August 2014 Surgery

Courage to Lori1967!!!!      But you've got that and you can do this!     

Mil, Sure. They did give me percentage of hormone sensitivity, but I do not have the original DX pathology report yet so cannot compare. I will post that when I get it. I am totally postmenopausal. Side effects of Femara: I am taking Letrozole, the generic. Femara, the brand, is outrageously expensive. Wish I could afford it. My side effects were few at first. Flu like symptoms for the first few weeks. The most persistent one is hot flashes, more like mega sweat events, in the morning and while sleeping. After a few months I started getting pain and aching in feet, legs and right elbow. These can be controlled with Tylenol, or Advil if you can take that. Not bad at all!! I am one of the lucky ones. I have found that the manufacturer of the generic makes a big difference in SE. The word on the street is that the more side effects mean the better it is working. So that makes it worth while. I read about some study that showed women who had more side effects with hormonal therapy had better results long term.

They originally thought your tumor was 91.3cm? Wow! That is huge ;-) Glad it was smaller than expected, and for all of your great news!!

Ally. yes I just positioned a rolled up towel and pillow just right so I could lay on my stomach on the table and let her know why and she was careful not to put tooo much pressure on my upper back. May I suggest trying to lay on your stomach in your bed and see if you can get comfortable and then you will know its doable for a massage.

Mil,

While I have the hormone sensitivity percentages from my surgery pathology, I am waiting for a copy from my original dx. I ordered it and it was not there when I went to pick it up. Anyways, I am postmenopausal. My side effects from Femara have been minimal. I am one of the lucky ones!! Actually I am taking Letrozole, a generic. For the first few weeks I had some flu like symptoms like body aches and a slight fever. Throughout the whole time I have hot flashes in the morning after I take it and then night sweats. Feels like my head is a sweat ball sometimes, so hot! And then after a few months I got feet, leg and elbow pain. Manageable with Tylenol or Advil. I don't always take these because I worry about my poor liver, but they sure do help. Pretty sure the lack of pain in my body for the first time in years was what made me so happy on the hydrocodone after the lumpectomy more than the surgery pain relief. LOL. As a side note I found that if you take the generic it matters which manufacturer you get. I have fewer side effects with Sun. Also I read in a study that side effects may be a good thing! It showed that women who had more side effects had fewer recurrences than those who had none. So I am going with this thought.

Good luck with this. We are so lucky to have all of these options! Let me know how you do if you take it.

Hi ya'll

I don't remember if I said that my left diep flap failed. I now have a scooped out left side and a thriving right breast . The site of it is obnoxious. I'm so sad it's gone. 

I know I'll have reconstruction in about 3 months,but the good news is I'mCANCER FREE! my pathology was all clear and  lymphnodes fine, FUCK YOU CANCER! 

 I am dealing with a horrible rash and itch on my backside, and my back. Dr thinks its from the stomach binder, and my ass is numb from the 13 hour surgery. Fun times over here. 

I'm so sleepy taking less and less meds, I even walked inside Target today, trying to walk as much as I can. 

ml--- This is a relief to know the very reassuring view of the doctor after he examined you!!     Thursday will arrive, and then you'll have some more firm answers (and we'll be hanging with you waiting until then) , but it really sounds like doc feels this can be resolved simply.     

Allydp--Stay cool for that bone scan, as I know you can.    Think muscles muscles muscles (and anyway docs are acting fast and taking you seriously to check out any possibility, and that is a very good thing.)      Nice to have the reassurance from BS that bad back pain is not such an odd symptom after mastectomy.    I'd like to punch your d-mn oncologist a million times, but your other docs are taking care of you and  I guess the onc will wake up and follow if neccessary.    Maybe she/he just felt test ordering was taken care of by the other docs and forgot about the human aspect of it--- docs do that, darn it!.       And a relaxing, normalizing dinner out with Hubby, showing off your Eyelashes and Eyebrows sounds supreme!!!   

Lipglossmommie--      That WONDERFUL all clear path report overshadows with happy light all of this other super cruddy awful stuff you're having to go through!!   (You're sure paying an outrageous price, and I'm so sorry to read what you're going through, but you're getting the prize!!)    Stay strong like we all know you are!!!

lipgloss - I hope you screamed that so loud the neighbors could hear it!  Well said!  I'm sorry your flap failed, but thrilled your path report was so awesome!  You're winning this!

Allydp - I've seen those special chairs at a massage place in our mall.  I'm hoping all you need is a good massage to counter the effects of surgery and sleeping in your chair.  Then you need to treat yourself to some really good mascara to show off those amazing eyelashes! (I'd recommend "They're Real")

Sassy- good lucks with rads.

ml- that's GREAT news!  I'm glad the Dr was so optimistic.  It's nice when they can remember we are people and don't need to be scared half to death!

My 3yo was in a dance clinic this week put on by the HS dance team and they performed at the HS football game during half time last night.  The boys stayed with Grandma, so it was just a special night with her.  My husband and I just cracked up the whole time watching her dance!  It was hilarious. We left right after the performance and went for ice cream.  She was so thrilled.  I feel like things are slowly finding their way back to normal around my house.  That fills me with joy and is keeping me distracted while I wait for my genetic testing to come back.  Should have it in 2 weeks.  

Lori- hang in there girl.. As for the PICC, just be sure the dressing stays on securely to prevent any infection, and you will do just FINE! We use PICC lines at our hospital a lot.. for chronic infections requiring lengthy antibiotics, etx.. and this will be a piece of cake for you. In my  prayers with chemo.. I'm having some anxiety myself and don't even know for sure yet if I will need. I found a book that I want to get if I do go down the chemo road, and maybe it can be a help to you and others.. "The chemotherapy survival guide.." by Judith McKay and Tammy Schacher. Two Oncology nurses!

ml.. So happy for you, and just have to say it.. " Told ya!".. you are just gonna keep moving right along...

allydp.. Praying for a negative bone scan, and I can't help but believe your pain is muscle.. I mean you have had a "little" procedure... Of course you are going to notice some back discomfort!!  Let it be reassuring to you that your MD's listen to you so well and take every precaution in your care.

lipgloss.. Absolutely beaming with you over your path report!! Now you just need to focus on rest, drinking plenty of water and juices, and good, good nutrition so your body is ready for your reconstruction and you have the healthiest state you can to support post op healing. Vitamin C & Zinc are aweome skin / wound  healers!!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend as we continue our surgery recovery and move on to the next path in this journey.. 

God bless ~~

ganzgirl - I'm no expert on reading path report, but found this on tumor margins. Maybe it will help you understand yours. http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/diagnosis/ma...

I had 1.5 cm of clear margins and my MO said that's awesome.  Hope this helps.

ganz 

" >.2cm deep (does this mean clear margins ? and what does deep mean?)"

.2cm equals 2mm

That basically says your margins are greater than 2mm which is the standard in all hospitals. That article I sent you says some hospitals only require 1mm.  So it appears you fall into the clear margins category.  I think that's good news!

If I'm wrong please feel free to hunt me down and throttle me. 

My right side (arm, shoulder and even foob) are much farther down the recovery path than my left side.  Left side is stiff, sore and the range of motion is far more limited.  Left side was the cancer and SNB side.  Anybody else?  It's freaking me out a little.  Will bring up with my surgeons on Monday.

here's my stomach 8 days post op.

Allydp, I peeked in here on your thread to check up on you and Jules_NY, I am seeing that you both are recovering with hiccups along the way.  I read where you were not given exercises to do after mastectomy....I was not given them either, and when I asked about them the response was that I SHOULD have had a sheet of simple things to be doing beginning about  10 days post op.  I was to have rads soon after healing up, and my range of mothion was a big fat zero, no way could I get my arm over my head to get in the treatment position. I looked on line for some mastectomy range of motion exercises, and the one that did the trick for me was to stand facing a wall with my toes really close to the baseboard, then put my hand on the wall at a comfortable starting height and "walk" my fingers up the wall up over my head, like a spider. Give a good slow stretch reaching up and up. At first I could not do it at all. Saw rapid improvement.  You of course can check with the nurses before doing anything new, just thought I would pass this on.

Jules so sorry about the cording and troubles on that regard.  I sure hope you are getting better and better. 

Hang in there ladies