January 2013 surgery

Hi Amy, love that photo avatar!

So glad to hear you have more info on your surgery, but sorry there is no date yet.

Will  look forward to hearing your news as it comes in. Take care!

Peanutsgal, so pleased at your steady recovery, shame you can't get out for your walk, but it will come soon.

Isn't it amazing how we all agree that the waiting was far worse than the actual surgery. The mind is a powerful thing isn't it!

Home from the surgery and all went well.Anesthesia was great they listened to me and my concerns and decided to give me some Demerol for the pain.No scarey side effects.But don't be allergic to lidocaine they couldn't give me lidocaine for the wire in my Breast or the Nuclear medicine.when they inject the 3 syringes of radioactive isotopes or whatever it is into breast to locate lymph node.That hurt like the worst.Decided to send me home with Vicoden.This made me itch a tiny tiny bit but not anymore.Felt bad for the nurse in recovery. When I came I out of it I kind of grabbed her by the arm real hard. I apologized to her later,she said it was fine.She said she,s been punched slapped bitten.Dangerous job apparently to recover people from anesthesia.Not sure how many lymph nodes were removed.Guess I will call office in morning.Thanks for all the prayers and support.S glad I found this group.!!!

Josie, that is a relief, you are on the other side of the surgery now. Yay! I am so glad that you didn't have any trouble with the meds, and they listened to you.

Sorry to hear you had a rough time with the tracer. I hope it didn't last too long.

I wouldn't be one of those nurses for anything. I have heard some horror stories about people having to be restrained when they come out of anaesthetic.

Take care and get well now!

I totally agree about finding this group, I don't know what I would have done without their support.

Hey January sisters and loving guides who've walked before us ~



I'm just home from surgery and agree with everyone that the pre-anxiety is MUCH worse than the surgery itself. I'm still on my nerve block so can't speak to any real pain, but they did say I started moving when my surgeon went for the sentinel nodes so they added a general. I felt a little woozy coming out but no issues and now that I've had a half sandwich and plenty of fluids, I'm feeling more myself.

An interesting aside. I felt very calm going into surgery and for all the pre-op stuff (sentinel node imaging, needle loc), but when I came out of anesthesia I really felt like crying. Didn't feel worried, just very emotional. They said they see that pretty often. Hmmm.

My surgeon took out 4 nodes, but I won't have results for at least 48 hours. Really interesting that you got the all clear right away, Jebdra. So happy for you!



Anyway, really happy to be home in my recliner with my jammies on and such a cute purple floral tube wrap(!). Wasn't expecting that, but feels more comfy than a bra for now. Another bonus is that I don't have any drains and my surgeon told me I could shower tomorrow. All in all, just felt like a nap with nice dreams. :-)



Oh, one more thing... All the checking of name, birthdate, what and where my procedure was...comforting so they didn't make mistakes. But during the needle localization, the radiologist asked me which breast I was having the procedure on, to which I replied, the one you have in this vice! She cracked up and said she appreciated my sense of humor. Thankful for that.



Love and well wishes to our Jan 10 sisters: destiny, trailer and cookie. It really will be over before you know it and we're all en route to regaining our wholeness!

Amy get the recliner! I have lived in mine since chemo.



Had a low fever all day, but i know it is my body working hard to repair itself.

Special good wishes, love and prayers for our heroines for the 10th Destiny, Trailer and Cookie. Onward to victory.

Jojo, you might want to increase your fluid intake a bit it you have a fever. Dehydration is a major cause for fever.

Jebdra, I have to tell you a funny story. Your experience with the girl who took you up to your room reminded me of it. Many many years ago when I was 14 my first job was working in a hospital doing a similar job. It was before the days of instant messaging or even pneumatic tube systems for transporting messages between departments so it was done by hand. The problem was that the very innocent people who started the program named it the call service and the boys who worked there were referred to as "call boys". Then they started hiring girls and it got dicey. One of our duties was to escort patients to their rooms from the admitting office and you should have seen the looks on the faces of the male patients when the stupid admitting clerk would announce "the call girl will take you up to your room now"! We got quite a few dirty looks from the wives also. Never let it be said that we were not a full service institution. What made it even funnier was that it was a church run hospital which probably accounted for the level of innocence that made such a mix up possible.

It is so good to hear that so many of our courageous band of sisters are doing so well. It gives the rest of us hope.

So nice to hear how well everyone has done with surgery and best wishes for those scheduled tomorrow!

So good to hear so much good news! Too many for my swiss cheese brain to remember. I'm ready for tomorrow, I think. 10:30 surgery, 9:30 arrival. DH and I will take DS to school in the morning and then be able to spend time together before we have to be at the surgery center.

And why, oh why did I have to get the migraine tonight when I can't take my usual med for it? Luckily mine are pretty low level. They're also hormone related and I so expect my period to arrive tomorrow just in time for surgery - YAY?

Hey ladies! My surgery went well. Bs actually ended up taking out 2 nodes so we will see. I am still in the hospital. My son got a fever last night so they did not want to send me home. I luckily did good with the anesthesia. I have 4 drains so manuvering them in bed without pulling has been fun. One of my nurses actually stiches a drain bag for each one of us here. Very nice group of women I have here wish they could go home with me ;-)

Hi. My surgery was yesterday. Here is the honest report about it. I was a wreck going in the hospital, but everyone was very kind. The radioactive node injections didn't hurt a bit. Lymph nodes negative based on biopsy. Yea. Hopefully final path report will agree and stage me at 2a. Did well in recovery and began drinking lots of water about 4pm. However my body didn't absorb the water and it all came back up about 8:30. What a mess. Happily three nurses were here to help me. About 11pm I started swelling and bruising. (I had immediate recon with implants). I'm in pain but it's manageable with the meds. The doctor just came in and said a lot of the discomfort is on the inside, even though I see swelling and bruising. Getting out and in of the bed is the hardest part, even though it's a hospital bed. My breast area is totally numb all the way round to underarms. I know some people gain some sensation back. I'm doing ok and it wasn't as bad as the wait. I'm glad my surgery sisters did well, and I am thinking of everyone today. Best to all.

Glad everyone is doing well...and that you understand about lumpie warfare.  I'm down to 8 days and the little bastard is history.  I'm feeling a bit low today- while i'm very excited to get lumpie and the nodes out, i know i have at least 2 positive axillary nodes (from fine needle biopsy- but they are small 5mm and do not hurt at all- can't feel 'em either...) so for me, its a matter of how far its spread and what my ultimate staging will be- from a damned 1 cm lump.  That's making me feel pretty uncertain and not as positive as i want to be.  I keep telling myself i am young (40), healthy, fit, strong and able to throw anything and everything at beating this.  I need to get the nasties out and chemo/rad the hell out of any CELLS (not lumps or nodes but CELLS) that are left...and that i can beat the hell out of this.  But waiting and uncertainty suck.  But then i think maybe this is the nice bit BEFORE i get staged and know the worst.  Aaaaaauuuugggghhhhhh!  Just get me to the hospital and get this s*** out of me!  We'll deal with the rest from there...right?  Anyone with positive nodes that can chime in here???  thanks...

Smethot - I also knew going into surgery that I had a positive node from a FNB.  The node was easily palpable and was HUGE - just about as big as my primary tumor (almost 3cm). At that time the standard of care was to do a full Level I/II axilliary node dissection (ALND) when there was a known positive node (not sure what it is now).  I had a total of 15 nodes removed, and wouldn't you know - that one node was the only positive one.  That beautiful node did exactly what she was supposed to do - she took the hit, absorbed the cancer, and stopped the cancer from going to the rest of my system.  (Yes, I imagined her as a beautiful fierce warrior who gave herself up to protect the rest of the body.) Yes, it's preferable that the cancer stays localized and doesn't reach the nodes at all.  But if it doesn't, the good thing is that your nodes acted to "catch" the cancer when it tried to escape - they did their job.  I'm holding positive thoughts for you that those nodes are as far as the "escape attempt" got, and the chemo, rads, or whatever other treatment you have will be your insurance to zap any tricky cells that are left.  By the way, you sound EXACTLY like my husband.  After I was dx, all he kept saying was, "I want the d*mn thing out!!!"  One thing to think about (sorry to add to your list of worries) if you are going to have nodes out, especially if you have an ALND, you are at an increased risk for lymphedema.  You may want to ask your surgeon about a pre-op visit with a certified lymphedema therapist who can do pre-surgical measurements on you and give you guidance.  Here's the official position paper from the National Lymphedema Network on suggested pre-surgical protocols for those having node surgery:  http://www.lymphnet.org/pdfDocs/nlnBCLE.pdf  

Jebdra - do NOT feel guilty about saying something to the girl who escorted you to the room.  NO ONE who has ever had to spend time in the hospital ever regards their time there as a "vacation" and it was totally inappropriate for her to say that. I agree, she was just trying to be kind, but her training should have been better.  You may want to mention it to your doctor or even contact the hospital about it - not to get her into trouble, but for the hospital itself to know that they need to cover things like that in their training.  You don't want someone else who may be in even a more vulernable position to get hit with a comment like that.

I'm loving seeing all the new-found confidence from those who have already had their surgeries.  And I love that you're already reaching back to give comfort and courage to those who are still waiting for surgery - you all are getting to the point where you don't need the "oldbies" like me anymore.  Bravo to all of you!   

Robin...glad you are doing well. That is so nice of the nurse to make drain bags for people. I wonder if my hospital will do anything like that.



Lmim...thanks for your surgery story. It's so good to hear what I may expect. Not looking forward to those TE's though.



Tami..glad your liking the recliner. They really are helpful. I never wanted to own one as they are so bulky and remind me of older people but here I am sitting in it now and loving it.



Brandie...sorry, no help on the cooking. I'm a terrible cook. I wish I could hire someone to come in and cook four nights a week. My DH does most of the cooking so I'm lucky there. What about making soups and freezing them. We used to have this store here where you go and make like 20 meals at once, then you take them home and freeze them. I've never used them but that's a thought.



Prayers all around and take care of yourselves especially those recovering.

Brandie,

I'm a huge fan of slow cookers. I own 4!! Stepnanie O'Dea's site is one I have used. She fed her family for a year using only crockpots.

Here is her blog and she has books on amazon.



http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/?m=1