October 2014 Surgery Sisters

Sandra, I need a like button for those last 2 posts of yours. 

Togetherness, There's LOTS of research to demonstrate that you're much better off not even letting the pain get started, so, yes - take that pill whether you feel like you need it or not! 

Hope you'll be in much better shape soon. (And I hope that drain isn't twisted - that does NOT sound pleasant!)

Fourminor, thanks for that explanation. I love it when I actually understand what's going on--I'm much more likely to follow instructions that way

Fourminor and Sandra and Hopeful:  Great posts!  Love the description of surgery...I'll make sure I get plenty of meds, as that does not sound wonderful.

Lilith - I vote you watch a favorite movie that makes you laugh.  Wednesday night after my fabulous news, I sat down with the girls and hubby and watch The Proposal - so nice to just laugh.  Of course, laughing might bring a little pain, but it would be good for your lungs.  Tricky...very tricky (line from another funny movie Bridget Jones Diary).  Let us know how your day goes!

I am praying for everyone else as well.  Have a great weekend!!!

Akita/Robyn

Hello everyone,

I was looking for a padded recliner for the living room that would give me support, and proper incline as suggested for recovery - I found these bed pads (link below) does anyone have experience using them? would this be better?  Its kind of pricey for a pillow that will likely not be used as much after recovery?  They also make inflatable version, but they were not rated as highly for comfort - thoughts???   Colene

 http://www.amazon.com/Contour-Products-Inflatable...

Surgery was Monday 10/6. It's now Friday 10/10 and I wanted to chime in with a very optimistic progress report.

Movement - I thought I would have very limited range of motion after BMX. By this morning, I could get my arms in sleeves of pullovers AND wash and blow dry (small travel dryer) my own hair. That went a long way in feeling more normal. I also walked to our neighborhood Starbucks this morning - about a mile round trip. It was tiring but do-able.

Drugs - I am only taking Vicodin at night. The rest of the time, just Tylenol/Advil. Very little pain by now. Gets a little worse by the end of the day (thus the Vicodin at night, but maybe for only one more day or two). One thing to take seriously - the constipation side effect. I finally :"broke through" last night and it was pretty painful. So take Colace every day from the day of surgery onward. and add in some prunes and lots of water. It's very real.

Drains - Draining less every day and hope to maybe get two of them removed on Monday. They are not painful, just a nuiscance and affecting my clothing choices!

Hi Ladies, 

I am going to join this group of surgery sisters, and plan on reading the posts tonight to catch up with you all!  I have recently been diagnosed with IDC and will be having a lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy done on October 28th. Due to the location of the tumor I will also have my nipple removed and reconstruction done after radiation.  This has all been such a whirl wind but I am thankful for some of the tests that have come back favorable. I am BRCA -, and the MRI doesn't show any other involvement. My tissue in the breasts is extremely dense but they think the tumor is only .7cm so that's also good news.  Hoping for clear margins and negative nodes!  Also will have to go on tamoxifen after treatment and that makes me nervous as well. I am only 43 years old, so I guess that's why I will need the tamoxifen for a while. 

Hoping to glean from all the advice on here and meet other people to share my struggle with. I have a great family support group but it will be nice to talk to others that "get it".  I am a busy mother of 8 children, with 5 still at home.  Hoping to be recovered enough to handle all the family at thanksgiving! I took medical leave from work, and am also a pastor's wife so I stay busy!

thanks for listening (or reading I guess lol)

Remember that your goal after surgery is NOT to see how fast you can get back to your normal activities. If you've had breast surgery, it's like an iceberg. You see a little bit on the surface, but down below there's a LOT more going on. Even with an exchange from TE's to implants, the PS might have also done some "pocket work" to the underlying tissues. Sometimes very extensive surgery can be done through an amazingly small incision. I guess the question you should ask yourself when considering if you should do something is "Will this help my body heal?" That should be your ONLY goal in the first weeks.

There's a mantra many of us "old" surgery sisters have that was born out of experience. Just because you CAN doesn't mean you SHOULD. The first week or two after your surgery you shouldn't be doing anything. Nap when you feel like it, eat good food, load up on protein, avoid stress, avoid unnecessary pain, and don't put any additional strain on the places that are trying to heal from a huge assault. Could you go grocery shopping and bring in all the bags from the car at one week out? I suppose so if you ignored the pain signals from your body...or maybe the narcotics you are on are masking those pain signals. Do you get gold stars for doing it? No. Just the opposite. Everything you do that you shouldn't be doing only delays your recovery.

Don't exercise - and that means going for a nice walk in the neighborhood - unless your doctor specifically says you can. I don't care if you are sure you can do it. DON'T. There are specific medical reasons behind restrictions and your doctor might not tell you every single reason behind them. After one of my surgeries I didn't get cleared to walk past my mailbox for several weeks. It had to do with poor lab results. All my energy had to be focused on recovery.  Don't drive, even in your neighborhood, for several weeks and never while you are on prescription drugs. You may feel fine at home, but take it from someone who learned the hard way, it's completely different when you get behind the wheel and find you can't turn the wheel very far or that it hurts to step on the brake hard. What if an child runs out in front of you in your own neighborhood while you are going slow? It happens every day.

Exercise in the first week means gentle shoulder rolls, not putting your arms up in the air and stretching as far as you can or going to a yoga class but "taking it easy." Most doctors will want you to restrict movement until your first check up. A common warning is don't raise your arms above shoulder level until the doctor sees how you are healing. The easiest thing is to pretend you have T-rex arms. Keep them close to you from shoulder to elbow. If you want to do something that will be hard to do with T-rex arms, that should be a warning. Don't reach for things if it means extending your arm out to the side or in front. 

Don't pick up something heavy enough to make your pec muscles unhappy. That could be your purse. Forget pound restrictions like 10 lbs or 15 lbs. Most of us would not be able to lift even a quarter of that amount without paying a price later. Even something like picking up a dinner plate and reaching to put it back in the cabinet could set your recovery back. Depending on what pain drugs you are taking, you might not feel pain right away. What about cleaning a kitchen counter? I can tell you from personal experience how badly that hurt the next day. Something simple like opening a sliding glass door can be trouble. Hold off on even simple things like "walking your fingers up the wall" until your doc tells you it's safe. It's going to make things like washing your hair or putting on a t-shirt over your head very difficult...so don't! Have someone else help you the first week or two until you see your doctor. Don't rush it.  Just because you CAN doesn't mean you SHOULD.

Horseman -- I had discussed using the Pink Lotus method with my BS on what we thought was the prophylactic side, but we found DCIS  on that side before surgery, so gave up on that plan.

In any case, when we had the initial discussion, he mentioned that actually marking the sentinel node with a clip is disruptive to the tissue and may increase the risk of lymphedema, so it would be better just to use the blue dye.  He was comfortable that it would remain long enough to find the node, if they had to go back in.  You may want to have that discussion with your surgeon.  I thought when I read the pink lotus site that they only used the dye with AJ (vs. marking with a clip), but its been a long while since I read it.

ForHisGlory - welcome to the thread -- sorry you are here -- lots of good info here and on the rest of the board.

I thought I'd posted this but apparently space out and did not. Apologies if I am repeating myself.

I've cancelled my surgery scheduled for 10/14 after a really disastrous, horrible meeting yesterday with the BS. I left feeling totally condescended to and lectured to, and with her consistently invalidating my feelings. As my husband said, it started out badly and went down hill from there. 

I've got an appt. with another surgeon (recommended by a family member) for Monday. I'm crossing my fingers that I feel o.k. with her. 

I'm not a hard person to get along with but I'm finding that asking questions and being proactive about my individual concerns is going over very badly with some of the medical professionals and it's taking a toll on my peace of mind and my self-image, too. 

Has anyone else run into such issues? They act as though I'm the only one who's ever refused to just sit down, shut up and be a cog in the wheel.

Thank you, Ridley! I really appreciate your support. 

Enjoy your weekend - isn't this Thanksgiving weekend up there?

Enjoy your celebration, Ridley. I hope you and your family and friends will, indeed, have a great deal for which to give thanks.

ForHisGlory, welcome! It sounds like you are extremely busy, but please, make sure you have lots of time to rest and recover.

Hopeful, I'm glad you're getting rid of that BS. You really need someone you feel comfortable with and who will address your concerns. It is their job to answer all the questions we can think of to ask.

Su-CQ51, welcome also, but so sorry you find yourself here. As a transplanted Canadian (born and raised in Alberta), I wish both you and Ridley a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Hopeful, over on the Breast Implant Sizing 101 thread, Whippetmom keeps a list of doctors who have been recommended by other surgery sisters and totally vetted. She has them for several countries as well as the U.S. The easiest thing for you to do is to send her a private message, but you can post your inquiry on the thread as well. She will get right back to you with names of doctors you can trust.

I wish your experience was not common but unfortunately it is. Some physicians don't like patients who ask questions. Some give orders rather than advice. Some do not give you information on all your choices, but rather only the choice they would make. Good luck.

Omg here it is 4:30 am an I can't sleep.  Feel flushed and took my temp and it is 101.5.  I am like really this can not be happening again.  Drinking some cold water and putting cold rags on my forehead.  This always seems to happen on the weekends.  Have my dr appt on Monday but not sure I can wait that long.  Taking antibiotices every 4 hours.  Face is red but not the chest area.  Cellulitus is not a friend of mine.  That is what caused me to loose the TE and implants before.  Trying to stay positive but not looking good........ Ugh. Prayers for everyone during their recovery or getting ready for surgery. May need some other suggestions as to what has worked for others....... Ugh. Just feel sick!!