December 2011 Surgeries - want to wait together?

Judy - I did not have DIEP however when I walk more than my mile per day my back incision (lat dorsi surgery) throbs.  Perhaps related?  I hope you get info on the DIEP thread. Eve - no extra sweat for me as I had that drain friend for 42 days. Myabe it is the fluid buildup, however strange that the fluid would enter the sweat glands. Goldlining - a cheer for you! Kam - I had the lat dorsi with a TE and will follow up with lipo after eveything 'settles'; no Alloderm.

I am still waiting on medical records from out of state so the MO  can work with me on teatment.  My onctotype score was 16 however I have a history of blood clots so he is thinking AIs and I am not keen on that as I don't like the idea of being 'put into' menopause (and I am 47 so menopause is right around the corner anyway - why push it?)

Teresa

Eve, Ididnt have that with my two drains, even on the nodes removal side, although that side drain stayed in for 10 more days so maybe it's fluid, if you are swelling call your surgeons office.



Cookie I didn't have the deep done he wouldn't do it with bilateral MX,so just had expanders. My breast incisions are not healing well, in part I think because I had allergic reaction as well very bad one from surgery. BS thinks its from the benzoin and not the surgical tape. You are smart to get allergy testing done. I put prescription steroid ointment on surrounding area but couldn't on the incision, I think this kept it from healing. I'm 4 weeks post op and still open areas in the wounds. Going to ps this morning again he watches it weekly. not one DR. Mentioned to see an allergist.... It's like pulling teeth just to get HMO referrals for Oncologist, BS, Lymphadema specialist alone, makes me crazy!



As for work short term disability, this should have been done by your HR dept. at work, they complete a portion, you complete a portion, and your surgeon completes his portion of the claim. Then needs to be faxed in to the insurance co. Someone at your work needs to assist you with that prior to your leave.



I have found I've become a barracuda in the medical field in the U.S. or no one will take care of it for you.



Kara, my Oncologist told me Tamoxifen is for premenopausal women and besides hot flashes side effects you have to be concerned about bloot clots and some cardiac. We have stoke in family history so I didnt want to risk that. Since I'm right on the line of menopause he may put me on Arimidex or something like that for over menopausal women, I'm 54 and act 23 lol, so not sure where I fall into. No one recommended to have the blood test to determine. This drug side affect is risk of some bone loss so he is sending me for a bone density scan first and will load me up on vitamin D or injections of it once in awhile just to head it off.



Always a work in progress to educate yourself, once back to work who has the time!

Kara, Sounds like both drug hormonal therapies have their own set of side effects like everything else, every treatment comes with a price...grrrrr

Second set of fills tomorrow!!!

 (I hope...)

Having lots of stinging, burning, IMF pain....not sure what's going on under there.

It feels kind of like like ripply TE edges directly under the skin. Stinging, burning, we'll see what happens when he pumps those puppies up tomorrow!

Bogie- I am 49 and was put on  generic Femara (letrozole). I am definitely menopausal following ooph but was pretty well on my way before that. I am also having a bone density test next week as a baseline and am already on Vitamin D due to a deficiency.

Hi Guys- my big day is tomorrow. Spent all day in pre-op appointments today. Already had the SNB in December and nodes clear, so maybe the BMX, TEs, possible Alloderm is just a formality . Had one rough spot today when BS was asking me about feeling comfortable with my choice of BMX, as if I shouldn't be, and when I questioned her on that she said "this wasn't my recommendation." Ugh, so I questioned myself at this 11th hour and wondered if with BRCA should I have taken the chance of a lumpectomy, breast reduction and lift --believe me, the prospect of that surgery was more delightful than what is happening tomorrow--but hope and pray I don't get a second primary, not just dealing with CA again, but having had Rads once in the left side already if I went the LUMP route ( I'm avoiding rads now). Anyway, it's totally thrown me for a loop. Ofcourse she had to remind me I'm not eliminating BC altogether with a BMX, but I reminded myself I'm lowering my chances below the "1 in 8 women will get BC" with a BMX.



On a lighter note, this PS has no problem with showering after surgery- yeah! Turns out Alloderm is only used based on the coverage provided by the pectoralis muscle and where it attaches midline.

Good luck Karol, you will do great. Don't second guess yourself, you are doing everything you can to beat this.

Kam- good luck today; sometimes Drs can make us doubt ourselves but you know that you are doing everything that you can to beat this disease and no one should make you doubt that! They are not the ones living with the reality of cancer haunting them and all the continued tests and stress. Post when you can.

Kam... good luck with your surgery. Don't second guess yourself. I have no regrets whatsoever with my decision to have a bmx.

eve...good to hear things re turning around for you.

Hope all are doing well. I had my first fill yesterday.It really was ok. My ps is funny, I asked him how much we were doing, he said it depended on how much I could handle. He was very good about asking if I was feeling pain or any discomfort. Ended up with about 470cc's in each! The expanders actually feel better now that they are inflated. He also said I'm at about my pre-surgery volume. I was suprised at that. Sometimes when I look they look huge, other times not so sure. I think it's that they are just sitting up higher. So, it's up to me as to whether I want to go bigger. We'll see.

happy healing to all.

Kaara...I'm so glad the legislation is there. Where would we be without it? My ps is actually getting the National Board of Plastic Surgeons or something like that to take on Cigna again, which is my insurance company. They no longer will pay for fat grafting with breast recon. They used to but have been able to twist the wording around somehow so that now they don't. Wicked bummer. He said it may be settled, hopefully in the patients favor, before my exchange. I didn't ask him what the cost would be if I decided I wanted it. That's an answer I don't mind waiting for.

Oh yeah - got my second set of fills this morning!!!

I told the PS how good the TEs felt after the first fills, but how I had just started having a lot of IMF pain a few days ago. He said that was because the TEs would start to settle in the crease after a while.

Again, I felt the briefest of stings from the needle on the right, then nothing. I told him when my foob felt full, and he stopped. Then he did the left - no feeling at all! I said it felt full and he laughed and said let me get to an even number!

Well, I got 120 ccs on each side! What this means is that I am now officially at 400ccs!!!!

This might sound like a lot, but we're aiming for 700. Now, the possibility of an exchange before summer is getting to be a reality!

That would be sweeeeeeet.....

blessings...I was shocked when my ps told me the final amount. Sheesh. On the left I didn't feel anything. The right was a bit different. Right from the start I felt more as he injected. It did even get a little painful and that's when he stopped. Right now everything is ok for the most part except I have a spot that seems itchy from the inside. I know that sounds weird but I don't know how else to describe it. I hope it doesn't drive me insane!

Did I forget to memtion I have a new drain- that sucks too

Surgery took 5 hours. Can't say it's a lot of pain, but pressure and discomfort and incredible cottonmouth from the medication, ergo I drank a ton of water once I got to my hospital room and now j just want to pee every 1/2 hour. Bad bad nurses save one.... Oops, gotta go again.