January Mastectomy

Gina:  I was thinking the exact same thing.  We are all going to have the emotion of our surgery date looming over us this month. 

May we all have a healthy 2011!

I"m a little late, but happy new year everyone on here

I am so appreciative of each one of you....I can't begin to thank each one of you for the special place you have in my life. 

My husband's sister was just diagnosed today with IDC.  Her tumor is 1.1 cm, but she doesn't know what stage or anything else yet.....she sees the BC specialist on Friday.  I went through here, briefly, to see which one of you ladies were IDC gals....and what type of treatments you had.  Her husband died of a brain tumor about 4 years ago, and her mother (my MIL) had breast cancer, too...but she was in her 80's when it was found.  Anyway, my kids are *really* upset as this is their absolute favorite aunt.....

Sure was hoping 2011 was going to be the GOOD year

blessings to all...robin

Hi everyone.  I had a left breast mastectomy on Dec. 14, 2010 and wanted to let you all know that in reality, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I was fortunate that it was only one breast and don't have to have chemo or radiation and I had wonderful sisters who were with me around the clock for the first week home.   I chose to have immediate reconstruction with a silicone implant.  So far I have had two expansions and that has been a  bit painful, more so than the operation.   But...it's been three weeks and I have begun to drive again and will start physical therapy this week.  I guess my message to all of you, is that once the anxiety of the surgery is over, you will begin to feel better and start to heal both mentally and physically.  Good luck to all of you.

Robin:  I am so sorry about your SIL.  I assume you already referred her to this site.  Hopefully it isn't bigger than first though and will be removed and she can live a long life.

Paula:  I'm sorry about your family problems right now.  That makes life hard on everyone in the family.

Kim:  Sorry about your BRCA test results.  I didn't do it.  Not sure why.  Maybe I just couldn't deal with it at the time of dx? 

Friday is my mx anniversary and I see the onco that same day.  Should be a day of emotion for me!

{{{{Kim}}}} I am sorry to hear of your BRCA results.  It seems very unfair to have to deal with the fear for your kids on top of everything else. 

Robin, I will send out some prayers for your SIL. 

Paula, my brother got a divorce last fall for the same reason.  She turned out to be a total crazy.  A few smaall incidents here and there before their wedding, then she became irrational and paranoid.  He was able to get out quickly, and I hope your son will have the same results.

Brenda - great to hear from you !  I am glad to hear you are nearing the end with your Herceptin.  You deserve a break after the year you have had.  A little down time will help you make any future decisions regarding your recon.

Cathy, I am outraged that you are still waiting !!!!!   

I am also amazed, but incredibly happy, that we are all still visiting our thread and keeping up with each other.  I never dreamed last January that we would still be chatting a year later.  I was so scared and a little dazed.  You ladies made it so much better.  It helped so much, having the ones who had surgery before me, checking back in and reporting their experiences.  Having surgery day buddies (Kat, Laura, and Donna) made me feel not so alone. 

My sister's best friend was diagnosed last year at stage 3.  She has undergone chemo and had the bmx.  She is doing a delayed diep this summer.  My sister is very worried as she has no help and doesnt seem to be adjusting well.  Husband and teen kids will not do anything around the house, even have her running to get them drinks and snacks while they watch tv (they didnt improve while she had chemo).  She has only told a couple of people and keeps telling my sister..."when things are over and back to normal".  DS is afraid she is in denial and is going to crash hard one day.    I keep telling DS to encourage her to come to this site.  If she is 'afraid' to tell people in her daily life, it might help her to talk to annonymous women who are in the same situation.  She just wont consider it.  Send some prayers her way Team January.  With all my DS tells me, I agree that the friend is in for a very bad time when she finally lets her guard down.

On Christmas Eve, all of my family, siblings, parents, grandparent were at my mother's house.  My mom and SIL were pouring some wine and my mom made a toast..." Here's to 2010, it has been a great year" .   I looked at her and said "Oh, I don't know.  I've definately had better".  They all looked at me like they didn't know what I was talking about.  Then started in with the..."Yes, but it was fixed in 2010"  "You're almost done" "Things were made right in 2010".    Yeah, I cried.  I really thought my mom understood better.

I go to the PS tomorrow for follow up on nips.  They look really good, and the areola size was reduced, so now I think I will be on to the tattoos

Hugs Team January !

Never Surrender !

Sweet Dreams Kat!  Sleep sounds good!  Chasing around my grandson all day and worrying about my son wears me right out.  Trying to get my house back in order after having them here for a week or so and xmas.  Crazyness!  Thanks to everyone for the well wishes.  I agree, good to know now before she hurt the kids.  Saw a lawyer today, he didn't blow any sunshine up our ass about how made we have it, but he didn't say we don't have a chance either.  I'm thinking he'll at least get joint custody, hopefully better than that.  Time will tell, he signs papers tomorrow to get the wheel in motion. 

My surgery-versary is Friday, DH asked if I wanted to go out and celebrate... I thought maybe get a sitter and go out and forget sounded better, but I won't turn down an evening out!  Especailly atfer babysitting all week!

Sorry about the BRCA results Kim, that truly does suck.  I had the test done just before my BMX last year, didn't get the results back til after, but mine were negative.  That really doesn't help you any does it, sorry.  Sounds like you know what to do, even if it isn't easy. 

Well, time to get the kids off the Wii and read stories and bed time, then I really get to veg!

Sleep Sweet everyone!

Paula

Cathy:  I am so sorry you are still waiting.  How awful to make someone wait this long for test results!  it isn't fair.  I will keep good thoughts for tomorrow!

Hi Glenda:

Most of us on this thread had ours January of last year but you are definitely welcome and we can all relate!  January 7th is my 1 year since my mastectomy.  There are people here who did no reconstruction and can tell you how that went and how they feel now. 

You will recover and they do give you good drugs when you go home!  I wish you the best with your surgery and hope for a speedy recovery.

Paula

HI Friends....

My heart is heavy as I read about your son, Paula....here, just a few months ago, we were rejoicing with you as you were happily planning his wedding, and we looked at gorgeous pictures of the happy couple.  I can only imagine what you're going through.

Kim - so sorry about the positive BRCA testing....like you, I would be most worried about my children, which was the main reason I was able to get my own testing done.  I *do* hope you're able to have your surgery laparoscopically done....I only had the uterus out, but compared to the BMX, it was a piece of cake   The worse part was the gas that they use to blow you up with

Cathy - THREE weeks!  That is inhumane.  Good grief.

Well, today is my one year anniversary of saying good-bye to my "50 year old friends"....and to the cancer cells.  I've thought of this off and on all day long, but it really hasn't affected me at all - I think November 6th was MUCH harder - the day I was told I had the cancer.  Today, the biggest thing is that my youngest is 13 and 1/2 years old!!

It's been such a nutty week, too....kids #2 and #3 both got sick (after having been exposed by kid #1's girlfriend)...daughter passed out in the middle of the night, hit head hard, couldn't see for over 5 minutes, pupils stayed dialated for over 15 minutes, etc.   CT scan confirmed brain bruise...full-blown concussion, yep.  Got two injections of steroids in this foot/ankle of mine that just refuses to get better.  Oldest son is not motivated to see job, and on and on it goes.

Life. 

Oh, and yes, I absolutely did direct my SIL to this site (and her daughters, too).  My MIL had breast cancer, too, but they were both older when diagnosed which is actually in their favor - I think (I hope!!)...my SIL is about 19 years older than I am, so I hope it's a slower growing kind, if there is such a thing for BC.  Her visit to the specialist is tomorrow.  Thanks for the prayers and good thoughts on her behalf.

Well, I'll sign off...sure is good to check in and see you all on here   I'm thrilled as you all are - that after a year (plus!) we're still here...COOL!!  We can all grow old together

 blessings and love....robin

(((Robin))) Congrats on your one year.  Mine is tomorrow.

Debbie:  Thanks for passing on the ELAB info.  I think I've seen it pop up from time to time but didn't know what it meant and just never looked.  Motivation is always good!  Isn't that everyone's New Year resolutions all the time anyway....exercize more, lose weight......with support that might be good reason to keep up with it.

Ha!  Never mind, my surgery date was tomorrow!  LOL!  I was just taking my DH word that it was today, he was wrong!  anyway, tomorrow will be fine!

I'd like to thank everyone for their support and wishes before I went into surgery. The day before surgery (jan.4), I was a complete mess, filled with anxiety, short of temper, and couldnt believe it was finally happening. A mass was found at my mammo, and a core biopsy showed invasive carsinoma. I did have a lumpectomy and the results were that I caught this very early and would follow a regimen of radiation and harmone therapy.   OnDec.1, I had an MRI which showed another suspicious mass. Instead of going through another biopsy, another waiting game, I opted for the MX. If this new mass was benign, I d always be wondering if it would become cancerous. I wanted to be free of this.My first tumor was invasive, and I didnt want this  in my body anymore!! My right breast showed absolutely no masses.  

The day of surgery (jan. 5th) we got to the hosp. at 10:30 am for a 12:00pm procedure. Left side simple mastectomy with TE reconstruction. Ive read a lot of different opinions on pain, feelings of loss, feeling of joy, and was apprehensive as to how I would react. 

I got back to my room around 5pm, and felt great. I guess the illusion of morphine masked any pain i was feeling. I remember thinking to myself...so where's the pain? I did suffer a major headache during the night and the next day, so they kept me at the hsp. till the migraine was under control. But, then again, this was not pain from the mastectomy. 

 I've rented a recliner from Renta center (figuring a month isnt so bad) as I'm a left side sleeper  the side of the mastectomy) and this would keep me from leaning on it.

Today I woke up feeling like a mac truck hit me.  The morphine had finally left my body, and it was just me and my MX to heal. OK..bring on the percocet which helped quite a bit. Ive been walking around to keep up my circulation, and doing moderate exercises of raising my arm against a wall. They didnt give me exercises to do from the hosp., but I did purchase  Diana Stumm's book.."Recovering from Breast Cancer- exercises to strengthen your body and relieve pain". So far, great reading. I also purchased the update version "living Well beyong Breast Cancer - a survivors guide to when treatment ends and the rest of your life begins" by Marissa Weiss MD, and Ellen Weiss. After a few weeks, I'll be join support groups in my area and reach out to others who share our experience. 

I know my healing is early. I keep positive, and most of all a good sense of humor. It puts all others at ease, as I find I have to deal with their emotions as well as my own. 

Thank you for letting me join in and being a part of this group!

As Debbie/Faith has said, all the newbies are most certainly welcome on here, but I wanted to make you aware that there is a thread going just for those who had mastectomies in January 2011.  These ladies would be walking the paths right alongside you, either days before or after you.   All of us had our mastectomies January of 2010.  (If you're interested in the Jan.2011 group, go to the Surgery -pre/post forums, and you'll see the Jan.. 2011 Mastectomy thread.)  I know how helpful we all found it to talk to each other as we were all experiencing things at the same time, but yet it was also beneficial to talk to those who had gone through things before, too.....

Well, Paula - we're officially "one yearers" now....everyone else is headin' our way

Hey, debbie..way cool for the ELAB thread and getting the mods on....woohoo!! 

Will check back in in a few days...love and blessings to all....robin

Good for you Brenda !  

The diagnosis anniversary was hard for me also, but I am looking at this anniversary in a celebratory way.  It will be one year cancer free - my best friend is planning an outing for the two of us to celebrate.  

Love ya Team January !

Kim- {{{{{HUGS}}}} I'm sure things are okay. Just do what you need to do... You will be in my thoughts and prayers,as you are with the rest of our January Sisters everyday.

Stay Calm,

Donna