April 2014 Surgery Sisters

Thanks for the warm welcome

DiveCat, no both of my tissue expanders are still in. the infection was where they had stiched me the first time. They will not do anything now until my skin heals. although it is a pain in the bum waiting.. i guess it is kind of a good thing as my boobs are still changing so much. I would hate to say no to filling the tissue expanders and have them removed and then not like the shape of my breasts afterwards. 

I have a bit of pain under my armpits today. Im hoping the puffy sausage look under my right arm will go soon. 

Question.. sometimes I get a funny feeling in one breast. The only way I can describe it is that its like when you drink too much water and then jump around. But instead of it being in my tummy it is in my breast haha hope that makes sense. It feels very strange and I will feel it when Im walking around. Anyone else?

Question- I had a lumpectomy april 9.  The doctors said my incision was healing well.  Today I noticed a tiny little red area at the end of my incision.  I put some antibiotic salve on it.  Tonight it almost looked like a pimple.  I got the hydrogen peroxide out and when i pressed the cotton swab to it pus(i think, it was white) came out.  I pressed around the red area and a little more came out. I put a piece of gauze on it and plan to call the doc or nurse tomorrow.  I am supposed to start rads wed. (Get my tatoos and run through tue.) will they postpone my rads because of this small infection(i dont have fever) ??

debz...have you contacted your doctor yet? Infections can spread fast, and while you have not had recon that would be at risk you still do not want an infection. The redness concerns me, as does the leaking wound/pus since you are now over 5 weeks out from surgery. Is the area warm or hot? No temp is good, but not a sure thing. 

I am not sure about the rads. You will need to ask your MO/Rads Oncologist. Radiation as you know is hard on the skin and tissues, and I know generally they want wounds to be healed before they start stressing the tissues with radiation. It will depend on what they see when they look at the incision.

PS I would avoid the hydrogen peroxide, it damages good healthy bacteria/tissue as well as bad. Even though it looks like it is doing good things when it bubbles up. Use saline wash or clean water and soap to clean it, or as recommended by your doctor.

DiveCat, I will message you a pic.  The MO nurse called me back, told me to ask about it when i go to rads tomorrow and they want to see me Wed, even if the RO gives me an antibiotic tomorrow.  If it gets any worse, fever, more red or discharge, I am to go to ER.  I am also waiting for a call from the RO nurse.  Thanks for your response.

Congrats scubalady--what great news!!! I too need to exercise and drop some weight, seems like this should be very motivating! Hope you continue the celebration

thanks Scubalady, it could very well be.  The area seemed more slow to heal than the rest, and looked like it was trying to form a scab, but the docs never seemed concerned.  Now that is red that makes sense. I hope I dont have to postpone rads.  Congrats on the Chemo.  I am relieved that I don't have to have it too.  I really, really need to lose weight too! 

pheonixtraveler,

I had the same chemo a few months ago. The chemo brain is the worst. I just did not feel like myself. I am usually very outgoing, but I found myself avoiding joining in conversations because my head was so fuzzy. It does get better but the fatigue gets worse. I had my treatments on a Thursday followed by neulasta on Friday and usually went back to work Monday or Tuesday. After round 4 I was more fatigued and needed more time off. I teach middle school so work was pretty draining but I found it kept my mind off the cancer as well.

Radical,

I teach middle school and worked through the chemo. It was hard and I had to take a few days off with each treatment but it kept my mind off the cancer. The parents were wonderful and very supportive as well as my colleagues. Thanks to the neulasta my blood counts were always good so I did not worry too much about getting sick.

spitting stitch- it 'spits' itself out from the inside, pokes out and is annoying.

I got the genetic testing, as I had bc, a great aunt and a 2d cousin,male. Also Ashkenazi Jewish. I qualified only for the 3 markers relating to the Jewish part, and insurance wouldnt have covered the full panel. Came back negative, so thats great.  See the counselor but I think it will depend on your history and factors if you qualify , at least for an insurance covered, test.

Scubalady....

Try some nice scarves, asymmetrical patterns, cowl necks, etc to break up the neck and bust line to camouflage the current differences.

For Genie bras...ugh, this can be some trial and error...

I was a 32DD before surgery/35.5" bust, usually wear an 8 in shirts to accommodate my bust and preference for a looser fit as I am a 4-6 otherwise...I could fit into a Medium which corresponded with the bust measurement and t-shirt size, but it was too compressive and gave more of a compressive sports bra uni-boob. I went to the L (sizing up for cup size at or above C as they recommend on their site OR following the band/cup size charts I did not find until later) then the band was still nicely snug (I stretched them out to compare and there was only an 1" difference when stretched) but I got more room in the cups and more lift and separation rather than squishiness. And I understand why people liked the bras so much! With my implants I guesstimate I am about a 32D from comparing to my old bras, and my bust is about 34.5" which would put me technically in a Medium per the chart for all three measurements, but my implants are far less malleable than my native breasts were so I now definitely need a L...an upsize from the bust measurement/t-shirt recommendations AND cup size recommendation....not a surprise as implants tend to be wider and like I said, not as malleable as natural tissue.

Obviously you are in a bit of a different situation as you don't know your bra size right now, and are dealing with one natural breast and one TE, so it might make sense to guesstimate a bit. I understand the larger sizes fit tighter, so those wanting more comfort than sports-bra like fit up-size.

Walmart usually carries the Genie bras, so you can go and try them on before you buy. That, or they often have them on e-bay for cheap so you could buy one of each size you think you might be and compare them. 

It seems like I've read posts from a few people here who want to lose some weight, and I am one of those. Would anyone be interested in having a separate thread for that? Nothing formal -- mostly just us encouraging each other in our efforts to get in better shape. I for one have lost about 14 pounds since my diagnosis, and I would like to lose about 20 more total. Baby steps though, right? For now my goal is five pounds lost by July 1: slow and easy (kind of like TE fills!). I am making small changes in my eating habits and walking daily.

Is anyone interested?

I am interested! I really need to lose 20 lbs before exchanging from expanders to implants.  

I'm in!  I saw my PS today.  If I want to help get rid of my side boobs, I need to lose some weight before my exchange.  I probably could stand to lose 20-25 lbs.  He suggested seeing a nutritionist.  I plan to try losing on my own for a few weeks and see how it goes.  I have lost 15 lbs since my diagnosis and would like to keep it going in that direction.

Hey asb: you really did GAIN weight with chemo? I start in June, had surgery a little over a month ago. I don't have a scale, but I know I'm thinner than I was before surgery. I am one of those people who eat to live, not live to eat...and I haven't had much of an appetite lately.

I am very nervous that chemo will further suppress my appetite and between the diarrhea and vomiting associated with the a/c & t chemo drugs I might lose even more weight. I am already skinnier than I was in high school. It's bad enough to have a cancer diagnosis. I don't want to look like a heroin addict too! I'm also afraid doc would stop chemo if I can't keep my weight up. Any eating suggestions? Anyone can chime in here, I was just happy to hear someone really did GAIN weight during chemo!

Frostcat and DiveCat, thanks for the info.  I did pick up some Genie bras at BB&B yesterday, and while they are comfortable, I don't think they're as good for someone with a UMX as they are for someone with a BMX.  I may make a trip to Walmart and check out the Fruit of the Loom, or I may just go to the local Cancer boutique and get a couple more of the Amoena front hook that take the puff insert.  I don't need a lot of the fill in the puff, but it's a bit of a challenge to get it shaped correctly to match the native side since the expander side is pretty high but flat where the native one projects.

I'll be taking my first Anastrozole today and am really concerned that it will put more weight on me and ruin my efforts to lose weight.  I'm On my way! Of those people who gain weight watching food commercials or cooking shows.  Once I'm back to work, getting enough exercise to have an impact is difficult because I work 9 hours a day at the computer, and have 2 hours of driving.  Before diagnosis I was doing spinning class twice per week and one Zumba class and still couldn't loose weight.  I really couldn't get in any more exercise time and still stay on top of home needs and errands.  It was frustrating.  

Jannet2014= I would love to follow a weight loss support thread. For years I've been trying to drop the 10 pounds I gained from Tamoxafin, I just started my first AC treatment yesterday, have 3 more to go which will end 7/1, I have not had any nausea yet and may not have, actually I was told to expect a weight gain due to some steroids I'm giving during chemo. I plan to walk everyday and get back to me last summer daily of 4 miles. I was doing at least 2 Zumba classes but understand that won't happen for some time.