February 2015 surgery

Nurseshark, prayers for a comfortable recovery.

Welcome back, NurseShark. Hoping for quick, uneventful healing for you!

rose....thanks for the links wil try them.

I have seen my plastic surgeon a week after surgery and then a week after that again so far. I will not be seeing my regular surgeon until one month after surgery.

Nurse...welcome home. Keep up the meds! 😋

Happy valentines everyone!

NurseShark, I hope you have a smooth and relaxing recovery. I'm sure it feel good to be home.

Audrey, I will be thinking about you a lot this weekend, as we both had our surgeries the same day and I am hoping we will hear similar results. Everyone here knows how difficult it is waiting to hear about test results. One thing that helped me was stumbling across the amazing people here on this forum and how they handled the news and their treatment with such wit, grace, and humor. It made me think that I might be able to handle it as well, if that's the path my test results sent me down. I'm going to keep that in mind if in the future I am again facing possibly hearing difficult news. However, at this point the hope is good news for you on Monday. I will be heading here after school, you should know by then!

Thank you for the warm welcome!! Happy Valentine's Day!! I pray that all those who have had surgeries thus far this month are doing well and are on the road to healing and recovery.

As the days count down to my surgery, I'm finding that those that are close to me are becoming more and more emotional. I am finding myself in the position of having to be strong for everyone else!! I always feel like I'm the one that has to hold everybody together. There just isn't time for me to fall apart. Maybe that's a blessing....

Robin - reading your post brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for putting into words everything I've been feeling about the support and love this group provides. Not everyone in our worlds "get it", but here everyone does and it's so important to have that connection. Good luck to you on Friday - for me the waiting and anticipating was worse than the actual surgery. You have the same diagnosis and treatment plan as me (except I was grade 3) and I'm now 11 days post surgery and am surprised how well I am doing. Still some pain, but it is manageable with almost no medication. If it wasn't for still having 2 drains which messed with my vacation plans I'd be in a really good frame of mind. A week from now you will be past the worst of it and on your road to recovery.

Good wishes and hugs to everyone. You are all amazingly strong!

Robin, tks for the beautiful post. You're the day after me. Hope we all do well, both those recovering and waiting. Love, Jean PS His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me.(us)

What part of Brooklyn did you grow up in?

I just returned in September after living in central Florida the last 11 years.

Jean we will be just fine, He surly watches over us all!

I am having brain overload now! I can't concentrate!

I am trying to remember all I have to do and writing things down, well I made a few list and don't know where

they are! Oh my goodness!

 I need this to be over!

I am trying to coordinate my things to be moved here from storage in Florida.

My daughter is getting married the day before my surgery in Florida and I am sad I can't be there!

All I have in my home is a bed a TV for now.

I wasn't able to arrange to get my things before surgery, this sucks!

I wanted to at least be comfortable!

Right now I want to scream!

Sorry, I will get it together soon!

I am grateful to have what I have, I just wanted my things!

Time is just flying by!

Love Robin

Ladies , i have a question for you all who are having tamoxifen on their treatment list , when do you start taking it ?

My oncologist wanted me to start after i finished my chemo and i asked her to delay it after my surgery and she said yes !! Had my surgery on the 12th and i have been reading about the controversy of having it with or after radiation !!

Would appreciate any feed back !!

zjrosenthal , my appointment is on the 3rd of March !! Almost 3 weeks after my surgery .

Good luck with your ALND ..

Lina

I've been to the PS twice since my surgery and both times he has milked my drain tubes (I have not been doing it myself). Each time one of the tubes causes internal pain while it's being milked. The doctor was surprised, but I didn't make a big deal out of it and neither did he and the pain stopped fairly quickly. The fluid output is finally slowing down and last night I milked the remaining tubes to make sure there wasn't a clog and again that same tube caused a lot of internal pain as soon as I pinched the tube. Has anyone had this happen or know what might be causing it? My husband thinks that when I pinch it, I cause extra suction that must be pulling against tissue inside. I don't know. It's not that the tube is being tugged out and the incision looks totally fine - it's definitely internal. I'm trying to decide if it's something I need to call the doctor's office about since I'm going in first thing Tuesday morning anyway and the drain should be removed then. I know that I will definitely not be milking it again though.

Morning, Ladies!

Jean- My appointment with BS is ten days post surgery and saw my PS four days after surgery. He removed my bandages.... what a sight! Glad you got to boogie the night away yesterday!

Jabec- Praying you get to go on vacation... think that would be great for you!

Audrey- Thanks for sharing a photo... You are beautiful. Hope you can have a peaceful weekend waiting on your results. Great to have a supportive man by your side.... I know as my hubby is a God send!

Nurse Shark- Hope your transition home is smooth. That is when my real pain started... Missed that morphine pump dearly! Felt zero pain in the hospital. 😀

Justamy- Hope you are feeling better soon. I am right there with you... 9 days out from surgery and still has been challenging to control my pain.

Welcome, Melanie C!

Jabec- we were instructed to milk the drains before each empty (twice per day). I've not had any internal pain when that happens. I'm bummed that my single drain has increased output since having the other out Thursday. Trying to stay optimistic, but it's hard when the numbers are going up every day instead of down.

I am having pains around my mid chest/breastbone area. Trying to figure out if that is normal or maybe a sign I've tried to do too much?

I did get out yesterday for breakfast, had a couple long drives and out for wine with my husband last night. I finally felt human again, but then paid for it later and didn't feel too good. Moment to moment..

So maybe the wine wasn't a good idea, I've read now it thins the blood, increasing drainage. So fine, it was nice to enjoy it nonetheless, but now I'll hold off until post-drain

Wanted to share a link I found on the unilateral topic thread. It's for buying micro bead breast forms, around $40, to get through the expansion phase. They can be adjusted through the process.

http://mastectomysolutions.com/items-for-sale.php

Hi Robin,

I saw your post and wanted to share another positive outcome with you! I am 11 days post surgery (Bilateral mastectomy, left lymph node removal, reconstruction, tissue expanders) and I too am feeling minimal discomfort and don't really need pain Meds (mornings are a little uncomfortable but better as the day goes by). I had my chest tube drains out 8 days after surgery. I hope this alleviates your worries and I definitely know how you feel! Good luck!