Too early for April 2012 mastectomy?

Bellamarie, great to hear from you and with good news. So far the constipation caused by the painkillers was the worst thing for me. Prune juice did indeed help!

About TE's - I'm in the clinical trial for the new expanders that allow you to expand at home at your own pace. They're bigger than the usual ones, and, man, today I'm feeling it a bit in my shoulder blade. No fills yet - the PS wants to wait until I heal a bit more since I'm a bruiser. Other than that, I can pretty much tolerate the tightness, and it gets easier each day.  

Lisamarie - I'm on the special NYS insurance, too. Being approved for it was the first lantern on my BC journey. My mother cried when I told her.  My sister and cousin got me one of those "bed chairs" right after surgery, and it helps tons. I sleep relatively well and can adjust so I can sleep slightly on my side for a spell when I've had enough of sleeping in my back. They got it at Bed, Bath and Beyond. Hang in there!

Dianarose - Sending you much love and light. You're a warrioress. You'll get through this. All of it!  

Mardibra - thank you for the tips! I'll be sure to apply them. Still praying for only four cycles.

Vballmom - That's interesting! Radiation is not an option for me - at least not now anyway - because of these TEs. I can't get an MRI or fly anywhere either. LOL! There's a group called Breast Cancer Think Tank, and ALND seems to be one of the common pet peeves. One member actually called it barbaric, and another said it should've long gone the way of the radical mastectomy.  One study that just finished said that there was no difference in survival rates between women who had ALND and did not after lumpectomy. There is one right now for mastectomies, but the results are still pending -- June I think. My gut is that eventually ALND will no longer be the standard of care - it might be putting too many at risk for complications like lymphedema with no meaninful benefit.  

Longislandmom - Thank you so much. Like I said, I'm bummed that it wasn't the rosy picture I had for the last two weeks, but you know, it could be far worse. I referred to it in my journal as a "gilded lining." 

So sorry Dianarose. Chemo totally sucks but it's the necessary evil. As I sit here typing this my hair is fuzzy and starting to grow back everywhere. Gentle hugs to you. It's hard to except but just keep trudging through.

So sorry, dianarose. The only thing I can say is that time does fly. I can't believe it is two months+ since I was diagnosed and started on this board. Take it one day at a time and those days will turn to weeks and then months! Thinking of u!

Sorry about my typos, I'm still very sensitive to the meds. For those facing chemo I wanted to suggest goodwishesscarves.org. I think that's the website. They will send you a free silk scarf/wrap. I love mine and wear it everyday. It takes a couple months to come.

Diana rose I am so sorry , i wish i could do something special for you .. hugs to u and I will pray for you , 

Cityfi I know the getting approved for that nys insurance was so scarey , i thought omg i made too much money , and i was approved .. im still so uncomfortable and going through lots of financial issues . I quit smoking and its been hard , now that im about to loose my apt car and phone due to no work and my surgery i smoked yesterday and i feel like an total failure at this point , I feel like i have no reason to be here  ... i feel totally alone as I am alone here at hme . i just dont know what to do next .. I guess first things first stop smokig again .. UGH my PS is gonna be pissed 

City and Cookie- my BS wouldn't do the ALND either. She even canceled my SNB after we decided that I would do neoadjuvant chemo. A micromet showed up in my lymph nodes on my PET scan and MRI but then after chemo everything came back clear. Very confusing but I'm happy with it!



Lisa- I hope you're doing ok today. Cancer is such a rollercoaster then throw in a major surgery and things get even crazier. I quit smoking also for reconstruction. I smoked the whole time during chemo like a dummy and only quit when I "had" to. Just try to not smoke because you know it can complicate your healing. Also I think you should talk to your PS about your pain and see if they can give you some exercises maybe.



What an up and down ride this is. Happy Mother's Day to all the moms.

Hi all

I went back to work today, had to finish 1 hour early as I was too tired, just couldn't do any more. It doesn't help that I am also due for my period, just started tamofixen and just finished nicotine patches. And had a minor car accident on Friday (my fault, ran into the back of another car).

Lisamarie I've gone nearly 12 weeks without a smoke, I suprised myself I didn't think I could go that long without even 1. If I can give up smoking anyone can. I gave up because of cancer, years ago my Dad had a heart attack and gave up smoking, why does it take a serious illness before we give up something bad that we've been thinking about doing for ages? For some people it's too late, lucky for me and Dad it wasn't.

Aussie , I almost had 3 months smoke free .. then due to financial difficulty i smoked , I am so mad at myself .. seems I need the patch again as well.. but its better than smoking ,

Dianarose , I put patches on my arms u can put on chest and back .. im sure there are other placed , maybe google nicotine patches and places to wear them if that helps 

Hugs Lisa 

Hope everyone who is a Mom had a great Mother's Day!

I had my re-excision on Friday and now it is just sit and wait for another pathology report.  The worst part of the re-excision was the stupid IV in the hand and the anaesthesia.  I've had about 6 IVs over the last few months and there just aren't enough veins there.  It hurts going in, while it is in, and now I have a huge bruise in the area because they kept taking a blood pressure on that arm since they can't use the other arm.  What do people do when they have BMI's?  Where do they put IVs and take blood pressure?  You would think there would be another way.  I was told that the anaesthesia would "sting" a bit.  I felt like my arm was going to burn up and almost crawled off the table before I finally went out.  This was supposed to be a twilight anaesthesia and I really don't remember much about the surgery except for that initial horrible burning sensation....and I did recover better with no nausea. 

I hope everyone is doing great and adjusting if they have had any pain or other complications.  I'm still a little uncomfortable but not really in pain anymore and it has been over 25 days since initial surgery.  The area where the alloderm is and my sternum seem to be the most uncomfortable but I'm not taking anything, even tylenol and I can tolerate the discomfort OK.  Today is my first day back at work.  I'm only doing 32 hours max a week which is quite a change from my normal 50 hours.  I'm actually having to keep a time sheet to keep us legal.  I have a scheduled appointment tomorrow with surgeon who is hoping pathology report is back from Friday surgery and then he is hoping to get the radiation catheter in place on Thursday.  Then Monday May 21 would be the start of radiation.  Things are moving forward.....

hello again. I haven't posted in recent weeks but have been reading the posts. I want to say that my heart goes out to those who have received path results which are not stellar and need further treatment. You've come this far and are strong women, you'll get through this.

To those of you who are going through or will go through chemo, please check out in your local area a program which is called Look Good Feel Better. Basically they hold workshops which help you how to learn how to make yourself look better so each day you feel better about yourself. All the make up companies donate prodcut and they teach you how and what to use while going through the affects of chemo; and you leave with a goodie bag of products to use!

For me the worse part of recovery so far is that my armpits are numb and the back of my arms to my elbow (but not my forearm or hands) feels like pins and needles round the clock...not so sure how to rid of this. moving ok range of motion coming back, it's painful. Any suggestions?

bellamarie- I had night sweats too after surgery. I actually woke up soaked. I have never had that happen before. I am pre-menopausal. The only meds I took were tylenol also. I don't have them now. It's been almost 5 weeks. I thought I was just weird or something.

Bellamarie- are you having muscle spasms at night? I finallly had to take Xanax to sleep and calm the muscle down. Maybe the whole muscle thing had to do with it. Do you have TE's.

bella I was just talking about my night sweats this morning.  I still wake up drenched 4 weeks post BMX.  I thought it was because I live in Florida but it must be our body's way of releasing some toxins from surgery.

Update: I will have to have surgery again because cancer was found in the right breast (a surprise) so they have to take out all the lymph nodes on the right.  Ugh!  Radiation will follow because the new cancer was within 1mm of my chest wall (near the margins).  Is anyone else here headed to radiation?

Even though I don't post everyday, I read this thread everyday.  You ladies have become like virtual sisters to me and have helped me tremendously on this journey. Thank you and (((hugs))) to you all.