August 2010 Mastectomy

Iago - am really glad to hear about your clear nodes - that's the most important result and fantastic that it turned out to be good. My ER is 90% and the PR is 95% so both very strong. Had my HER2 been + then I would probably be doing chemo like you. I do hope it goes ok for you.

Thanks for asking Nancy. My hometown is Christchurch - the location of a 7.1 earthquake last Sat and hundreds of aftershocks ever since. This is the same approximate size as the Haiti earthquake - we have quite a bit of damage but nothing like what Haiti suffered at all. The houses of some of my friends are being condemned (and demolished) which is awful. However, we were very very lucky that noone died - would have been a different story had it happened during the day.

I found a lump in the other breast last night!!! I can do without going through all this again. The disadvantage of a single MX ... After reading about you girls with your TEs I'm feeling lucky that I was able to do the immediate implant - so have gone straight to the hard super perky foob. And I can sleep on my side!

Went for my first fill to my TE'S today. When I saw the size of those needles and syringes I almost passed out. The fill on the left side was great no discomfort at all. The fill on the right was painful. It's strange that the side that did not have lymph node surgery gives me the most pain. I am getting a refill on the vicodin in case i need it throughout the night or tomorrow. Doc PS said if I don't need chemo he may be able to do my exchange surgery by Christmas. Gummies for Christmas sound good to me.

Sending you warm positive thoughtsJPB. Great news for you Winterstorm.

It does get better, in time..........

NBB1032

I do have the skin, it's kind of all below the incision so I feel flat but not totally. I still have kind of little bottoms of the boobs and a little cleavage. I guess compared to DD it seems flat to me.  My old boobs were kind of wide too so now I feel very skinny on top. I used to wear XL or L tshirts. That works now as long as you can't see down the neck hole when I bend over. I just bought some Hanes mediums and it looks a little odd because my boobs are not even. I think if I got a comfy bra of some kind it would give the illusion of being even. Wow  B is a big difference from a DD. I am thinking more of a C. I am so straight at my hips and no butt I feel like I need the curves. I am just really afraid of how bad the TE surgery will be. But I have 3 months to wait because I am getting chemo now. So gotta find a way to look cute with what I have.

I think everyone thinks their TE's are too wide. Right now I feel like I have well developed peck muscles (like guy body builders). I trust my PS so I'm not going to freak about it.

I still read several times a day.

My issues now are getting enough sleep. I can't seem to get comfortable with the TE's. My prefered sleeping is on my side. I doubt I will be able to do that any time soon.

 I also seem to be retaining fluid in my lower legs Had an US and no blood clots So hopefully that goes away.

My PS likes to wait a month post furgery for fills. It will actually end up being 5 weeks post surgery for first fill , due to scheduling. He did fill me to at least 200 cc's at surgery. No skin saving here, it's all pretty tight. I still have lot's of muscle spasm, to I'm religiously doing my excercises

I bought a camisole from Nordstrum's, with pockets for these fiber-fill boobies. I actually prefer how I look just going au naturale. Glad I have it though just in case. Not really wearing anything fitted these days It's all about being comfortable.

 We are probably crazy, but we are going camping tomorrow for 4 days at Tahoe (not really roughing it, we have a fifth wheel).

 I yearn for something normal...

lovesnature seems with a onscreen name like that you should be camping. I'm pretty tight too but they did save skin…  just not a lot of skin when you were only an A cup. My PS says I can go for my first post surgery fill Wednesday if I feel up to it. I'm still pretty numb in that area. I don't see why not.

Sleeping is getting better for me. I sleep through the night but do wake up only 2-3 times now. When you sleep on your back all the time you need to move. I just get up go to the bathroom then fall right back to sleep. When I first came home I was waking up every 1.5 hours. Be sure to prop pillows up as you need them. I'm using fewer and fewer these days.

I do feel better and better every day. My left side does lag behind the right since 10 nodes removed in left and only 4 in right. I just can't wait to have my range back.

Nope got TE. I'm still a bit swollen in my torse. My stomach is still bloated. Yes my upper arms & pits are sore and at times a little of my lower arms. Feels like I've been lifting weights that were too heavy for me to lift. My implants seem wide too. I'm not going to worry though. There will be adjustments one the implants are placed. I'm sure you still have plenty of swelling too. My foobs look like superhero chest muscles, and I don't mean the female kinds.

I still have limited range but its s-l-o-w-l-y improving.

winterstorm. I had been working out for the last 7 months both strength and aerobic training. Lots of crunches. I had a small 6 pack… this is why I'm able to get up from a flat position, granted not completely pain free but not to bad. Not too many other folks have been able to do that unless they had been in great shape, and I was.

Well I washed and dryed/styled my hair tonight. Came out pretty decent. My old boss emailed me tonight asking if I could come in tomorrow for freelance. I'm actually going to work tomorrow. Hey it's been 2 weeks. Am I crazy?

Well it ends up I got there and the boss doesn't have a computer with the correct software. I'm now back at home working on my system. I'm just doing graphic production work. No heavy lifting ;D

Today makes 2 week for me. Still a little sore and swollen. Black & blue (more yellow actually) is going away pretty fast… very faded now. Just wish the swelling would go down. My body seems so oddly shaped from my rib cage to my breast bone even on the sides.

I'm sorry I wasn't posting so much.  I think I got overwhelmed with the recovery and seroma, then preparing for chemo ( I start today.. in less than 7 hours) and thinking about the reconstruction. So many choices.

So I decided to back off and pretend I don't cancer. 

I'm worried about today, which should explain why its 230am, and I am wide awake. I have to get up in 4 hours.  This may be good. Maybe I'll sleep thru it! I get the port and 9 am, recovery, should be out around noon, then bloodwork, appt with onco before beginning chemo at 145.. they said it should take about 3+ hours. So I should be good and tired!!!

About reconstruction.... Keep Posting!!! I saw the PS last week.. he is suggesting a DIEP with TE's... and exchanging the TEs out to Implants. His explanation is that the extra skin will be needed so it's not tooo thin. And I only have enough fat for maybe a small A.. Helllloooo????  I am (was) a large D!!!  So he says the tissue placed OVER the implant will give them a more natural, softer look, as well as get me to a larger size.  A " large D" cup may be stretching it, but he says that we should be able to get me to a large C or a small D. So I can be happy with that.

I'm just having trouble finding out about the DIEP/Implant combo. 

 Hugs Ladies. I'm gonna try to snag a couple hours of sleep!!!

Hi everyone,

I'm back to work as of yesterday - a desk job, 13 days post surgery, felt OK afterwards..... worrying about getting up in a timely fashion is affecting my sleep quality, will get better.

I'm able to move about no problem, waviing my arms about is sore, thinking to get myself organised with some physio just in case. Everything getting better very quickly. Hoping to get steristrips off thursday. Going 'team building' tomorrow, a night with work pals in a lovely country hotel, slap up dinner and lots of 'anaesthetic' , and being paid to enjoy myself - will be great

Winterstorm: my drain holes closed immediately, I had a plaster on the first day after but then nothing....

Anne068: Best luck for today, hope everything goes OK x

Lago, Nancy, There's a lot of us 'Super Heroine' types around

Biological activity?? hahahaha gosh sunny you crack me up. You have a wonderful and infectious attitude!

Well I'm back to hoping for the best and expecting the worst. I still don't know my HER2 status, and am a candidate for the oncotype dx test. Not sure I would like tamoxifen but my medical onco recommended this last month when I saw him. Soooo many risks and side effects there. But I will keep an open mind.

Hey lago, I've developed 6-pack abs now! (I'm a quick study!) I can get up and down lying flat now, easy. lol

But golly gee, the incision sites are so sensitive and I'm busting at the seams! They feel tight. I'm ready for normalcy! Ready for my last two drains to be gone this Friday!!! I'll tell my surgeon I'm the boss and to be rid of them NOW, I want to try some of my old clothes. I want to start working out at the gym, just using the recumbant machines for now. And I want a real shower! I don't feel comfortable doing so with the drains still there. I don't want them falling out on me! Not much luck for me in that area.

I hope all of y'all are healing well. Time for bed. G'nite.

I'm scheduled for mastectomy (left) in 2 weeks.  I'm hoping for the best regarding SNB results immediately afterward (frozen section).  But it REALLY worries me surgeon said sometimes (15%) the followup pathology analysis (when they go slice by slice) can find cancer.   This is the worst roller coaster ride I've ever had.   Any experience with this?  Did your surgeons tell you the same thing?