November 2014 Surgery Sisters

You all are funny! I appreciate this site tremendously. Not even sure what I would do without you guys.

Izzy - I think I had a marker clip move after a biopsy as well. I had a weird bump on my breast that was not there prior to the biopsy. Since I was having a BMX they told me no worries. It's gone now. 😉

Momma u r welcome. I hope it helps. Even if just on for a few hours a day might help. After having it on for that first week my SNB site swelling is gone. Sometimes it gets irritated by a shirt I'm wearing to I gentlysqueeze my armpit into my arm for some compression and it helps...

Hi Ladies! Awest I got your note. I have not been around but doing fine. Thanks for thinking of me.

I hope everyone had a great Holiday and NYE! 2015 will be fantastic for all of us. I know it. Normally this time of year I am reconnecting with my fitness goals and getting things decluttered and organized around the house so it has been really frustrating to me that I just don't feel good enough to do either. So I am working on getting back to eating well. I eat pretty well already but over the holidays we all slip.

I also changed my name on here. I am just filling and filling the iron bra I have on. So far I am up to 500cc. I finally asked him what he put in during the surgery and he said he started me at 250cc. I go weekly. I started at 40cc and then had to  skip a week because I WAY overdid it and my pectorals were on fire. My husband never ended up getting a flu shot so came down with Influenza A so I was having to drive him to the doctor and then called to get the entire family Tamiful which meant I went to Walgreens 6 times in a 24hr period because they were out of it. Then my daughter came down with it and had to go to the doc (she had flu shot so was mild) so I was playing nurse and going up and down the stairs for 4 days carrying trays of soup, driving kids etc 4 weeks after surgery. So, I was a mess and there was no way in this world I was going to do a fill that week and doc agreed. So next fill I backed off to 30 and then back to 40 a few times and now the last two have been 50cc. Really the 50cc isn't any more sucky than the 30cc. They all suck so I may as well keep moving! I almost feel like the more I fill the better they feel. Or maybe I just get used to it.

I did run into a problem last week after my first "large" fill of 50cc that was AWFUL it felt like something was poking me under my left breast and felt like it was ripping.  It started about day 4 and never really went away. By evening each night I literally couldn't sit up in bed. My husband would have to push on my back so I could sit up or else I figured out a weird way to actually roll out of bed. I went in and they told me it was just muscle healing and gave me another 50cc and it went away instantly. Today is day three of that fill. For some reason I always feel like from day 3 on is the hardest. I don't know if it is your muscles waking up or me trying to do to much?  I am on Ibuprohen 800mg and Valium after the fills.  I think I only have one to two fills left so my exchange should be sometime mid to late February! So excited to be out of these!

And I agree with all of you by night time I am wiped out. Just being uncomfortable all day long wears you out. Actually by 4:00 I am ready to just sit and do nothing. Today I felt tight and for whatever reason my skin all around my bra line was on fire. Like the nerves couldn't stand anything to touch it. Has anyone had that. I came home and ripped off my camisole and put on another but it was the skin. Nothing helped.  I have young kids, and I am working, so I don't really get to sit down until about 8-8:30 and then I go to my room and shut the door and tell my kids if they need anything to ask daddy. I am DONE and IRRITABLE.

Hope the rest of you are doing well!

Sunandsnow I've had the problem with the skin I know exactly what you mean. I have a prescription for a numbing gel - that worked wonders!!! Hope it's not happening too often. I get really tired out too but I also has a bso and unfortunate symptom of many times not able to sleep until 2-3am. Ahhh surgicsl menopause. Gotta love it.

I haven't heard of that. Sorry I can't be helpful.

Mamadarrling, my oncotype score is 18 (12% chance of recurrence). I decided to do a clinical trial which randomly will chose whether I have chemo. I will find out Tuesday.

Awest, as far as a time line on the expanders, I think it is different for everyone. My recon surgeon said he won't exchange mine until after my rads are done. Just to make sure the implant is not damaged by the radiation. Unfortunately for me that won't be until at least June or maybe July.

I haven't had a full in like 3 weeks but I was battling an infection then they placed the port in. I go back on next Tuesday. We will see what happens then.

Good luck to all you November sisters

That's great news Alexa! Happy to hear you are making progress.

As for me, I am looking for expander stories. Is anyone feeling miserable with these things? I'm tired of complaining but they drive me NUTS! After a fill I'm down and out a couple days and the third and fourth are just slightly better. Normal? I kind of feel like the doc doesn't think it's all that bad.

Someone please tell me this is all normal and I am not alone. This is the only place I really open up because I know you all "get it."

On a happy note.... It's Friday! 😊 #fightlikeagir

Awest do u have bilateral TEs? I only have one which makes it so much easier for me. Ihave to hold my foob with my hands to get up out of bed in the morning and since my last fill I can't really lie on my side anymore. I can feel it poking my ribcage and my armpit feels like someone shoved a grapefruit under my skin, I'm always adjusting how my arm "hangs" and it's wrecking my shoulder. Your PS sounds VERY unsympathetic... If you can't get muscle relaxers try motrin and some magnesium if you're allowed to take that. Magnesium helps the muscles relax (but too much will give you the runs so be careful how much you take). If you are allowed to take a bath, take an Epsom salt bath, this will also relax your muscles a lot... I'm sorry you're having such a hard time. It sounds like the TEs to you are what the drains were to me, oh how I hated every minute of those things!!!

AlexaP - Yes, I have bilateral expanders. Getting up in the AM can be a real problem. Usually the hubs has to give me a push. Lol

I constantky feel the tightness of the expanders and by the end of the day my bra band feels like it's choking me. After my last fill, on my right side, the slightest weight from clothing was almost to much to bear. My right side bothers me way more than the left but that was my DCIS side and I had three nodes removed. Also, I have a stitch that did not dissolve and it is trying to pop through my skin. It freaks me out.

Making my arms comfortable is difficult, again more so on the right side. I definitely haven't gained back my strength.

Not that I want anyone to feel miserable, but I'm glad someone has a similar story. The only people I know personallyhave not started reconstruction yet due to radiation so I don't want to vent a scare them. Also, it's just hard to understand if you haven't been through it.

I'll check into the magnesium and Epsom salt ideas. I'm up for anything. I do have muscle relaxers but the surgeon said I shouldn't need them. 😁 I try to save them for fills and take Motrin/Advil the rest of the time.

Thanks for responding. Love my November Sisters!

mommacat, Noticed it says you are in Glendale. I live in Oklahoma now but AZ is home. Grew up in SE AZ but also lived in Tucson, Goodyear, and Flagstaff. Goodyear was my fav. Enjoy some real Mexican food for me. 😊

Awest, I love Mexican food, what is your favorite? I will have something for you.

I was noticing you are having issues with your breasts. Kind of the "iron bra" not comfortable in anything or any position. My reconstruction surgeon wrapped me in a tight tank top with velcro after surgery. That's what I had on when I woke up from anesthesia. He told me to wear it the next day and take it off. I did that. For the longest time I had the same uncomfortable issues. I finally asked him if I could wrap back up because my breasts were still so swollen and hard on the sides under my arms. He said yes I could try it and also massage the area too. Well that isn't the most convenient area to reach.

I wore the wrap for like 48 hours straight except for showering. It helped tremendously. If you have something like that try it or ask your doctor if you should try it. Ace bandages would work too.

Another thing my recon surgeon did was told me to sleep sitting up or slightly reclined and do not wear bras. Camisoles are ok. The reason being is he didn't want the TE's to shift and he wanted my natural gravity to hold it's shape. This way he gets a better fit after all the swelling goes down. He is on hold to do the implants because he can't do them until after my radiation therapy is finished. He doesn't want to take the chance the radiation will ruin the permanent implants. He said the radiation will make my skin shrink making the TE shrink as well.

All this makes since to me. I hope I am explaining it well enough to you.

Awest I know EXACTLY what you are talking about with the band swelling and also that lymph node area being swollen. My surgeon put a wrap on me at one point (it's an ace bandage) and when I wrapped it up over that lymph node the swelling FINALLY went down! It was almost like a golf ball and hurt like hell all the time. I asked if I could keep wrapping it and he said sure, if it helps. I would suggest that for you... Also it will help the swelling in general. I get very emotional. In the beginning I would cry, now I get really bitchy. About. Everything. ! I figure we are entitled; we are going through a Lot of pain, our hormones are whacked out and there's only so much one person can hold in, right?! I'm very thankful for my November sisters, 👼 - without y'all I'd be a real mess! 👹

Awest - glad I could make you laugh They have been filling quickly with my expansions so far, but they also know I'm so ready to move on past this particular phase of the process of survivorship. Patience is not one of my many virtues...haha! My plastic surgeon is out of the office next week so I will have another two weeks until my next fill and I think I will enjoy the break since the last one gave me a little discomfort.

My emotions are all over the place. 90% of the time I'm going great, but that other 10% of the time I want people to just forget I have BC and stop saying how amazing I'm doing (because it doesn't always feel so amazing on the inside). I know intentions are all positive, but I miss the energy as I had before surgery, have grown weary of a schedule that revolves around medical appointments, and while I don't have any real post-mastectomy pain, the areas of my spine that were fractured earlier in the year have started to hurt again from time to time. Hate pain meds as they just make me sleepy so I've been taking advantage of some of the integrative medicine offerings at MD Anderson. I do acupuncture (very beneficial for pain and anxiety), along with brief chair massage and yoga. All aimed at relaxation.

Hope everyone is doing well and making good progress through the journey we are all on!

mommacat I am expecting pictures! I'd even go as far as telling you where I'd like you to go for tacos but my place had closed down when I last visited. It was Arturo's in Goodyear though in case they just relocated.

If any of you are Facebookers, look me up Anita West, my profile pic has a collage of brave sayings - one I posted on here before. I adore you all and consider you friends.

Be well all. I'm off to work. 😊