June 2012 Mastectomy

Praying for you right now, KimKay and Lisa27, that you are both sleeping soundly and that tomorrow's surgeries will go off as well as can be - -

All of you who have gone ahead of them this week are amazing me - - - I'm with Lynn . . . I hope I will do maybe 1/3 as well  - - - would it be bad if I didn't check out the tread mill at the hospital when it's my turn to go. . .? 

Curveball and Karen, hope the soreness is getting better.  Karen, I'm sorry about the lymph nodes - - I'm with you though, I'd always wonder until they said they were for sure clear - -  I know you want this all to be over - - but just think how far you've come. . . you're almost there. . . . hang in there -

Hoping BevG is snoozing and surgery went well today - continuing those positive vibes!

NanG - - I joined you with a freakout session today, so I appreciate you sharing your feelings.  This has been rather a roller coaster ride since Feb.  I made the decision for surgery several months back, then found out my PS was put on bed-rest and wouldn't be back til early Oct. at earliest. So, I was back to square one, figuring out a new PS, or deciding to wait til she returns. . . ????  With LCIS, it's not so clear-cut.  Had follow-up mammos, ultrasound and MRI on Tuesday.  The radiologist seems to think I ought to find a new plastic surgeon and get on with the surgery.  Met with another one(PS) today (recommended by my BS), and it turns out he already has me on his calendar (?!), so I'm freaking out a little really - - - I guess I had gotten used to the idea of the delay, and certainly have not done all the things I had planned on doing before surgery (painting some rooms in my house, cleaning out everything, getting myself in awesome shape, etc. etc.) 

Anyway, I'll know more tomorrow when I meet with my BS and get MRI results.  If I'm going to do this, I'd better get with it. . . re-read all your packing list, things-to-do posts and get doing. . .

Thinking of all of you, and I'm so glad we have this forum-

Hi ladies,

 I am very new here and to the topic. I was diagnosed May 14 with IDC at 37 yrs old no family history. My BMX with expanders or DIEP (depends on testing this past Wednesday)is scheduled for June 22 and im terrified! But glad i found this board and all the information on it.

 TIA for all the help

Hi kimkay, I am praying for you now for smooth surgery and that your preferred reconstruction surgery will be possible. Lynn27, sorry I got your date mixed up, but I am praying for you too. May all have skilled surgeons, great nurses and a complication-free recovery.

@tellie, what a bummer to have surgery put off! Waiting is the pits. But do I understand right that it is a four day delay, from the 15th to the 19th? I'm not a doctor, but it seems very unlikely that anything drastic could happen in such a short time. Better all the doctors should be on the same page, than one of them be lacking some info and as a result you miss out on input from that doctor which could affect your treatment.

In the meantime, ((hugs)) to you.

okay...LMAO. this is just....*sigh*  you know those days where seriously there is nothing left to do but laugh.?  like...what's the point in even being stressed anymore because any farther would be loss of sanity...so better start laughing now before you actually DO go crazy and do the laughing schizo all the way to the rubber room!!

 Seriously, they re-rebooked me back to the 18th!!  I am VERY relieved that as of ten days from now this punk-@ss cancer will be severed from my life. pun intended.

cancer...you do not belong here...you are NOT welcome and you have to get out of me in the name of Jesus! one way or another...and if God sees fit to annoint the hands of my surgeon and cut you out of me, so be it!  but you have to go.  i hate you cancer. 

phew...that felt good.

honestly, i was suppossed to go to the relay for life tonight.  my cousins are walking in memory of my auntie, i was gonna watch the survivors lap and my cousin donate her hair...there was going to be candy and bagpipes...BUT my three year old took the most epic tantrum.  complete with a fake broken arm. it lasted two hours. oh yeah. fun times....i thought i was gonna go mental.

what is there left to do but laugh?  laugh at the ridiculousness of it all...seriously. i am glad that i am going with implants now...i'll have all grey hair. that is if i don't need chemo and it doesnt fall out and then grow back in a different colour.  i'll have the hottest boobs on the block and the great great wrinkles across my forehead and mouth from grimacing and frowning all summer.  OH...and because i'll be in bed all summer...recovering....i will be ghastly pale by the time thanksgiving comes around. LMAO. Oh my goodness...its just....so much that u can only laugh about the silliness of it all.  its like a huge blooper reel.  a very sick blooper reel and all i can do to cope is laugh that i am actually living this out. 

comforting though. that we're all living it out together sort of.  i mean...i have a good prognosis.  and im still in the throws of this psychological emergency.  God help those of us whose physical condition exceeds our emotional condition.  God bless them.

I should change my username to NanRants. lol.

Hoping everyone is doing well and hanging in there!   

bevg havent seen a post since surgery so hoping you are resting comfortably! Hope Lynn27 and Kimkay are also doin well!

tellie and nang -- so sorry to hear about changes and challenges -- between waiting and dealing with changes I am starting to understand why this is as much a mental endurance as it is a physical one!

curveball -- wow, glad it went well! 

3kids -- sorry to hear about the nodes, sending healing prayers and hugs your way.

annievan hope that everything went well with the MRI results.

sorry you are joining the june club taismommy and MMTOMH but we are here for you.

I am getting ready to start putting my bag together for Monday!  Sending hugs and prayers and positive thoughts to all!! 

@Rckinrobin, there is a thread you might want to look at in the Breast Reconstruction forum, called "Nipple Sparing Mastectomy with immediate reconstruction" (I don't know how to make a link yet). It's a huge thread, so maybe you will find something in it about what to expect with nipples after your surgery. I hope your itching has gone away by now. I had some itching before surgery. My surgeon suspected it was due to a slight reaction to the various things put on the skin during biopsy/ultrasound procedures and suggested OTC hydrocortisone cream which worked well for me. If the benadryl doesn't get rid of the itch, you might want to ask your doc about the cream.

I had surgery the day before you and don't have much pain, but am still as weak as water. Today my mom took me to the bank, and when we got back I slept all afternoon.

Given what your surgeon said about the topless beaches (not that you would ), I assume you are planning on reconstructive surgery in the future. Have you chosen what kind yet? I also plan on reconstruction but need to complete other treatments first if any are indicated by path results. 

Hi Nan -

 I don't know about chemo for me, we're all waiting for final path results after surgery to even discuss it.  I'm glad you have already been told if your nodes are clear, you're done.  I'm sure that makes it a tiny bit easier to deal with! At this point, I've accepted the mastectomy (grudgingly of course) but the prospect of chemo scares the heck out of me.  Those 5-7 days after surgery waiting on the final path will be horrible for an anxiety-ridden person like me!  Best of luck to you, fingers crossed for nodes clear!

@bevg49, good to hear from you. I agree on both counts. It wasn't as bad as I feared, and sleeping in the hospital is well-nigh impossible. Get your zzz's tonight.

/hug to my3sunz  That has to be so hard on them.  That has been my biggest fear in all this, not about me but about how it will effect the kids. (Mine are 9 and 6).  I wish him a speedy recovery so that his dream can come true!  I wish an easy surgery and fast recovery for you too!  May you have peace before the surgery to ease the anxiety.  I understand, mine is a week away and already I am nervous.

/hugs to all!

Oh, meant to tell you, Loriio - - - Loved your new epiphany about what kind of boobs you want - - You had me rolling . . . awesome to laugh so much, too!  I think you'll be great at Hooters! 

I'm thinking I've been a little too obsessed with boobs lately in the lead-up to this surgery.  Actually felt like a real creeper the other night when out at dinner, I caught myself looking around at women's boobs. . . wondering what size, type, real or not, hmmm. . .  Then dang, I was sure hoping they didn't catch me gawking at their boobs!  Course, some of them were jumping out of their dresses, so I think they were inviting the looks.  . .   I've just never been the one looking before!

I did find out that i can go with the original June 25th date if I go with the new PS, but they said i could move it out a couple weeks if I need to. . .  I'm pondering it this w/e and thinking I might move it out 2 weeks to the week after the 4th of July.  Could I still hang out with the June ladies if I change to July?

So I thought this was really funny. I am at my sons track meet today and my surgery is tomorrow. SNB and BMX so my friend is asking if she can do anything to help and her ex says omg I did not know you were having surgery what are you having something taken off? I had to laugh because I am definitely having something taken off. I guess with my nerves I could not stop laughing. he felt really bad but I am still laughing!



Glad it looks like everyone is doing so well!

Well, will set the date for my mastectomy on june 18th, will probably be the last week in june. Right now I am all a mess. Not thinking right. I have 4 kids at home and one with very special needs. I feel so out of control

Honeypotpie,

I had a NSBMX with tissue expanders on May 23rd. The anxiety and emotional roller coaster leading up to it was almost unbearable. I took an ativan the morning of but still ended up bawling my eyes out right before they brought me into the operating room. But as soon as the surgery was over, I felt like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I had conjured up all kinds of images in my mind about how awful it would be but reality was much kinder. Yes, there's some pain but that's what the pain meds are for. I thought I was going to be way more immobile than I actually was. But still, I approached everything with caution and it's worked out.



My PS told me he was going to fill me in the operating room as much as he could. He took out 330ccs of tissue and filled my expanders with 300ccs of saline. So I woke up with boobs! I didn't look in the mirror for a few days but I could look down and see cleavage. And when I finally did look, it looked pretty good.



I remember so many telling me before surgery that it wasn't as bad as they thought it would be. But until you go through it yourself, it's hard to believe them. But it really. Is true. You can do this. Take your recovery slow. Don't rush off your pain meds - your body needs to heal at it's own pace. I tried going off mine sooner because I was reading about super women here who were off them in a few days. And I thought I could do that too but as a friend reminded me, recovery is not a competition.



Take a deep breath. Put your faith in your surgeons and soon enough you'll be on the other side too.