What is pre-surgery and recoverly like for Mastectomy?

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Luckydog42
Luckydog42 Member Posts: 51
edited October 2014 in DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma In Situ)

Hello, I just discovered this board today.  I was recently diagnosed with DCIS in the right breast, however I have a lot of it and it is starting to reach my nipple.  So, I am having a mastectomy (not a nipple sparing one).

I am a big baby about needles.  It would help to know exactly what is going to happen.  What do they do when I show up for surgery besides insert an IV?  Someone was telling me they got a shot in the breast to insert dye and it was extremely painful. Is this standard for a mastectomy?

Also, please tell me about your recovery.  I am able to work from home on a laptop while I recover, just a couple of hours a day.  I figured I would take 3 days off completely and not do any work.  But is it reasonable to estimate that I'd be well enough to use my laptop after that?  How painful is the recovery?

Thanks!

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  • Moderators
    Moderators Member Posts: 25,912
    edited October 2014

    Welcome
    to Breastcancer.org. We're sorry you have to be here, but glad you found us!

    Besides sharing your experiences and learning from other members here at the boards, you may also want to take a look at the Breast Cancer 101 section from the main site, which is designed to help you sort through all of the information on our site to find what is more relevant to you right now.

    Also reliable information on DCIS—Ductal Carcinoma In Situ where you'll learn about symptoms,
    diagnosis, treatment, etc.

    Regards the dye injection, some have pain but many find it more just uncomfortable than painful. It depends upon the individual's response, location and the technician. We hope you are one of the ones who don't have any problems with it.

    Recovery times also depend upon the individual with some even going shopping and typing the day after surgery for a UMx (Unilateral Mastectomy) to others who take longer. It also depends upon the number of nodes taken too and other factors.

    We hope
    this helps!

    The
    Mods

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  • angelia50
    angelia50 Member Posts: 381
    edited October 2014

    your surgeon should have explained all of that to you. It does help to know what they are going to do, although, I have friends who also have breast cancer and were told nothing and asked no questions. They didn't even know if they had invasive or non invasive. I did not think the surgery was as bad as I feared it would be. I had TE placed at time of surgery, and as time went on, I figured out, the were actually what caused any discomfort. So, I think how you feel will depend on if you have them or not.  As for laptop, I was on mine, just reading and things like that, withing a couple of days. I don't think you will have any problem with that at all. You may get sleepy, just because they tell you not to let the pain take hold, so you may take some meds or muscle relaxers early on. I took the pain meds for about 3 days and then, just the muscle relaxers.  Sleeping was my biggest problem. I could not sleep flat of my back and in the beginning, I could not even sleep on my opposite side, I only had unilateral mastectomy.  I slept in a recliner for probably about 4 weeks. Others say they sleep fine with creative pillow placements but I just could not but slept fine in my chair The breast is actually pretty numb after mastectomy so there isn't as much of a problem as you might think.

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  • flannelette
    flannelette Member Posts: 984
    edited October 2014

    Mine was easy. Recovery quick. No pain at all. I had no dye injection. While waiting for surgery the anesthetist bounced in & offered me the choice of a 24 hour pain block. He said I'd love it & I was lucky because not all anesthetists can do it. he'd just come from learning about it  at a large clinic devoted to pain control. I had to decide right then, and had never heard of it. so I did it.

    Some people don't want to know anything about the operating room and don't want to sit up looking about while they do the epidural. i found it fascinating as the second you are into the operating room the feel-good stuff is flowing via your IV. Meanwhile, just prior to being wheeled in I burst into tears and would not let go of the nurse's finger! she had to forcibly remove my hand! the moment you are through the door the feel-good stuff is flowing in with the IV and i was immediately relaxed and enjoying the lights, people everything in the operating room.

     It's basically an epidural in the mid-back opposite your breast. I had to sit up while they administered it, which was easy as they must numb your skin & it seems to feel like a corkscrew pressing (not hurting at all) on your back. By this time you already feel like maybe you've had a glass of vodka. that's what i told him as he was administering it, like hey- I could do this operation myself! Then, he said now you're going to feel like you drank the whole bottle! and they had me scuttle over & lie down & count 5,4,3,2,1 for the regular anaesthetic part. 

    In what seemed like a nano-second I was waking up in the recovery room, feeling great. No nausea. Went to my room for overnight stay, ate 2 dinners i was so hungry after 18 hours of no food. Was offered a shot of- morphine? around midnight, which I took just in case, but had no pain at all. I mean ever. Not so much as a tylenol.I am SO glad I went this route! it's my main advice and I hope you can take advantage of it and have as easy a time as i had.

    Prior to all this, I was basically terrified of any kind of surgery.

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  • Mich71
    Mich71 Member Posts: 45
    edited October 2014

    For UMX in November for DCIS, they injected the dye the evening before surgery and did the scan a couple hours later.   If I recall correctly it was just a tiny poke or two to inject the dye.   I experienced discomfort / stinging while the female the tech had injected before me found it to be very painful.    Healing was fairly fast - you tend to feel better much faster than you would think as the area is very numb.  Drain came out after 4-5 days and I returned to work after 2 1/2 weeks but I really could have returned sooner had the doctor been open to the idea.   The most inconvenient part is being a side sleeper, I could not sleep on my left side for about a month which is the side I prefer to sleep on of course!    I remember tiring quickly so working in small time blocks may be your best plan so you can nap when you tire. 

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  • ml143333
    ml143333 Member Posts: 658
    edited October 2014

    I had my dye injected the day before my BMX.  If you don't have EMLA cream, ask for it.  Apply it to the nipple and surrounding area about an hour before the procedure and place plastic wrap over it.  You won't feel a thing!

    Healing from BMX wasn't bad at all.  I was home the next day, took no pain meds other than Tylenol.  Had four drains.  They came out after a week.  I was back at work in 2 1/2 weeks.

    Keep up with the exercises they tell you to do.

    I tired really quickly after the surgery and still do, but now I'm into chemo treatments.

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  • alizbeth
    alizbeth Member Posts: 29
    edited October 2014

    I had extensive DCIS as well and hence a mastectomy.  I think people are very different in their recovery times; however, similar to those who have posted thus far, I had what I would consider an easy and fairly quick recovery.  I stayed in the hospital only one night.  I was working on my computer for just a couple of hours two or three days after the surgery.  I went back into work at 9 days post-surgery.  The hardest part was I did not have range of motion in my neck, so driving wasn't a good idea at that point, but other than that it was fine.

    The dye is for the sentinel node biopsy.  If you are having a mastectomy, your surgeon is likely to recommend the sentinel node biopsy, but be sure to ask if they plan to.  This stung / hurt some, but dissipated after a few minutes.

    I have now had both mastectomy & exchange surgery, and after both surgeries, once I got into the OR, the anasthesiologist administered the medicine and I was out so quickly.  I woke up after the surgery in the recovery room, feeling fine and glad it was over.

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