March 2013 Surgeries

Lksher-

I ate crushed ice during the Adriamycin. I would stop by a Sonic and buy a large cup of ice on my way to chemo. It took about 20 minutes for the nurse to push the dose and she was very good at coordinating the time to make sure I was ready with the ice.

For the Taxol, The nurse put ice mitts and booties on me and switched them out for fresh ones half way through. They were soft cloth covered gel packs. The Taxol took about 3 hours. Wearing the ice packs was painful at first, but tolerable once everything went numb.



The good news is that I had no mouth sores during the AC, and did not experience any neuropathy or nail damage from th he Taxol. Hope that helps.

Thanks so much LKSHER for asking about the ice during chemo.  I'm so grateful to have everyone's input about the ice mitts and ice water and mouth wash.  I got the call from the medical oncologists scheduler and nurse.  Looks like I'm probably going to start adimycin and cytotoxin May 1st, after a couple of baseline scans and once they install my chemo port.  Oh, boy, here we go.

Gentle hugs to all.

Tina

Excision is tomorrow after clinic. It's funny, I was going to ask my PS if we could do this in our operating room instead of exam room and he said this evening, "You know, I would rather do this in the OR because I will have better light and it's more sterile than the exam room! Great minds think alike I suppose! Lol

(Tparksprof) I am so sorry you are going through this, my heart aches for you! I am saying extra prayers that you heal quickly! Having worked in wound care for 6 years, I can honestly say the vac is an amazing thing and you will be surprised at the results it produces! It helps so much to speed up the healing process! Good luck to you sweetie!!



((Pat)) I know this is everyone's own decision that they have to make, but after working in an oncology clinic for 7 years, I saw many women that decided to do a unilateral mastectomy, went through chemist/radiation or both, only to have it come back in the other breast! I am not trying to scare you or make you feel worse, but I know that when I worked there I always said if I ever got breast cancer both breasts would go because I didn't want to give the cancer anything to come back to. Mine was only DCIS, and a few docs thought it was a bit overkill for double mastectomy bit I knew that I would not be able to sleep at night thinking about it coming back, especially since my diagnostic mammogram was negative just 4 months prior!! Do your research and ask TONS of questions!! Working for my PS has been so helpful as well because I have heard his take on things. Not only will you have more of a symmetry by having both taken off, but even he says from an oncology standpoint, it would put more women's minds at ease. He told me that he has had 12 cases of the "good" breast coming back positive for cancer as well. Not that many since he has done hundreds of recontructions, but it is something to think about!! Whatever you decide, God bless you and I will be praying for you!!



Maureen, thank you so much for all you do with keeping up on all of us!! You are a true angel!!

Love, prayers, and hugs to you all!!

Dawn

Thanks for your kind words. Yes, I guess I just have to face the reality that "one day at a time" will be my lifestyle for a while. Ihave chosen not to have reconstruction so am only dealing with the infection and necrosis. Wish me luck today, I think I'll be ok.

Yes, knowing too much can drive you crazy at times!! But it can also help those that know nothing and that's what I will concentrate on! Just a heads up with the vac, the least amount of tape, the better, and use skin prep around the wound to help protect your skin. The sponge should be cut to the size of, or a little bit smaller than the wound, never bigger! When it gets turned on, breathe through it because that can be a bit painful as the sponge is "sucked" down into the wound. Once its flat, you should have no pain and it should hold at a constant pressure!! Good luck!!

Yeah knowing tooooooo much gives you headaches but is better to know so you can make the right the decisions ❤....... Hawaii will be waiting for you and better things... My BXM sucks so far it's been 3 weeks and I have one drain on woke up crying cause I feel worthless .. My under arm still hurts didn't wanna go to PT and I really don't want to go see my RO .,.. I don't wanna take any more meds I feel sleepy all the time and if I don't take it .... It hurts ....my daughter is in Orlando for vac my DH working and my sister never has time cause her daughter is 2 so I guess that's hard...... I'm tired don't want to be a waitress any more wanna go back to school

Bud what????take what and something fast ... And yeah I gain 30 more pounds really????? ..... I'm just gonna jump on the shower and see IV this stupid pain will go away...... Thanks sisters ..... When will this pain go away I'd more like I'm carrying books under my right arm 😢

I am sorry I came in and I didn't come back. I had my surgery and had to spend a bit more time in the hospital. They couldn't get my oxygen levels back to normal. I was in a step down u nit the whole time. Then my mom got diagnosed with skin cancer on her nose. The next day my 44 year old brother had a heart attack. It has been a hard 3 weeks here.



I still have my drains, no sign of them coming out soon. Go back to PS on Tuesday, but I am still draining over 50 cc per day on each side. I just want things to get better.

(((Carrie)))...when it rains it pours...so sorry to hear everything you've been hit with at such a difficult time in your own life...My mom died suddenly just 2 weeks after my lumpectomy and axillary node dissection in August - she had a bilateral breast cancer recurrence so I know how it feels to deal with your mom's diagnosis and your own...I wonder if the stress is making the drainage worse, stress is so hard on the mind and the body...Are you getting any sleep or rest? Is your pain under control? Don't hesitate to ask the doctors if you need meds to help you get thru this, we've all needed help at some point...my BS prescribed some Valium to calm me and my chest muscles down post op which really helped both the pain and the feeling of "tightness" that I had and...it helped my stress...I've had no problem getting off of it now that I don't need it. (((Healing Hugs))) you and your family are in my thoughts and prayers...

Happy Weekend Surgery Sisters:) Maureen 

I met the two different plastic surgeons regarding masectomy.





1st does either. TRAM flap or implants

2nd does DIEP flap.



I have decided DIEP flap, both breasts as it is a major surgery.

Implants seem like too much maintenance, TRAM involves taking a piece of abdominal core muscle and I have a bad back, I need my core strong!

If she takes the abdominal stuff for a single masectomy , as i was considering, if I should ever need another rebuild for my second breast she would have to go elsewhere on my body. And if that second breast needed surgery how old would i be? would i be in good shape? i know, a lot of "what if" questions.



this surgeon is out of network for insurance purposes, (in fact any surgeon that does this surgery is out of network to me). so I need to see what that will mean. (I'm picturing someone hitting me over the head with a sledge hammer). I am meeting with another DIEP flap surgeon in Manhattan on Tuesday, I want to make sure we are on the same page as far as my fat!



I recently lost 25lbs, who would have thought I should have kept it! Lol. Thankfully I still have a good bit of belly fat left. I was told from PS#1 I did not have enough fat for two breasts. I was told by PS#2 that I had enough for two smaller breasts, but to make sure not to lose more weight. (So much for my weight watchers membership!). I'm thinking fatten up this chicken! Lol. Still have chemo to face!



PS also wants me to resume my cardio , as she was very happy I had been going to the gym 4-5 times a week, doing 45 minutes of cardio. I think she doesn't realize if she is thinking surgery after chemo I won't exactly be in my best shape as I have not worked out since first surgery on March 18! Lol. She will be getting a fat couch potato!



I guess I will see what happens when I finish chemo. I still have 12 weeks (plus some) to figure out what's going on for masectomy.



I ordered a bunch of chemo hats , wig etc from tlcdirect.org last night. Also picked up some scarves from Target. Gearing up for the next battle.



I think a part of my summer has been saved...as soon as I know for sure I will plan a nice vacation with the family before the masectomy, by then I imagine school will be back in session!



Stay strong sisters!

Pat

So sorry to hear that you continue to feel lousy. I think we've all been there with the feelings of worthlessness, the "why mes", and just plain weepy. I know I still have those days. If you still have pain ask doc for increase in meds. Your job right now is to heal. And that means taking care of you. I know as women that's a difficult task, but it has to be done. Rest and relaxation are what you need to to now. As some one else said maybe hour by hour is the way to go right now. My thoughts and prayers are with you. It WILL get better. You are loved.

I agree, the emotional side seems to be harder! Everything needs to be in balance, physical, spiritual,emotional then we can feel right. Then we can heal.

I myself have been on an anti anxiety drug for over two years. I,was always use to being super wife, and super step mom! It den right wore me out! Stress led to lack of sleep, lack of sleep led to pain, pain led to miserableness!

It is a sign of strength to ask for help, and admit we need the help/the prescriptions!

(((Bishops, Gardengirl, and Marian))) so much wisdom in what you say about the emotional side of this diagnosis and the "dark days"... thanks for mentioning it, sometimes I need to remember that it's okay to admit that these are tough times and there is no shame in wanting help for the emotional pain, it is as real as the physical pain and as damaging to my health. I know I'm grieving the physical losses as well as feeling many emotional losses - my life has changed so dramatically and it's put me "on my heels", I don't feel as strong as I used to, mentally or physically...Marian...your daughter's roommate is quite wise, thank you for sharing her words...sending (((Hugs and Hope))) Maureen

I feel like I've been away from here for months, but it's only a couple of days. I'm almost a month post op from my 1rst surg and just 1 week post op from the second. That one was to clean up some infected areas. Now, they tell me I have MRSA. I'm really getting tired of all this. It seems I take a baby step forward and three giant steps back. Maybe it would be different if I had family here. My daughter lives in far off Colorado and other than a sister in Texas that's about all I have. I think I'll be getting these @#$#%$% drains out tomorrow, but then on Sat. I get hooked up to a pump that is supposed to enhance the healing. Sorry I sound like I'm whining, but it's been a rough couple of days. Thanks to all for "listening". I send you all gentle hugs and prayers.

Cuetang,

My Oncologist strongly advised moving ahead to freeze embryos as she said she's pretty convinced I will need chemo. Just waiting on the oncotype to get 100% confirmation. Seeing as we had a couple weeks to wait for the Oncotype we decided to move quickly along the freezing embryo path to play it safe. It makes me feel like we are actually doing something other than waiting.

When do you get confirmation?

Thanks for caring. Your comments help a lot.