February 2015 surgery

Lourlee - congrats on the clean margins!

AudreyB - so happy for your clean nodes! I hope your pain is better. Good luck on your upcoming radiation consult.

Welcome Shoppingmom. I hope you are feeling better!

Congrats Robin on the no further treatment! And prayers for your continued healing. Also happy for your upcoming visit with your daughter. I saw my daughter and grandchildren a couple of weeks ago but was still in a good bit of pain and kind of out of it. Thank goodness they know that mimi is hurting right now and they are gentle with me. My grandchildren are 3 and 4.

jabec so glad your fill did not hurt. I go for my second one in the morning.

Nurseshark - I am with you on the posture business! I really notice it when someone makes me laugh and I have to make sure I am up straight and have plenty of room in between my stomach and chest so it doesn't hurt as bad.

JustAJennifer - I know it must feel great to work out again. I am going to try and get some walking in tomorrow. I did walk some last night at wal-mart (bad weather here) but it doesn't take long at all for me to be out of breath and ready to crash.

Hope everybody is having a peaceful painless day!

Amanda

Good Morning (and a snowy one for those of us on the east coast).

Robin, I drove 10 days after surgery because I had to pick my daughter up from school. I drove her to school that morning with my husband in the car, just in case I couldn't do it and had to pull over. It wasn't too bad, but pushing in my seatbelt and then pushing the button to unbuckle was a little challenging. I also could only do short arm movements to turn the wheel. For the next week, I only drove short distances when i had to. I have been driving my kids around, etc fully since 3 weeks after surgery. I can now pretty much make full arm movements to turn the steering wheel and it doesn't hurt anymore to open/close the door, buckle/unbuckle the seat belt, etc. I do still feel like I'm a little limited in turning around to look behind me, so I haven't driven any real distances yet.

Regarding ROM, my PS did not give me exercises and I thought I was doing really well with it ROM. I ended up going on the internet to find stretches to do and one is to lie flat on your back on the floor, put your hands behind your head and then gradually try to get your elbows down to the floor. As soon as I tried to lie down I felt pain and incredible stretching just under by breasts. I had no idea it was still so tight there! I've been stretching and now can lie down with minimal pain, but still cannot put my hands behind my head while lying down (i can totally put them behind my head standing up though). I realized that I have been hunching my shoulders forward and am now consciously trying to put my shoulders back to stretch that chest area. I just got a prescription from my PS for PT because I asked for it. I'm hoping I will start soon and that it will help.

Have a great day everyone!

I got one of the drains removed yesterday. Yay! The PS removed all of the bandages and I was sitting in front of the mirror. It was sad but I still feel like these TEs are huge! The PS said there is still a lot of swelling, but I feel like they are D's. (I was a B cup). And I still feel like they are pushed outward toward my armpits. Can anyone give me insight

FaithHopeCourage, how did the infection present itself? Were you aware that something was going wrong? Were you in pain? Or did the PS just notice?

Sorry, if it's a dumb question.

Sims done today. Worst part was the slippery, snowy, winding, hilly ride down. All set to start rads on March 16th. Love, Jean

I would call the surgeon if you think something's up or are feeling pain that is unmanageable. I have had to call several times and it always helped in some way. My pain still gets the best of me some days, but I can look back and see that it has gotten a lot better. Be gentle with yourself. Hugs Amy

Has anyone else had really really painful skin in their chest? I'm not talking about where my incisions are and my expanders are not filled and are not going to be. It feels just really really sore kinda similar to a sunburn...its just really odd and it hurts a lot. Just wondering if any of you have had this after BMX.

thanks Jennifer. I feel a lot better this morning. After lumpectomies I would have pain jumping all around my chest. My chest would hurt in different spots throughout the day. Last night was breast and armpit. And I agree, SNB was much worse I think because it's more localized and the arm moves.

Im thinking now it's the healing process, also during my SNB surgeon removed steri strips from lumpectomy incisions so they are now newly exposed to fabric. I'm also sitting home recovering and it's all starting to hit me all over again thst I have BC. Also adjusting to scarring and breast shape. Radiation on the horizon.Sometimes it's just too much I think.

Hi Justamy...
I am three weeks today post BMX with immediate implants and I have that same sensation you are having.....Its just like a sunburn and it hurts to have anything touching it!!  My PS said it will go away and I think it has very very slightly. It is most likely caused by nerve damage during the mastectomy and he also said the implants are rubbing on those nerves, kinda like raw skin.  Does this make sense?

I also have the sunburn feeling and I had DIEP, not implants, so it must be from the nerves. I hate it

I have the same burning feeling you all are describing.

Love Robin

Good luck justajennifer. I was 42 with my first bout of cancer. I started the tamoxifen. Was only able to stay on about 8 months. I started to have vaginal bleeding and thickened uterine lining. Drug just wasn't a good fit for me. The other side of the coin is if I had stuck with it would I be going through a second estrogen positive cancer??? I just don't know!! Anyway, sending you prayers and wishing you the very best!!!!

Joanne

Hello all: I had my surgery (BMX without recon) in mid-january, but saw the above question about the burning sensation and thought I'd share my experience with you. I developed a continuous burning sensation at about 2 weeks post-op. It often felt like someone was running sandpaper over my chest. It was pretty significant for about two weeks and then just slowly started to improve. I am now 7 weeks out and it is nearly gone. I still get the sensation in the later part of the day/evenings but it is very minor in intensity compared to the first couple weeks. I also get the same feeling if I am more active than I realized. I use it as a sign to back off a bit. When I felt the worst, I found the best relief was standing in a nice, warm shower. Gentle massage has also helped.

Good luck to everyone as they continue to heal.