October 2014 Surgery Sisters

OceanSky, Love your pug!!! Pugs are great dogs.  The video is cute!

I have two cats, one of which I call my angel, who has been sleeping at my feet pretty consistently since my diagnosis in August.  I found him on the street as a kitten 7 years ago and subsequently went through a bad breakup where he made me laugh every day.  I feel he is pretty intuitive to me and his post op cuddling proves it.  

I also have a 1 year old lab/pit mix who is a sweetheart, but not the brightest dog I have known.  I did worry about her jumping on me, but my son was the one who did that.  

Haven't heard about keeping your animals out of the house for this.  You can ask your doc to be sure, but I'd just ban him curling up on your chest or under your arms.  Most likely if he's smart, he will know something happened to you and will understand. 

  I just ranted yesterday about breast cancer awareness month.........I'm aware!     The car wash in my area painted pumpkins pink -not pretty...pepto  pink! And will donate  a portion of a deluxe treatment _after you buy basic wash from them_ to breast cancer awareness...Again.....very aware!    How about the socks, lanyards, hats, etc that are for sale with no proceeds to any group?       Marketing madness...This is a disease. Not a profit builder.  My mission and yours if you choose to accept it.. omit the sock and car wash and  find a friend who is late getting their mammogram and get them to go.....If they are all current...tell them to find one and do the same.    This is my ask to all who offer help...I also don't refuse their offer to pick up a pizza for me post surgery! 

Thanks all for the therapy!

Colene

Fourminer, thanks for sharing about your pets!  I'm an animal lover too and work with rescue dogs...Fostering etc..

Colene, I don't think my dog would 'understand' me shutting him out.  He is a literal cling on and always seeks me out.  He would just sit outside the door and cry.  Think it's different if you have more than one dog...They can hang with each other.

Think this is a serious topic though, at least for me.  

Anyone who sees their surgeon today...If you ask about this please let me know.  I'm up on Monday so need to figure this one out.

hi all. Posting from my hospital bed! Things went good. My flap is doing great, lots of blood flow no leaks. I would say I'm in the B CUP range. I have felt pretty crapy until today I have not eaten much.  Hopefully today. They may let me go today or by tomorrow for sure. The only thing that we wrong during my 12 hour surgery was that they took the first flap from my right buttock and it could not be used to the had to go to my left. I now have giant soar scars on both cheeks. Anyway. Just checkin in. I'm alive and well. 

ouch on the butt cheeks Sacnaillady!  Glad to hear the overall objective was successful.

I'm on day 10 post op

I had the dye the day before and I'm not into sugar coating anything

I hated it ....very painful for 2 minutes then it's over 

My dog has been by my side since day 3 ,she knew something was "off"

My daughter lifted her several times for me to pet her to calm her then I used hand sanitizer 

By day three she was my pillow for my one arm !!!!!

SCmom

I'm having the same surgery the week after you and am also very curious about swoobs recovery. 

As far as the recliner...I would Lysol it, then throw a fitted twin sheet over it. That's what they do at my MILs senior home and it seems to work and fit well. 

hi ladies

I would use Lysol wipes and clean the crap outta that rental chair....do not go without a recliner!!!!!

I did come home same day! The biggest complaint is my right side had the lymph node biopsy sooooo my implant is kinda "stuck" between the pocket and the "hole" from the biopsy....I'm told it's ok and to keep massaging my implant into place, it is working but slowly.

My lefty is awesome by day she fell into place....

My drains were out day 3 today is day 10 and I do have a wee bit of fluid around my implants

I can brush my teeth shower dress light tidy of house 

But no cleaning cooking laundry etc etc

Pecs too angry to do anything else

My boobs are a rainbow of bruised colours but otherwise look great

My dressing came off day 3 just left with steri strips which have all fallen off from showering (since day7)

I'm wearing a sports bra since day 8  to try and get fluid off and keep implants shaped

You'll love the doggy company I know I am

Any other questions ask away

I will say I was TERRIFIED I've recovered very well with no issues and no surprizes I'm shocked it's been this smooth....I've had amazing support my daughter stayed with my husband the first 3 nights and they were amazing and very loving

I'll be checking in every day now, so feel free to ask for reassurance 😁

This is about 16hours after surgery!(look close drains on each side large ones)

I used 12 hour slow release gravol pills for first 5 days, (not sure this is accessible in the USA )it helped me with the pain meds and I had an appetite

So I ate bananas (obvious) baby food in junior jars like apricot and prune 

Soup and crackers

Toast and peanut butter 

Yes, I was the one that said the radioactive isotope SNB injections felt like bee stings. I had 2 injections in each areola. Ouch for sure, but it only lasts 5 seconds. Don't panic! It's not like somebody is pouring alcohol in a cut...that would hurt like hell. This is only a short sting, so relax! You can get some Emla cream anesthetic if your doctor orders it. Two radiologists did my injections at the same time so it would be over quicker, but of course it was a double sting. (They do it around your nipples in the areola.) They massaged after the injections and that helped it feel better quicker. It stings because the material they inject has a different Ph than your body. (I've heard that sometimes they don't inject it into the areola and instead inject it into another place on your breast which is less "stingy" because there aren't so many nerves there.) Some lucky women claim they got isotopes and didn't feel a thing.

The blue dye is a different injection completely. It doesn't hurt. You can get it before surgery instead of isotopes or during surgery even if you already had isotopes or not at all. 

OceanSky, most of us are not told to avoid our house pets during recovery. There are lots more germs in the hospital than in your house. Do you have young kids? They can be a little hot bed of virus and bacteria from other daycare or elementary school friends. You sure don't want to get a cold and sneeze or cough with fresh incisions ...ouch, ouch, ouch!

I know some women like Jbdayton who had awful healing issues and extraordinary precautions had to be taken. I have another friend who kept getting infections and she was told to cover her furniture with clean sheets, bathe with special soap and to stay isolated from kids and pets.There's little cross-contamination between animal illnesses and humans but that being said, you should avoid cleaning up after your dog. Let somebody else take care of that. Same with cats. Stay away from the cat box. Let somebody else take on that task for the first couple of weeks.

I had a serious infection for several weeks and was on strong IV antibiotics even at home, but was never told to keep my cats away. In fact, I usually had at least one or two on my lap at all times. However, if your doctor says differently, I'm sure you will follow his advice, as you should.

yes they took lymph nodes  so yes same thing

My stitches on the outside are gone yes very very bruised

Are you having alloderm ?

And are you having saline silicone or gummy bears?

The implant will move it's come along way in the last 48 hours

I'm taking Advil during the day (mostly b/c the implant issue)

I take a sleep aid and btw I'm on my back 95% still.

I also take a narcotic at night before bed for pain similar to T3

Not bad for day 10

Swoobs, I think what you had was the radioisotope injection, not blue dye. Isotopes sting, blue dye doesn't hurt. Some people assume they got isotopes and say it didn't hurt. Having gone through it, I don't see how someone can say they didn't feel a thing. I suspect what they got was blue dye, not isotopes. OR, they are super-humans with a sky high pain threshold. I had read about SNB prior to my BMX and asked my breast surgeon for Emla cream. He was surprised and said I wouldn't need it and that most people said they hardly felt a thing. When I had the injections and certainly DID feel something, it frightened me. I was not prepared for it and kind of panicked, thinking there was something wrong with me. Tears sprang out - and I'm sure my blood pressure shot sky high. Of course, as I said before, it doesn't last long and it certainly isn't the worst thing in the world. But, when you aren't expecting anything and get a big dose of SOMETHING, it is scary.

After surgery when I spoke to the doctor about it, he apologized and said when I asked him at first, weeks before surgery, he thought I would just have the blue dye. Sure do wish he'd thought to tell me when he changed his mind. I made him understand that a woman is already pretty upset knowing she is going to have surgery without an unpleasant "surprise" like that. We are prepared to feel pain after our surgery and though we want it to go away, we know that it's normal. We deal with it better because we were expecting it. He promised he would never tell a patient that SNB was painless. It might not be. 

I saw the PS yesterday and got the last of my stitches out. Right side looks really good but the left side didn't like the tape and is red and angry looking. Otherwise, things look good and I go back for follow-up in two months.

An interesting side note: I had heard that sometimes medical insurance will pay for post mastectomy bras. I asked my PS, and she told me that since I had reconstruction, they probably wouldn't cover bras. I called my insurance company, and it turns out they will cover them. They will pay for a one time purchase of prostheses or bras, up to $1000, 90% in network and 60% out of network. I just need a prescription from the PS. I know I am a smaller size than I was and will need new bras, so it was definitely worth the phone call. Even if I go out of network (like to Norsdstrom, for example, where they have surgical fitters), 60 % is better than 0%! 

I'm assuming you are having a mastectomy scmom?

So they will need something to hold the pocket and flap together before they can add the implant.

Are they attaching it to your pecs?

Sandra yes, that's what I had! And it hurt very much the tech tried to tell me I'd feel a bee sting

I told her my friend had it the week before and I knew better!

Like I said it killed....briefly

Laying in the scanner after was very annoying the day before surgery

There were a 100 other ways I envisioned me and my boobs spending their last day!

A massage ,a dinner date,  a movie , a mani/pedi but not THAT!

Swoobs, cute dog and pj's. 

Glad everyone is recovering well.

The pet issue...  On Monday I have the double mastectomy but I don't get the 'immediate' implants until 10 days later from the PS.  From his end I'll be wrapped up like a mummy with instructions not to shower or touch the bandage for a week until I come in for my one week check.

So the PS nurse wasn't too concerned about the dog, meaning he wouldn't be able to get near the incision.

The mastectomy surgery though is different.  Not much in the way of bandaging, so I'll go with what at least 2 surgeons I know of have stated...No dog.  It will be very hard.  My dog is a cling on.  Hand sanitizer is on the list though.

So is the dye the same thing as tracer?  

As for scrubbing the house...I'd like to do a great job, but my goal is to have the main part of the house look good.  Have discouraged people from bringing food, I don't like seeing people when I feel crummy.

Sandra, no kids, just my husband and the dog.  You're right, animals don't transfer disease to people but in terms of infecting an open wound I think they're pretty powerful germ carriers.  Regardless of choice on it, I think sanitizer is a great idea.

Keep healing...