April & May 2015 Surgery Sisters

Hi Audrey, 

Thank you for your reply.  I'm sorry that you to go through this! Yes, I'm very happy with the early surgery date. I'm from Ontario, Canada so we have to be referred to specialists we can't call up one to make an appointment.  Our health care is covered by the government.  But when I find met the surgeon, I  felt very uncomfortable  with him-no bedside manner.  However, the second time I saw him i felt much better. Over here,  the radiologists reviews the imaging, states the findings on a report and sends report ti the doctor.  So, ultimately, it's up to the BS'S to make the final decision on diagnosis is  treatment,  next step?  Etc

Best wishes for treelilac tomorrow

sulev21 - i had heavy drainage and my drain was in for 3 weeks. im still dealing with fluid in the area, i am now back to wearing the pressure garment/binder to keep it from sloshing around and making me seasick. it can take a long time to finish healing especially with a lymph dissection. dont rush removal of the drain. i chose not to have it needle drained due to the slight risk of infection, giving it time to resorb naturally instead.

Happy Mothers Day everyone

Happy Mother's Day to all my surgery sisters (we're all somebody's mother -- even if our babies have 4 legs!).

DayLily15, thanks for addressing the heavy drainage issue. I'm now 16 days post-surgery & my drains are still producing too much juice. PS said the maximum length of time that the drains can safely stay in is 3 weeks so that's next Fri for me. The drains don't bother me that much and even the expanders weren't uncomfortable once I figured out which movements to avoid. But I have been wondering about the fluid once the drains come out. Does the high drainage mean I've been a bad patient (moving my arms too much)? Or is my body just taking longer than others to bind with the Alloderm? I've been laying around past couple of days, binge-watching Netflix, so maybe that will pay off. I'm not crazy about the idea of fluid building up in my new breasts.

On the positive side, saw oncologist last week & the path report was all good news -- no surprises -- tiny DCIS completely removed, wide margins, clear sentinel + 1 node & clear nipples. No chemo or rads necessary. Very good. MO said I have only 5% chance of recurrence anywhere else but that she wanted me to try aromatase inhibitor (something called Arimidex) for added insurance. Guess I'll try it. She said if I can't tolerate side effects (joint pain & possible bone loss) I can quit taking it. But seems worth a try. I wouldn't start until next month (after drains are out & I'm more healed up).

All in all, my recovery is proceeding really well. I was terrified before surgery but this isn't that bad at all. I am very blessed. Love & best wishes to all of you,

MOmmyof2,

You weren't imagining it, your little guy was giving you love even if you couldn't see him. Love never dies.

Happy Mother's Day

Hello from us, saugagirl, and welcome to the club nobody wants to join. We're all here for you, and understand what you are going through.

We're all here to help guide your way.

Warmly,

The Mods

Don't worry you will be okay the great Lord is watching us with a merciful eye.

Third day after LX. I never had any actual pain... but did have aches and discomfort just when waking up and when lying down to go to sleep. So, lucky. I still took a hydrocodone pill if I felt achy (I figure I should not let all those pills go to waste... I usually don't need pain pills... but I figure three days after surgery is totally OK). I think I'm impatient a bit... I keep wanting the LX to really be nothing and to pass quickly, but it's not passing quickly enough for me. Maybe it's the waiting to hear the path... I do worry that I'll need more surgery because of margins or if they found something else! I try not to worry, but it's just sort of there, you know? Until I can get the path news, anyway. Maybe I need more distractions? I've been kind of stuck lying about, watching tv and reading and going on the computer for months now (since I had chemo before surgery). Maybe that's getting a bit old, too. And I LIKE doing all of that stuff! I'm sure I'll feel better once I can get out and about a bit! Even for someone who likes lying about, this has been a lot of lying about!

And it's annoying that I'm still kind of weak from chemo. Can't really even walk any distance. Just enough to be OK with surgery (they asked if I could walk up a flight of stairs or go for a block, and I can do that... leaves me a bit out of breath, though).

I haven't tried to check out my incisions... I'm kind of a chicken when it comes to that! I didn't look at my port incision until weeks afterwards! (This was my first real surgery. Never even had stitches before. I've led a very sheltered life when it comes to injuries and medical procedures-- at least up to now! Cancer can turn all that around fast!)

I don't recall anything in all the pamphlets about what I should be doing... Just something about "if there's tape on the incisions, just leave it there until it falls off." And to watch for fever, a lot of pain and swelling and discharge and red streaks, etc. Supposedly I could shower if have doctor's permission... so the incisions should be healing up a bit, right? --But I still don't want to tinker about with them and look!!!

I have a post-surgical appt. day after tomorrow... I think I won't touch anything until then! Is that weird?

downdog -- Thanks for the info on what to expect. The surgeon said before the surgery that I "should look OK in a bra." But I think they might have found more calcifications than expected when the did the wire thing for the surgery... so I'm wondering if they had to take out more than expected? I'm not terribly worried... I'd rather heal up quickly and have no more surgery than be concerned over a divot... And I'm glad to be keeping most of my breast! It's good to know there are PS options, if it comes down to that. Of course, it's all "wait and see" at this point... I think that's the toughest part, right now.

middleagedmama, I have my first post op with PS tomorrow and am hoping my drains come out. He told me he only likes to keep drains in for 7 days so I'm hoping he can remove them both. Left side output has steadily decreased but right side is still a little high. . I am having sharp pain in left breast and am hoping its drain pain. Will know tomorrow.

Best wishes to all.

My beautiful daughter gave me this t-shirt for Mother's Day. LOL.

audrey - love the shirt.  I know you'll wear it proudly once you get your new rack.  I hope you get the drains out tomorrow.  You will feel like a new woman.  Just don't look down as he's pulling them out.  It doesnt hurt but it does look like something is crawling under your skin as he pulls them out.

welcome dawncru.

TreeLilac, thought of you today as you are having your mastectomy today.  I am going on two weeks post surgery and am amazed how much one week to the next makes in the recovery.  Glad you have your boyfriend to take care of you and you will be taking it easy.  I will look forward to hearing how you are doing.

AudreyB, I should be getting my last two drains out tomorrow too.  The first two drains didn't hurt when removed.  But when I told the nurse that it was easy and was looking forward to the last two being removed so easily, she advised me to take a muscle relaxer for the removal of the last two drains. You may want to take a couple of Tylenol just in case.

Does anyone know how long one must sleep in the recliner before it becomes comfortable enough to sleep in bed?  I am hoping the uncomfortable feeling goes away with the removal of my drains.

Hello, I'm new on this page, I had surgery April 8. Lumpectomy and SNB. I am feeling well, clear margins and nodes and am just waiting to find out the plan for chemo.

I have a question about the scar. Is there something I could be putting on it to help it heal (fade) well over time? I've seen ads for Mederma and Bio-Oil to reduce the appearance of scars. Has anyone used these product, or plan to? Just wondering if they are worth it?

April, my experience with the bandages was as follows, I had steristrips over my incisions, and over that was a large gauze like bandage. I was able to remove the gauze like bandage after 2 days, at which point I was able to take a shower (gently) and was told to leave the steristrips on for 10 days, or until they started pealing off on their own. I ended up leaving them on for 14 days. I was nervous about seeing the result as well, but it wasn't so bad and is getting better every day.

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for welcoming me to this group Stillstanding, Downdog and Jackbirdie.

I am anxiously awaiting my surgery next Thursday. Double mastectomy with tissue expanders. Meet with the plastic surgeon tomorrow for the pre op appt. Lots of questions to ask him.

I have been reading these message boards and trying to get an idea of what to expect for recovery.

I know recovery is different for each person, but will I feel better in four days? two weeks? four weeks? Should I plan to be in bed for two weeks? Just don't quite know what to expect.

I am also nervous about pain meds. I have always had bad reactions to percocet. Makes me really nauseous and makes me throw up. I think they are doing a pain pack with lidocaine for the first four days. Do you think I might be able to just go to Tylenol after that or am I going to need stronger pain meds?

Thinking of all of you going through this. Wish none of us had to go through this.

Thanks,

Mazy