February 2010 Mastectomy

caltex_catlady · April 2010

I'm at 9 weeks after bmx and also still sometimes feel like there's a tight band running from armpit to armpit above my scars. I'm still doing my stretches, so I haven't figured out why sometimes it's there and sometimes it's not.

Faith316 · April 2010

Hi everybody. I read this thread but haven't posted in it for a long time. Thought I'd check in.

I am getting close to three months post-mx. (Surgery was 2/4.) My incision is finally all healed up. Due to having previously having radiation, I healed really slowly.) My cording went away, but I do have some mild lymphedema. Not really in my arm, but in my armpit, upper chest and below my dog ear which I call my "scrotum" cuz that's what I think it looks like! I am a tummy sleeper and every morning, my chest is swollen. It makes me look like I need a training bra. I just started physical therapy and she is going to teach me some massage techniques that are supposed to help. It is mild at this point and I'd like to keep it from progressing. I also bought a charm and put it on a bracelet that I already had. Had it engraved to say no needle sticks or blood pressure cuffs on left arm.

I told you all weeks ago about the suspected blood clot in my calf due to burning pain in my calf. I suspected it wasn't a clot but a disc issue. Ultrasounds confirmed that there was no clot. I had an xray of my back and it showed bone spurs and disc degeneration. (I had a ruptured disc 10 years ago.) Turns out the pain in my calf is most likely sciatic pain caused by a bulging disc. My neurosurgeon I saw 10 years ago, told me at the time that it would be highly likely to return at some point. They think me sleeping in a recliner for approximately 7 weeks after my mx is what triggered it again as recliners are actually really bad for your back. As soon as I started sleeping in my bed on my tummy again, it has started improving, but I am also doing physical therapy for my back as well. I go to the same place for both types of PT but see 2 different therapists.

I had a checkup with my local oncologist today and all my blood work looks fine. He says I continue on the Tykerb indefinitely and come back to see him in 3 months. I go back to see my oncologist at MD Anderson in July and at that time, they will do another PET/CT. I have another post-surgical appointment with my surgeon tomorrow.

Hope all of you are doing ok and especially those doing chemo.

LauraM · April 2010

Gina - Thank for that song, I am going to download it to my ipod. It is such a great song and exactly how I feel. I am still crying good tears over it!

So it has been 2 months and a week and I am almost healed.. YEAH. I start Chemo next week. I am glad to finally get going so I can get it behind me. I am have the tightness under my arm, but only since the axillary nodes were removed. Started physical therapy last week to help get full range of motion back.

Have a great night and I hope every one is healing! HUGS!!!!

ReginaR · May 2010

Hey Feb Sisters, Here's some picture of me & my Pink Outfit at Ky Oaks Friday April 30 "Pink Out day" ( day before the Ky Derby) Breast Cancer Survivor day. It was 136 th running of the Oaks & had 136 Breast cancer survivor got to Parade around Churchill downs. I was so Honor & Held my Head up High for all you ,my Pink pals! It was a wondeful day & I meet several other Beautiful Breast cancer Survivor.

Then I got home & had a message from my oncologist office to call them back Monday. They would have to rain on my parade! Maybe just more test results ?

Hope all of you are doing well. I was thinking of all of you when I walk in the parade & I am Praying for all & esp that everyone's appt & treatments go well this week.!

{{Hugs}} Gina PS I started back On Tamoxifen Yesterday. I wanted to wait til after the oaks parade ,so my leg would not ache & No headaches. So we will see it was the side effect or if It was the infection . ( it was probally little bit of both)

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olivia218 · May 2010

ReginaR - I saw the parade on TV and wished I had been there. Our daughter attends University of Kentucky. She is a pre-vet student just finishing her freshman year. We are looking forward to her coming home next week.

I hope all goes well tomorrow with the oncologist phone call, hugs!

Olivia

LauraM · May 2010

Regina - Love it! You look great!

TaminMo · May 2010

hi girls,

I haven't written in a while.

Gina, your pics are just geat. You look awsome in P I N K .

girls i need some help......

I was in hosp with an infection, at that time my TE with 300 ml, were symetrical.

I have had no fills since my bilateral mastectomy Feb 23. I am now 10 weeks out and my right TE is capulating, thats what my PS calls it. It has decreased in size and is hard as a rock.

I have been using Young Living oils on it with massages, my Ps tells me to vigorously massage it. I does not seem to be helping.

Has anyone out there had a similar problem? I'm trying my best to be possitive, but now am second guessing keeping it after the infection. I begged my PS not to remove it. on march 24.

PLEASE HELP !!!!!

Tammy

ReginaR · May 2010

Hello My February Sisters, Love all the Great Post & good Info. Glad you like my Pictures, I apprecaite all of you!

Click here: YouTube - Pink Warrior Happy Mother day to all My Pink Warriors !!

Hope you all are Having a Blessed Mother day weekend. I have to work on mothers day-Ugh

Been Back on "Tamoxifen " For 1 week now since infections gone. Starting to have headache & I have been moody today! My Husband has notice a change is my mood & said I am very edgy today, maybe it just him Not the "T" LOL. {{hugs}} Gina

cornellalum · May 2010

TaminMo - you might have more luck if you post over on the Breast Reconstruction thread. I'm not sure that too many people are still monitoring this thread. I hope everything works out OK for you. Please come back here to let us know how you are doing.

badger · July 2010

Hello Feb sisters, it's been a while...nearly six months since surgery!

Once I posted as groundhog but that defined me as a surgery date. I wanted to be defined instead by my life so I changed my screen name to badger -- Wisconsin is the badger state.

I healed from surgery pretty well. Incision scars are still reddish but fading. I had two drains and they left small round scars. Still a little swelling at the end of the left mast. scar but all in all doing OK.

Finished chemo a month ago. I didn't shave my head but trimmed it to an inch length. Most but not all of it fell out so there's a white peach fuzz covering my head. It whorls in the back, kinda cool but I'm looking forward to some new growth soon. Eyelashes are gone and eyebrows are thinning out but they should come back too.

Started tamoxifen last week and see onc. in 4 months. Still taking a daily multi-vitamin and will add a baby aspirin a day, as soon as I get to the store and buy some LOL. Have walked 175 miles toward my goal of 500 miles in a year. Life goes on and it is good. How's everyone else doing? {{hugs}}

MNLinda · July 2010

I'm finally starting to feel a little looser around the chest and armpit area, though still not feeling really normal. I have a little redness, especially on the radiated side. The scars from the drains aren't terribly visible anymore, but I have a couple of small round scars where I had large tegaderm blisters on one side near the drain.

I had neoadjuvant chemo, so I've had six months to grow new hair. I would have thought I'd have about three inches by now, but it's really only about two. It grows so slowly. I had a dream a couple of weeks ago that I suddenly realized my hair wasn't growing in all over - it was okay around my face, but when I looked at the top and back with a mirror it was nearly bald scalp with just a few short sparse hairs. I was glad to wake up from that one. I wonder if that will be a recurring anxiety dream.

The eyelashes fell out again about three months after completing the chemo, and the eyebrows thinned also, and I think I'm about due for another 3-month thinning

My autoimmune disorder was in remission during chemo, but came back within about four months. I had a pretty bad flare during radiation.

I started tamoxifen about a month ago, and haven't noticed any new side effects. The hot flashes from chemopause have become gradually less noticeable, and tamoxifen didn't make them any worse.

I'm having PT once a week for lymphedema and still trying to find a glove/sleeve combination that works.

I will be started Zometa in September if everything goes as planned. I don't have a solid plan for reconstructive surgery yet, but I've talked with a surgeon about lat flap with implants, maybe in about a year and a half.

I'm still taking glutamine, milk thistle and green tea extract to help detoxify. When I use up my supplies of those, I'll drop them, but I'll still be taking calcium and vitamin D, and perhaps coenzyme Q10. Still using steroid eyedrops - having lots of eye trouble, probably due to the taxotere.

badger - I'm betting the next 325 miles will be easier than the first 175.

Faith316 · July 2010

I'm doing well. Some mild lymphedema around the underarm area and where the side of the chest meets the axilla. LOTS of scar tissue and MAJOR adhesions on my chest and axilla after having had the axillary node dissection done twice and two separate biopsy surgeries, a lumpectomy and then a mastectomy AFTER having had radiation. The skin on my chest is pretty much adhered to the chest wall and does not move. Makes it really uncomforable to stretch as it doesn't "give." I had physical therapy for awhile but the therapist (who was trained to help lympedema patients) told me after awhile that she didn't think it was going to help with the adhesions. My surgeon says it is kind of like I need another surgery to release the adhesions but that would just trigger more scar tissue formation and thus a vicious cycle. My skin looks pretty good but she says the underlying tissues are like those of a person who has been burned in a fire. Apparently the radiation did quite a bit of damage to the underlying tissue. (And didn't work anyways --- my recurrence as IBC came while I was still taking Herceptin and in the middle of radiation!)

I just had another PET/CT and check-up with my oncologist at MD Anderson in Houston and it still shows all clear. Thank you, God! So, the chemo that they changed me to after the AC, Taxol, Herceptin and radiation didn't work did the trick! I took 9 rounds of Xeloda and Tykerb and now am just on Tykerb. Doctor last week says stay on Tykerb indefinitely. If it keeps my cancer at bay, I'll take the stuff forever!

Still no reconstruction yet. They want me to wait a year or two since it was IBC the second go-round.

Hard to believe it has been nearly 6 months. Hope the rest of you are still doing well.

cornellalum · July 2010

I'm so glad to see updates from some of you. I have been jealous of the January ladies, who seem to be keeping up with each other much better than we are!

I am finally healed after three months of wound care as a result of my seroma erupting. I had home health nurses coming to pack the wound until the middle of June. It finally healed up, and I was able to get fitted for prostheses. I am really happy with my decision to not reconstruct, and most of the time, I don't even think about the foobs - I got lightweight ones instead of the heavy silicone, so they are really quite comfortable.

I am back to work, and since I made the decision to go with the bilateral with SNBs on both sides (all clear!), I am thankfully done with treatment. So life is definitely getting back to normal. My scars are pretty bad, but I am using silicone scar sheets on the worst parts (where the seromas burst/leaked) and my ROM is almost back to normal. It's a little stiff first thing in the morning, but a few stretches works that out.

Six months and counting. There is life after bc surgery. I'm sending out good thoughts and prayers to those of you still in treatment, those of you still feeling the effects of treatment, and those of you who are back to "normal" (whatever that may be for you now). I don't know how I would have done any of this without you. Thank you, every one of you.

LauraM · July 2010

I am glad also to get an update or two from everyone on our February group. I had surgery to remove my auxiliary nodes in April and 3 of my nodes were positive. About that same time, we discovered that I was allergic to the sutures that were used to close up my stomach after my reconstruction. It is July and I am just finally healing from that. I only have 3 little openings that just finished "spitting" out stitches and should be healing any time now. I seem to have gotten every weird SE from the Chemo. I ended up getting Hand and Foot syndrome from the AC, it is when you get blisters on your hands and feet and then they peel. I only got it on my feet, but it has been pretty painful. I am on Taxol and the pain is gone but the peeling still continues, it should be getting better anytime now. Memorial Day weekend, I was having lots of problems with what I thought were hemorrhoids, went to the doctor and found out I didn't have hemorrhoids but a tear in my anal canal called a fissure.... ugh was it painful. Around this same time, I came down with a sinus infection and went on Antibiotics, got better pretty quickly but unfortunately for me the antibiotics killed all the good bacteria and left the bad bacteria to get out of control in my stomach/intestines. I started to have 7 + stools a day (sorry if this is TMI) and thought it was because I had started Taxol and it was a side effect of that. Because of all the extra daily stools, my fissure wouldn't heal and the I finally called the doctor and asked if this was normal and she said no, the tested my stool and I tested positive for C-Dif, more commonly known in hospitals as the Super Bug. Lucky for me, they caught this early and the medicine for this has helped. All my other scars are doing well and I am glad to have only 2 TX left and to finally start feeling better!

cornellalum · July 2010

Laura - (((((hugs)))))

C-Dif is a real issue that most people have never heard of. I'm glad they finally figured out what was wrong, and got you on the right treatment! It sounds like you have really been through the wringer. I am glad that you are almost done with treatment. Better times are coming!!!

It seems like it's only those of us who had lingering issues who are still here. Well, I hope that means that the other ladies are done with treatment, doing well, and getting on with their lives.

TaminMo · August 2010

Hi, calling all February girls,

I haven't been here for a while, actually I couldn't find everyone until; I found it in my Favorites. I would LOVE to here how everyone is doing...... Who all has had echange surgery? Who has had setbacks? Please let's try to get back together..

Prayers to all dealing with cancer,

Tammy

Faith316 · August 2010

I'm still around the forum. Just went back to work (teacher) after having been off since last November. Tired!! Had another PET/CT in July at MD Anderson which continues to show all clear, but I'm supposed to stay on my Tykerb indefinitely. I've already been on it for 14 months. No more surgeries since the mx in Feb. Have to go for another echocardiogram in a week or so. The last echo I had was in summer 09. Still have major tightness across chest, under the arm and down the side from lots of scar tissue and adhesions. All in all, I'm doing well! Hope the rest of you are, too!

Faith

TaminMo · August 2010

Hi Faith,

My boys just started school today.

I'm glad to hear that you are doing well. I too, have a lot of tightness across my chest. One of my TE has had no fill, the other got infection from a tooth, and it has been filled two times, firdt with 50 then with 40 cause my skin is not cooperationg.

I have an oncologist appt on aug 23, and will also go see my PS to see if this capsuling is any better.

I was hoping for exchange surgery soon, But time will tell. I don't let my hope get too high, but am very hopeful. I am trying to weigh the options of saline or silicone. I'm really tired of making decisions for one year.

GOD BLESS & Prayers for everyone with cancer,

Tammy

MNLinda · August 2010

I haven't had any reconstructive work done, just talked with the PS a couple of times. I'm a slow healer and I think I'd like to wait at least a year before proceeding. I still feel really tight through the chest wall and under the arms, and I'm having some trouble with shoulder pain on the right side. My PT says it's rotator cuff impingement due to the mastectomy (causes tightness in the anterior shoulder girdle). I also have lymphedema in the right arm. It's difficult for me to do a lot of stretching becuase I have to be really careful with the shoulder. I keep thinking I should feel better than this six months out from surgery, but it's very slow going. When I'm able to get a good night's sleep I feel more positive about it, but after a restless night I usually have a bad day - I feel weary and battered and discouraged about the lack of progress.

I have been working, but only about half my normal schedule. Still going to PT once a week.

On the bright side, my hair is still pretty short, but it has finally reached a point where it looks like a normal person's hair. It's good to have hair.

badger · August 2010

Hi all, glad to see some still around and chatting. I'm six months post-BMX and two months post final chemo. Hair is coming back! It's really short but growing, swirling in from the flat baby spot in the back of my head. Mostly white with some pewter, very cool. Guess I need a baby haircut, it's a little shaggy above my ears! :-)

I did not do reconstruction and have not worn prosthetics so am walking around flat. Everyone at work knows about it so I can wear my normal business attire. Outside the office, no one really notices and if they do - oh well. It's comfortable for me, and that's what matters.

I've healed to the point where I'm getting into yoga. I signed up for an eight-week class through work that's once a week at lunchtime on Thursdays in Sep & Oct. It's deep breathing and gentle stretching, what a nice way to spend 45 minutes. Plus, I signed up for a Yoga Heals workshop on Sep 19 in Madison through Breast Cancer Recovery.

MNLinda, you are right, the miles are getting easier - I'm halfway there!

Take care everyone {{hugs}}

caltex_catlady · August 2010

Today is my six-month anniversary of my BMX. It's actually gone by fairly quickly, considering. Tomorrow I'll be five weeks PFC. My hair is growing back a little, but it'll be months before I have much to show. I'll be starting rads soon, probably next week, so the saga continues...

I hope you're all doing well.

Karen

hereandnow · August 2010

Thanks for reminding me Karen, this Thursday is my 6mth anniversary of my RMx, haven't we come a long way? I reached for a door with my right arm yesterday, and it almost felt completely normal, not quite there yet, but pretty close. I am planning on recon in November, but really I'm quite happy with my TE and a bra - so may put it off until next year. I'm 7 weeks PFC and My hair is mostly 3/4 inch long on top with a few inch long bits, and it's gray as grandma's - just nice to have something to wash.

good luck to all still going through the long march of treatment, and lots of hugs to all,

Lisa

TaminMo · August 2010

Good Morn Feb girls,

It's great to hear from you. It seems as though we are all putting along on this crazy journey. I met with my Oncologist on Monday, told her I was stoping Arimidex, It can't be good for me to make me feel like I'm 90

She asked If I would consider taking a 1- 81 mg aspirin a day for 5x a week. There are some studies that show this dosage has helped with reccurance. So I will try.

Wow I found a new thread today about Healthy eating and PH levels and It's great. Maybe give it a try.

I hope today finds you pain free,

God Bless & Prayers to all dealing with cancer

Tammy

MNLinda · October 2010

I had an appointment with my oncologist a couple of weeks ago, and he asked me how close I was to feeling "back to normal". I'm not really sure how to even draw a comparison.

I've just gotten a Flexitouch pump for my lymphedema, and the company has a rep coming to my house tomorrow to train me how to use it. My shoulder is improving, little by little. In two weeks I'll have eye surgery for canicular stenosis - blocked tear ducts - an after-effect of the Taxotere. I had a PET scan two weeks ago, they tell me everything looked normal. I have my first biannual Zometa treatment scheduled for Thursday.

I don't really know what to say. All things considered, I'm doing fine. But nothing seems normal to me.

cornellalum · November 2010

MNLinda - I'm so sorry to hear of your continuing problems. I don't know that anyone feels "normal" after going through bc. I have heard some women call it the "new normal." I guess that's as good a description as any.

Hang in there.

badger · December 2010

Hey all, thinking of you today. The 1-year anniversary of my 'official' dx is coming up as it is (or just was) for many of you.

It was the Friday after Thanksgiving '09, that the surgeon called and said the stereotactic bx had found some BC cells, and he wanted to do a surgical bx. That happened on 12/8 and I had to wait until 12/22 for first meeting with onc for initial diagnosis. Prelim staging was stage 1 but that was changed to stage 2b after SNB/BMX and full path report in Feb'10.

Began tamoxifen in July. Not too bad SE's - weight gain (10 lbs), hot flashes & night sweats. But those could also be from chemo-pause. Creaky joints when I first wake up and if I sit too long, but I chalk that up to middle age and a family hx of arthritis.

My hair has grown in like wild, and I mean that literally - it is wild. So I embraced it. Got a cut and some gel and up it goes in the morning. It reminds me of Guy Fieri from the Food Network.

I've been brushing it out though, gives a nice soft finish to it. Oh and I'm minus the goatee LOL. Although I did have downy facial fuzz after I started re-growing hair! Shaved that off in Oct and it hasn't grown back, thank goodness.

Not much else going on. Going to visit mom in Florida for Christmas. She hasn't seen me in short hair since I was 12 and started making my own hair decisions (let it grow LOL!). Going to opt out of the scanner box if I'm selected for enhanced screening. Hope this finds you all well. {{hugs}}

MNLinda · December 2010

I know what you mean about the hair, badger. I'm not complaining - I'm glad it came in thick - but it's just a different texture than it used to be, and I don't know how to style it. I'm thinking of getting an inch or more taken off, and keeping it short till the old texture returns (if it does).

Great photo! LOL.

I had the fuzzy face, too, about three or four months after finishing chemotherapy. Kind of like sideburns. Back to normal now. No side effects from tamoxifen.

I've been talking with a local group in the Twin Cities called Dragon Divas. It's a dragon boat racing team made up of breast cancer survivors. I'm going to be training over the winter months - I hope the exercise helps loosen up my shoulder a little, and restores some of my stamina.

Warm regards to all.

badger · December 2010

Hey Linda, you go girl! Sorry to hear your shoulder is still stiff. Is it the rotator cuff?

I have got to do something too this winter. Can't bring myself to walk when it's 3 degrees LOL! I don't have the shoulder stiffness but do have a mild case of truncal LE, on the left side. Docs won't acknowledge it, though, I've asked both GP and onc and they say it's not LE (BS, I know my own body... I can feel it). Surgeon moved to another state so can't appeal to him. So I live with it, drink my water and do gentle yoga. It really helps me, maybe it could help you too?

Stay warm, neighbor! :-)

MNLinda · December 2010

Yes, the shoulder problem is rotator cuff. It's not too bad now, but it pinches when I try to put my right hand behind my back, tucking a shirt in for instance.

Have you gotten a compression sleeve for the plane trip to Florida? Even if you weren't having truncal lymphedema issues, it would be a good preventive step to take.

My surgeon sent me to a physical therapist to get a sleeve & gauntlet and education on lymphedema prevention after my initial biopsy, before I had developed any swelling. His wife had breast cancer ten years ago, and although she doesn't have lymphedema, she always wears the sleeve when they travel. So he was very proactive about it, and my insurance covered the cost of the sleeve and gauntlet even without a diagnosis of lymphedema.

I do a little yoga too - not very much, but I have a Wii Fit system that I won in a drawing. The half moon is a good stretch.

We have about a foot of snow and a cold front is moving in. Sngle digit highs for the next few days. Brrrrrrr.

badger · December 2010

No compression sleeve as it requires a 'script and without a diagnosis I can't get one. But I've flown already since surgery and it was OK so I'm hoping for the best. My mom is a 30 year BC survivor and had surgery twice without LE issues so maybe genetics is in my favor here.

When we were there last year, I had just been diagnosed. We talked a lot about the process and the aftermath of mastectomy. Her experience was different than mine though. She had a uni-mast and silicone implant 30 years ago, when implants were not safe. Hers leaked and she had it removed, and went with a prosthetic for 15 years until mx on the other side 15 years ago. Then she went flat almost always, it was easler than strapping on foobs.

She did try to give me her prosthetics and I declined. For one, what a thing to inherit from your mom and two, imagine trying to get foobs through airport security! And those things were heavy!

She recommended against recon and I'm glad I took her advice. I'm healed up smooth and the scars are fading. Still reddish but getting pinker. I don't have dog ears under my arms but am not completely flat. There are little half-inch mounds of tissue in the middle of my chest where cleavage would have started, they flatten out completely when I stretch my arms back or over my head. It's a minor issue and doesn't bother me enough to do anything about it.

As to fitness, I think Santa heard me whining about no exercise and is bringing me a Wii Fit for Christmas. Also, there's a college campus nearby with a fitness center that allows community people to join. There's an indoor track for walking and a pool for swimming laps. I'm signing up first of the year.

The snow has stopped here for now. Looks like 4-5 inches. The layer of frozen rain we woke up to this morning was fun... :-)

February 2010 Mastectomy

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