April & May 2015 Surgery Sisters

Greetings surgery sisters,

Good news

I had my lumpectomy last Monday and the follow up today . . . . margins were clean . . .yeah! . . It's been a tense week. My only family ( my daughters ) live in Cali & I still live in NY. I am grateful to my surrogate son who came up to be with me ( 3 hr drive ) in the hospital after working a 12 hr shift with FDNY , got me cold packs and ice pops as well as my surrogate sister who came with me to my apt today. My surgeon looks surprised when she entered the exam room. I introduced Colleen as my surrogate sister, and as she shook her hand Colls said, it's ok I've seen her naked before. Anything to break the tension. I am going on vacation to visit my kids next week. When I get back home I'll meet with a radiologist and we will discuss radiation therapy.

This sounds strange but I have two friends who are going through hell. Erin has been going through chemo treatments for a solid year, and Lynne had her cancer return like a hammer a few months ago. And I feel kind of guilty that this was caught very early and it was a cancer that could be dealt with.

RedPorchLady, has the
nerve in the flabby part of your arm settled down?

MySunShine, hope you are feeling better today.  You mentioned using a laxative for pain med constipation.  Do you recommend one that has worked?  My PS suggested Colace but I have not used that one before.

Lmonelli, have you talked to anyone who has used the Pink Pockets?  Are they attached by adhesive?  I am interested but am wondering how much weight they can take?  If the drain/bulb is full, it might weigh too much? I checked out the website but didn't see any mention of weight load.

DownDog, thanks for the breathing instructions.  In the 1970's I took the Lamaze breathing classes for childbirth.  The deep slow breathing technique was very helpful.  They said to visualize on the exhale that you were slowly blowing out a candle.  Would that be in par with your exhale instructions?

Shelly4321, Wow, it sounds like you are breezing right though the first day. Your vomiting from the smell of the fried chicken brought back memories from chemotherapy when smell/taste were so sensitive.  In hindsight it is funny, but not so when it is happening.

I am sending out best wishes for HockeyGoddess's surgery today.  Hartrish, Chrisrenee, and Queen Celeste are next up to bat so have a good nights rest and a successful surgery. 

Upon some investigation, looks like I may have Mondor Disease, a benign cording condition that usually goes away in 12 weeks and is nothing to worry about. 

Finally, something I don't have to worry about. 

Thank you SoutherMother!  I had sentinel lymph node removal on left side, this is happening on the right side, but I guess its all wrapped up together inside.  LOL 

I am using pink pockets too. Google "pink pockets". They stick inside any button up shirt. They serve the purpose - I am just wearing my own button up shirts. The pink pockets just have sticky tape on them.

Sothernmother - I used stool softeners (target brand) generic - 2 each day and ate about 4 prunes a day. Worked, and I felt much better.

labhusky, Sorry for your unanticipated bad news. While no one ever wants chemo, don't be afraid it. It is another way to cure this horrible disease. I have grade 3 ER+/PR + and HR - cancer. Because we knew in advance that I had cancer in at least two lymph nodes my MO recommended chemo first and the surgeon agreed. I had 4 Dose Dense Adriamicyn and Cytoxan then 12 weekly Taxol. Your MO will probably recommend the same or very similar. When I had surgery a month following chemo, the pathology report was negative for cancer both in the original tumor and the lymph nodes as well as everything else that was removed. Chemo did its job and it will work for you too. The chemo was not as bad as I thought and I was not nauseous or sick at all. I did have some side effects, mostly I was tired with little energy, no one gets them all but none were impossible to live with. I hated loosing my hair, but it is growing back now. There is also hormonal therapy for those who are ER/PR + after chemo.

All the best, Mary-Jo

Downdog - It is Zofran that I was taking sublingually.  We have a cancer center that is only 10 miles from our home but we chose to go to a bigger cancer center that is 3 hours away and I am glad we did because I do like that they offer alternative methods to pain and nausea.  My regular ONC was a fellows because the rest of the ONC's on your team are constantly doing research.  The fellows will talk to the team and everyone gets to weigh in on how each case should be treated.  I like how they also with any treatment would bring up past clinical trials to let us make a determination on what my path would be.

labhusky- I am so sorry about your pathology report.  I had neoadjuvant  chemo therapy because my tumor was so large and I had a very aggressive cancer.  My lymph nodes lit up like a Christmas tree on the PET Scan.  I did 5 months of chemo and my surgeon wanted to remove all my lymph nodes because he was positive that at least one still had cancer but it didn't.  The chemo treatments killed all the cancer  and when they did surgery they removed all dead tissue.  You can do this and just think of the chemo as going out to attack those cancer cells.  I am stage 3a and I know the staging scares you because it did me too but remember it is just a number and every individual is different.  Stay strong and know we are all cheering you on!  

HuntingtonNY - glad to hear about your clear margins!  Sorry to hear about your friends going thru cancer too.  I never had anyone close to me go thru any of this so I now have an understanding of anyone that has to go thru any part of the treatment even if caught early.  It is emotional and scary. 

SoutherMother - the pain has settled down a little but I still can't touch that area as it just feels like I am taking sandpaper to it.  That is funny you say that about smells and chemotherapy because I can remember when getting treatments - One week I wanted eggs and then the next week the smell of eggs would make me gag.  I have not had eggs since!  I don't know if you had any problems with your tongue but mine was super sensitive.  It still is because I ate a couple of Dorito's last night and my tongue was on fire!

Lmonelli - That would be handy to have the shirts or pockets!  I don't want to return to work until the drain is removed because I just don't know how to hide it.  Right now it is still cool enough here that I can wear big baggy sweatshirts but I don't have any dress clothes that would hide them.  My surgeon said it could be up to 3-4 weeks before the axilla drain is removed. 

Speedy recovery to those who are still recovering and prayers to everyone going to surgery yet.  This has been a great group to be a part of to help us thru this life challenge we have all been presented with. 

hi there! I am two days out from BMX and think I doing well. I had only one node removed and it was benign. I was planned for a lat flap but ended up having enough serratus to get the coverage needed for tissue expanders (I lost some skin and pec and will need rads on the cancer side? Hence the planned lat flap). Originally planned to come home today or tomorrow but I was released yesterday afternoon, I am sore and am getting a little build up in my left lung but otherwise doing wrk

Hello all my brave warrior sisters.  I hope I can join this group.  I was in the February group as a sister in waitig and still am in waiting.  As I'm still in the process of the finding anothe PS, I'm sure you will all be done before me, but if you have any questions, please feel free to ask.  Good luck to my fellow sisters in their upcoming surgeries.

To Hartrish,Chrisrenee, and Queen Celeste. Sending lots of wishes for a speedy recovery. Goodluck tomorrow! I'm 2 weeks behind you.

Just an update, a week today from my BMX and 2x SNB, and I feel like I have finally turned a corner! Actually went out to lunch with my husband. No prescription pain meds, just Tylenol.

Tomorrow is my followup and path report.

Labhusky, thinking of you!

Down, you are so right. I'm sick of my TEs.

Hi all thought I would let you know my BMX surgery went really well. I went in at 8 AM and was back in my room by 11:00 AM I was released at 4 PM. I had a nerve block that blocked the nerves from the edge of the spine to the chest, this will last about 48 hours. Had a good night at the hotel, had dinner and just relaxed. I took one pain pill for the 2 1/2 hour ride home this morning. I have to agree with everyone's statements on the drains are a big hassle, but it is better than changing bandages and having swelling. Overall things are coming alone.

Good luck to everyone💟😊