January 2013 surgery

Nah Mirmipanda, you have every right to complain and it just plain sucks. I bet is is soon though so go for walks and play with Hazel and complain as much as you want to us! I saw Dr. Dingee last week and as always I really like her. She is a straight shooter and probably feels bad too about the path report. Just not as bad as you!

Thanks ladies... I'm just really bummed out.



Hopex3~ I only took my pills for a few days. Didn't have much pain really, just ached a bit. Never got muscle relaxers, just T3's. I hope you feel better soon.

BrandieMcad: fell the same way. I went for my follow up on my surgery last week and it he path report wasn't done yet. I'm losing sleep worrying about what might be in it. The waiting is the worst.

Mirmirpanda~  I agree...it sucks, and feel free to complain about it to us!  I did want to comment on your mood though.  I was great for 2 weeks post-op and then all of a sudden in the 3rd week I started feeling down for no reason and it just lurked over me.  I couldn't understand why I was feeling worse instead of better.  Then it got better, again for no reason.  So, this may just all be part of the process.  Try to do something nice for yourself today.  I'm hoping the pathology report comes soon for you!

Hope~  I took Norco 10's for about a week after surgery, and then started alternating Advil and Norco 5's.  Now it's just advil unless I'm getting a fill.  I do take a muscle relaxer at night to help me sleep and not get stiff.

KK and Mir-Here's to waiting not so patiently.

Goodluck Shady and Melinda, Laurie. Hope today goes smoothly and your recovery goes quickly.

Hope, it is hard to compare pain because some of us have just had a plain mastectomy and others have had TEs or implants done for reconstruction at the same time. There is a lot less pain if you are not dealing with reconstruction. I had a BMX with SNB and that is all and I am down to just a vicodin at night but I am sure that if I had TEs I would need a lot more than that. The important thing is that you take what is best for you and don't compare yourself with anyone else. Research shows that patients who try to skimp on the pain meds actually have slower recoveries than those who take an appropriate amount.

Just got pathology reports back-B9! Wanted to say thank you for the support, prayers, good wishes and thoughts. I'm still sending prayers and love to you all!

Add me to the January list. :-(  I go on the 31st for lumpectomy and SNB.  Starting to feel the nerves kick in today with all the pre-surgery calls from the hospital.  

Best wishes and healing thoughts to everyone on this journey.

Sandy

Hi Ladies -

UMX vs BMX – dense breast tissue

I'm peeking in on the January surgeries thread to ask for some advice.  I'm scheduled for a UMX in 2 weeks, but I had the surgeon set aside enough time to do a BMX because I suddenly find myself undecided.  I realize this is the most personal of choices so I need to come to terms with this on my own but I'm still curious to know if anyone else with dense breasts was able to make peace with available screening tools being able to detect a new cancer in the "good" breast in a timely manner?  I'd like to leave this world with as many of my original parts as possible, so I'd very much like to keep the "good" breast.  But I'm not so attached to it that I'm willing to end up dealing with a new cancer that potentially goes undetected for long enough to require another 6 months of chemo and the question of lymph node involvement, etc.

I have dense breasts, and while my cancer was detected on my annual mammogram, I strongly suspect it went undetected on previous mammograms because I simply can't believe that much cancer can grow in one year.  I went from a completely normal mammogram reading in one year, to 3 tumors and DCIS in one breast a year later.  Leaves me feeling VERY uncomfortable with mammography as a reliable screening tool.  So I’d be interested to know if anyone else has struggled with this debate.  And if so, has anyone identified screening tools that are well suited to detecting abnormalities in dense breasts?

Best of luck to all of you recovering from, and undergoing surgery.  Here’s to a speedy recovery, with excellent pain management tools.  Good luck, and thanks for sharing any words of wisdom that come to mind!

So glad shady is out and doing ok.



Congrats Brandie and sorry you have to be with us Sunny, but welcome.



Whenlifegivesyoulemons - I'm the same - dense breasts and 5 tumors. Three were about 2cm were not seen on any mammograms, including a mammogram on the day I was diagnosed with cancer! The ultrasound that day found 3 of them. I did a BMX even though the cancer was only in one breast. However, after this diagnosis, wouldn't you be eligible for a breast specialist to give diagnostic mammograms and ultrasounds to catch any future problems early? That said, the primary reason I did a BMX was symmetry. Don't get me wrong - never having to go through this again was a reason, but symmetry was also a major consideration.



Mariannelizabeth, my cousin was in Riyadh. Just came back this year. I was in Yemen for a couple of years as a baby, but my family was in the Middle East for years in the 50's -90's. We have moved a lot, but I have been in the States since 1978. I will look up the book you mentioned. Thank you. Your goal to lead the base camp expedition is inspiring. I know you will do it. What an adventure and a way to celebrate life. Congrats on your last chemo. That's one step on your trek towards Annapurna.

Whenlife.... I was originally going to do a lumpectomy but after dealing with months of chemo and realizing the full impact of cancer on not just me but my family... Not to mention my family history was huge I decided to do a dbl. My kids are young and I want to be around for years to come without always thinking is this gonna be the day, month, or year that my cancer returns? It piece of mind Im after.... And another thing that chaged my mind is I dont want to be a lab rat! If I were to keep mine then I will always be needing to get checked and that entailed MRI's and me and MRIs dont mix! I am totally claustrophobic... Hope this helps. I can say that you will def know what feels right follow your instinct. It took me alot of time and thought but in the end I knew...

Got my drains out today, finally, after 3 long weeks. It didn't hurt a bit and I immediately felt better. I am looking forward to a good night's sleep tonight with a great deal less pain. Now if the tenderness and soreness will go away....it's always something, isn't it? To all my sisters out there with drains still in, it does get better!!

After way toooo much waiting, my surgery has finally been scheduled for next Thursday 2/7 (two months to the day of dx)! Such a relief to finally have a date! I have been reading along and thinking about all of you.

Had homemade spaghetti for my last meal until tommorow evening.I ,ll prob have a snack before Midnight though.My surgery isn,t till 1:30 and I have to arrive by 11:30.Brandi soo happy for you.I wish you the best.Hope everything went well for todays surgeries.What an awsome hubby to update his wifes status .Don't think that would be my hubby.But he is pretty awesome.Im looking forward to him waiting on me for the rest of the week.By Friday I may be kind of ansty though.Im not good at laying around or sitting around.Thanks to my kindle that will keep me busy.At least I know what to expect.Had a bad year this year already first my cancer diagnosis now just found out my dear Father in law has some kind of cancer of the cells of the bone marrow they think its Solitary Bone Plasmacytoma.Prob only has 10 yrs if that.He has a mass on his tail bone.Sorry I know this is a Breast Cancer thread  and this is totally unrelated.but cancer really sucks!!