January 2013 surgery

Hi January crew!

As your group continues to grow, we're supplying some good information for you and future posters to help prepare for your surgeries:

Check out some good info from the main Breastcancer.org site on Surgery, including:

• What to Expect with Any Surgery
• Lumpectomy: what to expect, side effects, and questions to ask
• Mastectomy: what to expect, side effects, and questions to ask
• Lymph Node Removal: what to expect, side effects, and questions to ask
• Reconstruction: all types of reconstrucion, what to expect, side effects, and questions to ask

Also, you may find it helpful to chat with last month's surgery ladies, to get first-hand stories of their experience.  You can visit their thread here: http://community.breastcancer.org/topic_post?forum_id=91&id=796638&page=1

Hope this helps and good luck with all of your surgeries!

--Your Mods

Robin lee: thanks for the info and yes I would like to hear more tips. I am going to go out and buy a couple of soft button up shirts. I've already bought button up Jammie's that I can lounge in. I also bought one of those bed pillows with arms. I'm wondering when you can shower? Or do you have to wait until the drains are out? I like the fanny pak idea. Dreading this but want it all behind me!

Peanutsgal: Thanks for the info. I have pre-op Jan. 4th so I will ask.

Merry Christmas Ladies!

Re: showering with drains - my BS and PS allowed me to shower with drains after all my surgeries.  I just took a shoestring and tied it around my neck and hung the drains on that when I showered - the drains have little loops.  A fanny pack can work to hold drains during the day, but I just used one of my old zip up hoodies and cut a hole in the pockets from the inside and threaded the drains through that from the inside.  Other times I just pinned them to the front of an old shirt if I was wearing that.  I even went back to work with drains after one surgery. 

Absolutely bring pillows in the car for the ride home.  Also, if you have a fairly long drive home, fill your pain med scrip at the hospital pharmacy if you can. Then you can take a pain med when you get in the car for the ride home. 

As for tattoos - I skipped nip recon and went right to 3D nip tattoos with Vinnie Myers.  You'll see him mentioned a lot in the recon threads.  They absolutely look real - the first time my onc and my PCP saw them they couldn't believe that they were just tattoos - they thought they were surgical nips. That's down the road a piece for you guys, but something you can keep in mind as an option.  I skipped nip recon because I didn't want another surgery and I also didn't want that "headlights on" look all the time as well. 

Again, please feel free to PM me with any questions you may have - I'm more than glad to share my experiences.

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful day of fun and love with family and friends. I've been telling myself that as soon as Christmas is over, I'd be down to brass tacks.....well, I'm down to brass tacks and am preparing in earnest starting tomorrow!

Knit lady, I think I can understand how you feel. I was diagnosed around the same time as you, and my surgery is 2 days after yours. Like you, I've been reading as much as I can to educate myself about my best choices. And I'm currently shopping for some comfy button down shirts and front closure bras for post surgery. Of course, this addresses some of the logistics. But the emotions have been strong over the past month just arriving at a diagnosis and getting to this point.. While I do feel more centered and stronger, I still have my moments of great fear, sadness, overwhelm. I can't say I'm looking forward to surgery, but I'm ready. I want the cancer out of me and I want to move forward.

I wish you the very best.

Hello ladies!

Hope everyone had great holidays! Happy New Year to everybody! It's almost 'show time' for us all. Thank u Ladies that have gone through this for taking time to share ur experiences with us It's a great help! The waiting and anticipation is terrible. I have my pre op on the 4th...Getting scared now. One week away. There are so many of us going on the 7th now! Ill be thinking of all of u! We're gonna do amazing! Good luck to AuntieEm going first! I will be thinking of u! 💜🌺💜

Good Luck to all of you! This time will just fly in as it did for me in the last week.

Try to keep in mind that it is never as bad as you think it will be, and the recovery is so quick it will surprise you.

I am 10 days out from my surgery, can't believe how well I have been. The fear. and the waiting is by far the worst  part of this.

I'll be thinking of you all here "Downunder". Best wishes, and gentle hugs to you all!

Robinlee,

I can totally relate. I got a call to schedule a pre op for next week and reality hit for me. I just want 7th to come and have this surgery. Like ariom said the anticipation is worse than the surgery. I'm not even sure what I'm scared of I know I will be fine! I always am! But just the thought of it makes me cringe. ;(

This too shall pass! And we'll be like ariom and natsfan encouraging others.

Hi Ladies. I hope you don't mind the barge. I had my BMX 1/13/12, so I wanted to offer some support. NatsFan is great, so I don't need to cover much. I just wanted to tell you without a doubt, this wimp thought anticipation was MUCH worse than the actual surgery.

About the post-op shirts: I found just regular old hoodies worked well for me. I'm not really a button down girl (unless for work), so I didn't want to buy a bunch for a few weeks. I found my hoodies were exactly what I needed. I even found one in Target with pockets on the inside which I thought would be perfect for drains. Turns out I never needed to use the pockets because the nurse at the hospital pinned my drains to my surgical bra. We just did that every day for the 6 days I had them. I liked having them pinned because I barely noticed them that way. There was plenty of room in my hoodies for them, and if I put my hands in my pockets, no one would ever notice.

My BMX was suppose to be prophylactic, so I had a year to decide and 2 months to dread. I remember thinking that the drains were going to be horrible. In reality, I hardly noticed them at all, and they were gone before I knew it. I gross out easily, and I just told myself they really would not be as disgusting as a tampon, and they weren't. Not even close.

This one just popped into my mind: meds.Have someone keep track for you in the hospital what time you took each med. That way when you get home, you sort of have a schedule. I think I had 4 different meds that were taken at different times. You've got to write this stuff down especially when you are home in order to keep track. Oh yeah, don't forget to add stool softeners!! I'm not kidding. I don't even want to tell you how long I went without a poop. Drink plenty of water. That will also help.

Another random thought: A woman who went through this the year before me told me something her nurse told her. In order to shake the anesthesia hangover as soon as possible, get up and walk around the hospital as soon as you can. I was out of surgery and in my room around 1pm, and I managed to  walk to the bathroom within an hour or 2. Then we went into the hall after dinner. By 9 pm I was cruising around the halls like nobody's business. I slept really well too (thank you flexeril!). Walking outside (especially in the January cold) did wonders for my recovery, even if I just walked to the end of the driveway at first. It's a very satisfying feeling to be working toward wellness, and walking is the perfect exercise.

What you're feeling right now sucks and will likely dissipate the minute you wake up on the other side. From that moment on, you get to concentrate on healing. It's a very, very nice feeling.

Good luck ladies! You can do this! Don't forget to walk! You don't have to get a sweatsuit that says "Juicy" across the butt. =P

I'm new here, but that list made me well up with tears. My BMX w/o RC is January 10th. May I be added to the list? I'm having an emotional day. I work full-time & have a high-maintenance son, so I "keep it together" much of the time, but if I find myself awake& he's asleep, the fears & grief start sweeping over me.

What an amazing group of women! Special thanks to Jennifer for getting us all together. I really don't think that anyone knows the real meaning of the term panic attack until they hear the words,"you have breast cancer". I had thyroid cancer 26 years ago and survived just fine so I didn't think that another cancer diagnosis would throw me that much. WRONG! This is the ultimate emotional rollacoaster ride. If I may share a visualization that has helped me through a lot of tough times in my life. I heard it years ago at a conference where the speaker was a woman who was a professor of theology at a major seminary, what faith tradition I don't remember but it doesn't matter. She was a long term breast cancer survivor and she recalled that when she was having a terrible experience with chemo she would picture God as her heavenly mother who was holding her cradled in her arms and gently rocking her in a rocking chair and singing softly to her. The visualization got her through and it has always been special to me because no matter how old we are when the chips are really down we long for our mothers to rock us and make it better. I don't want to offend anyone theologically but for me seeing a higher power as both mother and father helps on the bad days. Love and hugs to all. We can do this together.