March 2015 Surgery Sisters

I finally received my final pathology, clear margins and negative node 0/1. The size increased from 1cm to 2 cm, the grade reduced from grade 2 to grade 1, and type was further identified as pure mucinous that carries a much lower probability of spread or reoccurrence. Stage 1A. No chemo. I will be taking 5 years of Anastrozole as a preventative.

I am feeling somewhat guilty here for winning the equivalent of the cancer lottery. It seems so random who cancer hits and what diagnosis each of us is dealt.  It has definitely educated me on the challenge that cancer is for all of us. It also forced me to reevaluate my lifestyle. Already I have made walking part of my day and lost 6 pounds. I will also be meeting with a nutritionist to look for further changes to make.

Wishing all my March Surgery Sisters continued recovery and desired results. Hugs to all.

Gypsojo!!! That's awesome news, I'm so happy for you. Don't feel guilty for hearing good news. None of this is fun or easy, it all stinks. Good for you on making good life changes and for taking care of yourself

My oncologist apt went very well.

I told her I had decided to have BMX with reconstruction. She said I would not need chemo or radiation and also said it was a very wise choice. The closest anyone has come to giving me a medical opinion on this very tough choice.

I will be on Arimidex for 5 years.

She also told me if I had wanted to keep my breasts I would have had to have radiation on each breast. I had thought only the left would need radiation. Also, she said there is evidence of micro invasion in right breast so while DCIS and LCIS now, it was starting to invade. So scary.

So, BMX with direct implants and right SNB scheduled for May 6.

I can't wait for Tuesday to get these 4 drains out. Did too much yesterday and now they hurt times 20. Ouch!!!!

AudreyB; Congratulations on your low Oncotype and no chemo or radiation required! I'm hoping and praying for the same good news from my path results when I next go see the doctor on Tuesday. I also had BMx so I hope to be able to avoid radiation as well. I wish you all the beast for your surgery on May 6th and I hope you'll be able to leave the "surgery of the month" club soon!

kabana; Congratulations on getting through the surgery and having clear nodes. That's wonderful news! I'm hoping and praying for negative nodes as well. We both have follow up appointments on Tuesday. I hope yours goes well also.

gatomal; I'm so glad you made it through your surgery and anesthesia well. I remember having the fear of not waking up from anesthesia during previous surgeries. It is pretty stressful. I hope you got good news about results from your doctor. My surgeon also took the nodes from the main incision and spared me the pain and discomfort of an underarm incision ~ yay for both of us. Your surgeon sounds like a real keeper. I was very impressed with all the staff and the facilities at UCSF. Definitely a top notch hospital. I'm so glad you're in good hands and I hope and pray that you'll be good as new as aoon as possible so you can be there for your precious babies.

justamy; I hope your post-op appointment went well and you got your drains out. I also hope you got some reassurance that your exchange will give you the results that you are wanting.

ERNurse21; I'm glad you were able to get some good sleep at home and your pain is being managed well. The pain was the worst under my armpits as well. I'm now 11 days out from surgery and all pain is pretty much negligible; just a little discomfort and numbness. I'm sure it will take a bit of time for all of us to get used to our new look. Remember, you are just a short while out of surgery and there is bound to be some swelling that will resolve itself. Scars will also heal and fade. It will get better. I'm so glad your sentinal node was clear! I hope you get your drains out on Monday. I felt so much better when my last one was removed.

PhillyEmma; My first shower felt great too :-) It's perfectly fine to give yourself time to get used to your new chest. Remember that it will get better as it heals. I have the numbness and the zapping nerves as well. The zapping has mostly resolved itself (I'm 11 days post-op) but I still have numbness in my armpit and back of upper arm from the cut and/or damaged intercostobrachial nerve. It has been my experience from prior nerve damage that this will take a very long time to get better. I hope you get to get rid of your drains soon. They definitely are a pita (pain in the armpit!). I felt so much freer when mine were finally all pulled. Congratulations on the clear nodes and on making the best decision with BMx.

Sunflowercat; Welcome! I'm glad your exchange went well. Yay!

canadiancampmama; I also had little pain and the discomfort under my arm was the worst. I'm now 11 days post-op and it's pretty negligible. It's still numb and I expect it will stay that way for a long time. When I had my biopsy, my breast was sore for quite a while. Sometimes it seemed better to wear a bra and sometimes better to go without. It was frustrating.

Valentine99; Congratulations on clear margins and on making the right choice with BMx. I'm sorry you have to have radiation. Hummingbirdlover is right; the radiation is to keep the cancer cells from spreading.

NYtoTXbaby; Congratulations on getting your drains out. It feels great, doesn't it?! Best wishes for your MO & RO visits next week.

Susie23; I'm so sorry you ended up with an infection, cellulitis, more surgery, and another hospital stay. You sound like a strong woman. Keep on fighting! I hope and pray that your wound heals quickly and well.

gypsyjo; Congratulations on the clear nodes, lower grade, and no chemo required! That's wonderful news :-) Congratulations also on loosing weight and making other positive changes to your lifestyle and health. You are right, the cancer dx really does make us reevaluate our lifestyles. I have always been physically active but I will make a special effort to keep diligent with my aerobic and stretching exercises which I've been slacking on for the last year since I had to stop doing karate. I will also pay even more attention to eating healthy.

Hi Gatomal,

During my biopsy they found IDC, grade 1 and about 1cm in size. This was after the surgeon told me that he was almost positive it was a fibroadenoma. He still thought it was benign after he took it out so the dx came as a surprise to him too. Unfortunately the margins were not clear and none of the nodes had yet been checked so I had to go in for more surgery regardless. I could have had a partial mastectomy (larger lumpectomy to get clear margins) and SNB instead of Mx but then I would have had to have radiation. I preferred to avoid radiation if at all possible, so chose the Mx. Also, since my breasts were small (barely a B cup), my surgeon said it was hard to make a partial mastectomy look good.

The reason I chose BMx was because I wanted peace of mind. I first found the lump myself in the fall and went to get it checked out after it didn't go away for a couple of cycles. I had a mammogram and ultrasound in November. The mammogram didn't show the lump which was obvious because it was just under the skin and the ultrasound showed it but was inconclusive about what it was. My GP then scheduled me for an MRI and for an appointment with a general surgeon. The holidays in December slowed things down and I met with the surgeon in January. He assured me that he was pretty sure it was nothing to worry about but felt he should take it out anyway. He said he probably wouldn't have even bothered with the MRI, but since it was scheduled for January 30 we might as well go ahead and just schedule the surgery for after. When I had the biopsy (February 2nd) we didn't yet have the results from the MRI. As it turns out, the MRI did show the lump as being probably malignant and the biopsy confirmed IDC.

So, it felt like a long road. And because of my dense breasts, I had little confidence that if there was a recurrence it would be easily found. I suspect that my cancer may be genetic since my mom is a 3 time (!!!) ovarian cancer survivor. I have not yet had the BRCA testing, but plan to do so as soon as I can so I can have my ovaries and tubes removed prophylactically if I do test positive. My mom has had a very difficult journey with her cancer over the last 28 years and if there is anything I can do to avoid ovarian cancer I will certainly do so.

I really feel for all the women who are young like you and going through this horrible disease. I'm 52 and done having kids so losing my breasts is not so traumatic for me. It must have been so difficult for you to have been diagnosed and to undergo treatment while you were pregnant and newly a mom. Do you have any other kids or are these your first? I have one daughter who will be 16 in June. Enjoy your babies as much as you can and give them an extra hug from me. All the best to you and many prayers and healing thoughts coming your way. Happy Easter!

Kornelia

Hi Gatomal,

My doctors certainly wouldn't have just let it go. My GP was worried for me from the start. She's very thorough and would never let something go without knowing for sure. Even the surgeon said he needed to take the lump out. It just turned out he was not the best diagnostician. He is a very good surgeon. He's operated on 3 of my friends that I know of and 2 had really good things to say about him. It was actually pretty peaceful for me during the holidays. I didn't put any energy into worrying or negative thoughts since I was very hopeful that it was nothing. I am, however, very thankful that the lump was so obvious that I found it. I've been strangely calm and at peace through the whole process from dx on. I think part of it for me is that I haven't been a "mortality virgin" since my motorcycle accident almost 29 years ago. I went through a lot of the emotions, including having my body badly scarred and losing strength and mobility back then. Cancer does add a whole scary new dimension to that. But both my parents are cancer survivors and have each had periods of remission for over 20 years. They have shown me great strength and resilience in how they deal with their disease.

Wow; you have 2 sets of twins under 3! You must have a very busy household. And, hopefully, a very supportive partner and family and friends who can help you nearby? Your mother was so lucky to have you to help her when she was dx. I hope she has been there to help support you as well. My mom is 76 now and doing amazingly well considering all she has to deal with. She was 49 at dx for ovarian cancer. I think you're right; the BRCA testing is a bit of a mixed bag. Just because we test negative, doesn't mean there's not a gene that hasn't yet been discovered that's responsible for it.

I find out results from my pathology on Tuesday and what further treatment will be required. I'm keeping very vigilant on screening for ovarian cancer since that's the one that really scares me. I'm not looking forward to instant chemically induced menopause, but I expect that will probably be my path as well.

It definitely does help to focus on the positive. I try to begin and end each day with gratitude and I have so much to be thankful for.

I hope and pray that you heal quickly and that you don't have any bad SE from the treatments to come. You deserve to have lots of joy in raising all of your babies.

Kornelia

Gatomal- what a busy life you must have. You said the oldest are girls, what about the littlest ones? Boy/girls? My DH is an identical twin.

Eaglemom -both of my parents are also cancer survivors. Mum a 46 year uterine cancer survivor and dad 5 years out with pleomorphic liposarcoma . My sister was diagnosed with pleomorphic liposarcoma in Dec /14. I almost feel I know way to much about cancer already. I noticed you are a fellow canadian. Somehow or another I don't think we will be having the same type easter egg hunts this year. You have grass and flowers growing and I have 5 foot ice/snow banks slowly melting.

Wishing all a day of good memories made.

Heather

hi mysunshine4 - I wore a cotton knit stretch jacket that zips up the front with two pockets to hold whatever. It was easy for someone to help me and had a lot of give to make up for my immobility. Best wishes for a positive outcome this week.

I'm really hoping my PS will take my drains out tomorrow. They are all under 30 a day, 2 way under. Last night one was so uncomfortable it woke me up all night and I eventually had to sleep sitting up. It doesn't look red or hot to the touch just very sore.

He said we could start fills tomorrow as well but the new girls were especially sore yesterday as well. Thinking maybe I should wait a full two weeks before starting fills. Maybe let the incisions heal more. Plus around the ribs especially in the morning it's still tender.

Anyone start their fills sooner than two weeks post op?

Phillyemma, I am two weeks post op from TE placement and my first fill is today! I'm still sore as well and was surprised to be starting so soon, but I'm hoping it won't be too bad. I'm scheduled for once per week fills for the next 4 weeks

I only got 60ccs at surgery, I'll post this afternoon with an update. I'm nervous!

Kornelia (Eaglemom ) hope you had a great weekend . And that your mum is doing well. Yes my dad is NED. Thank heavens. It's funny I had always thought of cancer as something that was curable because mum was so lucky. It wasn't until I was in my 40's and family started to loss their battles that it scared me. I have lost 2 great aunts, my maternal uncle, paternal aunt, cousin,SIL and my 1st DH to cancer in the last 10 years. But it is because of people like our mums I have hope and I draw strength from that.

My underarm is the only area still giving grief . I so want to take my bra off. Only 3 more until I can .

Another 10cm of snow over night tonight. I am so ready to get spring going.

Wishing you all the best with your results tomorrow.

Heather

Thank you Kornelia and Robinblessed. The fill wasn't too bad. I think she said she added 50ccs to each side. I did feel a pinch when the needle went in, which surprised me because I'm numb in many areas. There was pressure but no pain. I'm scheduled for 3-4 more weeks of fills. Call me crazy, and I truly didn't mind being flat, or wearing my prosthetics but I'm so happy with my two little mounds right now!

I hope everyone is doing well. Don't try to do too much too soon

One week after surgery & I feel pretty good, just very very sore. Got my drains removed today so hopefully that helps some! Prognosis is good - no lymph node involvement! They did find a second, smaller tumor that was also cancerous as well as several benign fibroadenomas. Just reaffirms to me that I made the right decision! I go see my oncologist next week to discuss chemo treatment and when that will start. Thank you all for your support, encouraging thoughts, & well-wishes! Wishing all of you continued successes & fight back hard!!