure this will not be a first for them. My sister is a nurse and assures me those things are not a big deal. Good luck and keep us posted.

formykids - My daughter seems to be doing well also. I too have been as honest with her with age appropriate information. She and I are very close. She is my only child and we hang out together alot. I told her I might say really silly things so don't laugh at me too hard. She loves ice chips so I told her we could eat some together when I get back from surgery. I don't plan to have her stay a long time. I just think she needs to know that I am ok. We expect honesty from our children so I think they should expect nothing less from their parents. I imagine that it will be hard for you not seeing your children. I will pray for you that you feel the comfort of God's love. I read not long ago  when you are afraid or sad to inhale God's love and exhale the rest. Take care.

Thanks to you all for welcoming me. When I had my MRI, I prayed for all of you guys on this site and will continue to do so.

Now, go kick some cancer butt!!!! I hope that word is ok to use

Hugs to you all!!!!

I am sitting here eating lunch being unbelievably calm, can't figure out when it's all going to hit me, listening to my new theme song...  Kenney Chesney's "I'm Alive".  I have a whole playlist full of great uplifting music including this one on my iPod that I'm taking with me to listen to before and after surgery.  Music always helps me to get through...  if you're not familiar with it, here is a link that will play it for you, give it a listen...

http://popup.lala.com/popup/504684637834793173

formykids....have you finally gotten all of your surgery details??  I've been thinking about you, as I have had just a taste of that kind of uncertainty around my surgery and it makes it so difficult when you have to make all of these plans for the family care.  I am hoping you've been able to get the info you need and are now just able to focus on preparing yourself for the 12th.   

I have had uber drama around my surgery the past few days, but I do believe I finally have a new date: January 28 is when I am now scheduled for my BMX w/ DIEP.  I had another MRI today and will be having another biopsy tomorrow.  I'm not sure that these results will change anything, but will give me more info to work with.  I know Sunsnow and pbebow are going tomorrow...good luck!

Well. I went for my preAdmit-testing today & was TOTALLY underwhelmed by the experience.

My surgery is to be in a brand new hospital. It was described to me as state-of-the-art.

While it may be that for technical stuff, it lacked today in efficiency.

My first impression is tainted.

No need to ramble on & on.......

Several of you have bigger fish to fry.

Sending out hugs to all reading or participating in this thread.

I did spend an hour on the phone today with the breast-care nurse, who answered every single dithering question that I could think of.... I am to be first on my day of surgery & am having a SNB. When I asked how that was going to get accomplished between 6:00 a.m. arrival & 7:30 surgery, she said that is based on their feeling of the latest research, that the dye they use needs only 20 minutes to be effective.

When I asked how others (here) were having it done the day before, she assured me that it was "all good" and just a preference of individual surgeons and scheduling.... as to differences.

I suppose they have done this before. LOL.

We had snow this afternoon, which meant the world literaly came to a halt. It took me two hours to get home, from a 30 minute trek.

BTW. I have asked my PCP for "pharmacalogical" balance and hope to be swallowing that as early as tomorrow. This jagging back-and-forth between calm and collapse has gotten old. Prayer support does not seem to be sufficient for my well-being.

Bring on the meds.

xx00xx00xx00xx

Well, I'm back...  The actual appt. took about 10 minutes, tops!  The drive there took about an hour and a half and even longer for the ride home.  We are gettting hit bad with snow... of course, we have to be there at 6:00 a.m. and it's usually an hour drive in good weather, so now instead of leaving at 5:00 am we're leaving at 4:30 am... hopefully we'll make it on time.  As far as the Sentinal Node Injection, my experience was, "Was that it?"  Not a big deal at all!  I know that all doctors are different, but I went in, of course, stripped down from the waste up (I'm wondering if I'm going to get so used to doing that that I'll start stripping every time I step into a small room!), layed down on the table, the nurse cleaned my breast with sterile stuff, the doctor gave me a numbing shot, I felt a little poke, not a big deal, he kept saying that I would probably feel burning and asking if I was, but I never felt any burning.  The nurse commented that I didn't even flinch, so I guess that was good.  Then he gave me the shot of the radioactive stuff (whatever it is) and I didn't feel a thing, then I was done, get dressed, go home, have a good night.  Bing Bang boom!  I know that my breast surgeon said that she'll put the blue dye in after I'm put out before surgery, so that might make a difference as far as pain, but I don't think so.  Anyway, I can't tell you exactly where the needle went in, I know that the first one went in below the nipple somewhere and I think the second one went in the same place and that's where she put the band aid, I didn't actually watch to know for sure and my husband said he couldn't see where it went.  But, I personally wouldn't get all worked up over it, it's not a big deal.  Well, I'm off to double check my bags to make sure that I have everything that I need, and go and drink a lot of water since I won't be able to drink anything after midnight.  Oh, I did speak with the nurse about my period and as I suspected, it's not an issue, just a pain.  And my BRCA test results hadn't come in yet, which is just as well, don't really need to think about that right now, just need to get the surgery done and over with!  Talk to you all when I get home!  Good luck!

1 - 2 - 3  JUMP!!!  (that's me taking the big step to rid myself of the Big C)

Bless & Release!

Frosty-nope I have never seen GalaxyQuest.

I made it through childbirth without meds also (couple of times), so I know it will be all right.  It is the fear of the unknown.  Of course, at the end of childbirth you have a cute little baby, so makes it worth it.   At the end of this surgery, I'll have 6 cute little drains instead

Paula, Paula, Paula -- what a kindness, your report, when you have plenty to do.

I appreciate the specificity & especially your shining voice throughout.

Prayers up & down & back & forth.

I keep promising I won't make an effort to start naming all the names.

I pray for each of you as I read.

xx00xx00xx00xx

Good morning, Ladies,

 It's almost 3:25 am here. I got about 5 hours of sleep, but I woke an hour before my alarm. The dog and I are enjoying an hour of quiet together (ok, she snores so not so quiet) before I shower and head to the hospital for the SNB injection at 7 and surgery at 8. My Dad's wife arrived yesterday, so having her here with us last night was a welcome distraction. It was a fairly uneventful evening. 

 I really expected to be much more anxious than I am. I have a feeling of calm because the waiting is finally over. Today is the day that I can finally take a concrete action to get this thing out of my and start moving away from this nightmare. I wish I didn't have the BSO thrown in with the whole BMX/TE, but that's the way it goes. I guess it's better to know and be able to do something about it.

 Paula, I hope your day goes well and I'll look forward to reading everyone's updates when I get home. I'll post as soon as I'm able. Best to all.

Maura 

l wish all concerned the best of luck, l can see there is a good response to diep reconstruction, l had mastectomy jan 14/08 and had bilateral diep reconstruction nov/09, my PS used my stomach with no implants, not as bad as l thought l would be, but think of the worse and it can only get better, walk before you run.

thinking of you all x x x

Hello Gang!  I had my left breast mastectomy and full left side lymph node removal yesterday followed by placement of tissue expander, and today I am home and feeling pretty darn good.   I am amazed!

For me, the pain so far has been about the same as what I felt when I had my lumpectomy and SNB, which removed two nodes.  With pain meds, it isn't bad except when I happen to move the wrong way.  I had my biggest problems getting situated in the hospital bed because of having to push back, thereby placing pressure on the area.

They took me to a pre-op area where they had me change into a hospital gown and put on long stockings and what I call the "shower cap", asked all of the general questions about my medical history, had me sign the breast that was to be operated on, took my vital signs, placed an IV and started me on lactated ringers.  Then, the doctors came in one by one to briefly discuss the surgery.  My team were total dolls!  

Don't forget to tell the anaesthesiologist if you have problems with nausea.  You really have to emphasize this.  When I had my lumpectomy, I told the doc about previous nausea problems during surgery, but either I wasn't forceful enough or he wasn't listening enough, and I ended up with a bad case of nausea.  This time, I told the doc (new guy) about the problems I had with my lumpectomy, and he gave me a mix of drugs that kept the nausea away. 

You've probably been asked and asked about any drug allergies, but try to rack your brain to think of any bad reactions in the past.  Just this week, I remembered having a bad headache from an antibiotic given several years ago.  I only took it for one day and had pushed it to the back of my mind, but sure enough, they were going to use it this time.  Now I know why I woke up with a giant headache when I had my lumpectomy, because I hadn't remembered this one time instance beforehand and they had given it to me again with the lumpectomy.

They gave me the happy juice before I was wheeled into surgery, and I wasn't even aware of anything once that slap-happy grin popped up on my face.  I was in surgery for three hours but was clueless about anything except waking up in recovery. 

It took me until the middle of the night to be able to pee, even though I kept drinking water. I had to keep trying to remember to do deep breathing, because it is necessary.  My first little stroll was around 2AM, and each time I walked around after that was easier and easier.  After three short strolls with the nurse, I was steady enough to walk on my own.

I didn't sleep much last night, mostly because the bathroom was next to my little cubicle and the few people there were constantly in and out.  And, they were all talking to the nurses as they came by, jolting me awake just as I started to doze off.  Plus, there was a big fluorescent light in my line of vision which they couldn't turn off, and even a mask didn't help.  Before I went in, I kept thinking of how I wanted to stay in an extra day just to be watched carefully, but this morning, I couldn't wait to leave.  I ended up reading from a book I had taken with me and enjoyed looking at a few favorite pictures I had also taken.  Nothing like seeing pics of smiling puppies in the middle of the night to cheer you up!

I'm sitting here now, completely lucid, with my bag of ice against my left breast area, without much pain, and wishing I could go fall asleep.  But, a book I ordered last week just came in, so maybe I'll crack it open instead.  I know I only had the one breast done, so it might not be fair to compare it to a double.  For me, I think the lymph node area is more troublesome than the breast area.  I don't feel the pain I thought I would with the expander, so I'm thinking my plastic surgeon did an awesome job.  Either that, or the pain hasn't caught up with me yet. LOL

I see we have Sunsnow and pbebow having surgery today, and I wish both of you a quick recovery.  Yesterday just flew by for me, and it was over with and I was home much quicker than I thought I'd be.  I may have some memory lapses, but in this case, that's a good thing.  I hope all of you have a similar experience, except I hope you get some sleep in the hospital.  You all have my good thoughts and prayers!

Cindy 

I'd say "not silly at all!" That happens to be important to you and it's important that you share that! Somewhere there is a "sister-for-the-15th", I'm sure. Makes you wonder how many across our nation and around the world are having mastectomies the very same day - and sort of sad that they don't all know about BCO to share that connection! Maybe there's someone reading who just hasn't "signed up" - or maybe they'll find us between now and the 14th so that you'll know. Hope you're feeling a little more relaxed. Prayers and hugs for you and all of the others scheduled for January.