March 2015 Surgery Sisters

Heather; Thanks for the well wishes for my doctor appointment. It went well and he gave me the ok to return to work part time next week ~ yay. Unfortunately, no news back from pathology. It's been 2 weeks yesterday so we expect the report in any time. He'll call me when it does come in and then send off to oncologists in Victoria. It may be a little while until I find out what further treatment will be. I have been lucky in that most of the people who I've been close to who have had cancer have pulled through and been in remission for long periods of time. There have been a few who have died and that's always really hard. But I draw strength from all the successful outcomes as well. Wishing you a happy "bra free" day on Thursday!

hummingbirdlover; I'm so glad you had no pain from the fill and that you are happy with the outcome ~ yay! I've decided to stay flat and I'm having fun finding tops that work for me now. I found quite a few at the thrift store last week. I'm also making microbead foobs and mastectomy wear for myself for the times when I want a little more shape. I got some $14 "breast enhancers" at Walmart. They're just perfect for a little something in a sports bra as they give me about an A cup; not too much less than the small B I had before.

NYtoTXbaby; Congratulations on a successful, pleasant trip to the lingerie shop and going back to work already! It looks like we're both on about the same timeframe; back to work about 3 weeks after Mx. I'm not sure yet how much I'll wear the foobs and how much I'll just go flat. I went to my doctor appointment and the store today in a new blouse in royal blue that has ruffles in the front. I don't think it was obvious and I'm not sure if anyone even noticed, so I guess time will tell how comfortable I feel.

ERNurse21; Congratulations on the clear lymph nodes and getting your drains out. That's fantastic news! And it's very comforting to know that you made the right decision with BMx. I believe we somehow know in our gut what the right decision is. If we listen and let our inner strength guide us, we can make the difficult decisions we are all faced with.

justamy; I'm glad you're doing well and getting close to done with your long fight. I guess we all have to give ourselves time to get used to our new look. I've been taking a glucosomine supplement for years and it has really helped my lower back, hips, and knees. I was a little upset that I had to stop taking it a week before surgery because it really helps me sleep more comfortably at night. I'm glad I can take it again. The glucosomine will even help repair damaged joints, so it's not to late. I would encourage you to give it a try.

I wish all of our March sisters good healing and favourable test results.

Kornelia

Hi everyone!

So I am officially scheduled for BMX, TE placement and right SNB May 6.  PS said I would have a better outcome with TEs as opposed to direct to implant and I'm ok with it too.

Wishing all of you continued healing and recovery.

Hello, I had my lump, SNB, internal ALND and bilateral reduc/lift last week on the 31st. Still having pain, lots of swelling in lump Breast, painful like Breast milk engorgement. They pulled the drain 24 hrs after surgery, so I'm wondering how much fluid is in there. Anyway, since I don't have a recliner, I bought this great pillow for recovery, and it's been very comfortable. No shifting pillows that need readjusting. Very comfortable slant

http://www.amazon.com/InteVision-Wedge-Pillow-Qual...=sr_1_1?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1428501917&sr=1-1&keywords=Wedge+pillow

I'm still having pain, mostly from the crazy swelling.seeing my BS for a postop today, maybe she'll drain a seroma? It seems like my breasts have at least doubled in Souza from last week's surgery.Maybe she'll just say, yes, that's supposed to hurt like that. Bless you all that have had more extensive surgery. It's no picnic. I'm still waiting for path, that's adding to my stress too, although no real treatment changes based on it. Good healing everyone.

Hi all...update from me...BMX March 26. I am doing well, numbness across my chest and in the underarms. Because I had bilateral tumours, I had sentinel node biopsies from both sides. My pain is mostly in the upper arm areas closest to the underarms. It's improving daily though and I am only taking pain meds a couple of times a day now. I used to get sharp stabbing pains on my left side now and then, but almost never now.

I have four drains, two on each side. I saw my surgeon today and the drains are draining too much still to remove them. But she did remove the staples and I have steristrips over the incision now. I got permission to shower!!!

The pathology came back...positive nodes on the left side, negative on the right. Not what I was hoping for, but it could be worse...the right breast tumour was triple-negative and it would have been more difficult to treat. So it's chemo for sure, although I had been told I would have it anyway. Not sure about radiation.

Now I wait...again. I should hear from the cancer clinic within a couple of weeks, and I will see the oncologist there.

In the meantime, I will continue doing my exercises, watching Netflix, reading, and having visitors. Life goes on...

Andrea

Andea and AJbenefield, I'm sorry to hear about the positive nodes, I know it's not the news you were hoping for. I hope the MO can put you mind at ease some. Hang in there. BC sucks, no doubt about it. If you do end up down the chemo road, there are awesome threads here for support.

I had my BMX with TE placement on March 25. I got my last 2 drains out this Thursday (WOOHOO!) My pain level hasn't been too bad. I've had one fill, but for now only my left side will be filled because I need radiation. My RO wants my left side filled to where I want it before starting radiation. My pathology showed still active cells in the breast and lymph node. I was hoping to avoid radiation, but no such luck.

Is anyone with TEs wearing any type of bra or other support? I'm wearing a cami, but there isn't any real support. I'm not going to bother with a prosthesis while I'm doing radiation, so not really sure what else I should wear.

Thanks

Beth

I only wore camis for the TE stage, except when I was at the gym. My ps cleared me to wear sports bras a few months after everything had settled into place and he felt it wouldn't affect their positioning. I only wore sports bras to the gym because I felt better having them covered up and supported. I don't think I really needed the sports bras...it was more of a psychological thing. They were so uncomfortable that I'd rip them off as soon as I could.

I was looking forward to a nice sunny weekend but got a flu like sickness yesterday. Not good while dealing with the discomfort of TE's (2 weeks post op). Today the body aches are gone but I'm ping ponging between mild nausea and just blah. My fever never went above 99.3 and this morning was 97 so thankfully no infection.

Needless to say, my first fill is this Tuesday but I'm still fairly sore especially in the armpit where the SNB was. I might go low and slow with only 25ccs rather than 50.

Anyway, I hope everyone is hanging in there and doing well!

PhillyEmma, so sorry to hear about you having the flu. That must be terrible while still healing. I recall my SNB incision really bothered me for months. I did end up having spitting stitches there, which my PS cut out about 1 mo later. (Dissolving stitches don't dissolve well in me). It got better as I got my fills. Not sure if it was just time or the fact that my bigger TEs kept my camis from rubbing on it. A surgeon friend of mine said that armpit incisions can be real buggers. They can look and feel bad for a while. Hope that helps.

I agree, my SNB underarm may never be the same. I still feel a weird tugging sensation in there that I'm sure is scar tissue.

PhillyEmma - he's right! It was about 4 months before I felt normal, though I attributed it to working out regularly! ;-) as for needing to shave the best thing I ever did was get laser hair removal in my armpits a few years ago. I still have to shave, but it's nowhere near as bad as it would have been if I hadn't had the laser. (I'm part Greek, so you can only imagine...). This time before surgery I had my armpits waxed. It's 11 days out and they look great. Honestly, it didn't hurt as bad as I thought it would...I mean after MX and SNB...it was a walk in the park! Apparently I told the surgery center staff ALL about it while I was under the influence of whatever awesomeness they put in my IV bag. Fun times!

In 36 hours it will be BMX surgery time. I'm not really worried about the surgery, it is what it is and I can't change it, plus I want to live a long life. I have a new PS that I met on Friday, I really like her and know she will do amazing work, and will do the reconstruction the no later than middle of June. My first PS kept changing the surgery day (even my MO was getting upset) and if I should loss weight first, which the new one could care less about. However, since I was thinking I was waking up with my new foods and now I'm not(GS and PS operate in different hospitals) I am very concerned about the first time I look in the mirror and the first day back to work. Any advice about what to expect mentally and what to where for those week?

I had a BMX with TE and SNB 3 days ago. It was a nipple sparing/skin sparing MX. My surgeon did the lymph node biopsy by tunneling up under my skin. I have no underarm incision. I was surprised. Anyone ever hear of this

Sunflower, you have me cracking up over here! I just imagine you loopy on drugs regaling staff with your hair removal stories and such. Lol

Canadiancam, you were told to rub your SNB incision daily? I can't even imagine touching it at 2 weeks post op as it is so sensitive. Yesterday was the first day the line looked smooth and clean rather than bumpy and swollen. The burning has subsided a lot in the last two days as well.

I go for my first fill tomorrow morning. A bit nervous but that's part of the BC journey. Every "unknown" is daunting at first. I'll take the advice is the lovely ladies here and take a muscle relaxer before I go and rather than so the full 50cc I'm going to go 25cc so I can get a feel for it. My worry is my BMX discomfort is just starting to subside and I don't want to do 2 steps forward and 1 step back you know?

Good luck Outdoorswoman. I can't say what it will be like for you waking up and looking in the mirror. I can tell you that I envisioned far worse for myself than it actual was for both instances. Looking in the mirror at the new me gets easier every time and I'm 2 weeks out. My first look was 5 days out. The best advice I got was to go at my own pace as everyone's journey is their own and that one day the new me would feel like me and not so new anymore. Be well and my thoughts are with you.

Sunflower, you're my comic relief for the day! A mini vibrator? I can picture it now --- Husband: "Emma, should I be concerned that there's a mini vibrator in the medicine cabinet?" But in all seriousness, that sounds less uncomfortable than kneading it with my fingers when the time comes although I'm just sensitive now which I'm sure lessens with time.

Muscles spasms you say. Oh joy. Something to look forward to. Lol