April & May 2015 Surgery Sisters

Oh man, Jackbirdie, I hope you'll be okay. Chemo is no joke. I fully expected to die, I felt so bad. But the hospital will give you strong IV antibiotics if you need them. Make sure you are getting good care and keeping in touch with your doctor. We all care about you way too much to lose you! You have been such a lifeline for us. Now just let your body heal.

Justmaximom15, that is a great story! I've run half marathons, and all the hours of training, 5k and 10k races, and I have to tell you runners are a truly wonderful group of people. I'm happy your experience was pleasant because of this man. It only took him minutes to make you remember him for a lifetime.

Hi Everyone,

I have a question about radioactive dye injection before my surgery this Thursday. I am having bilateral mastectomy with Tissue Expanders. I will have a sentinel node biopsy so I understand that I will have to have radioactive dye injected about an hour before my surgery.

My cousin who had breast cancer said that this was very painful. She was given nothing for the pain. My doctor prescribed some numbing cream to be applied in the morning after I shower. Then I am supposed to put saran wrap over the cream so that it doesn't evaporate I guess.

From the reading I have done it seems like some people find this really excruciatingly painful and some don't. Some places include some lidocaine in the injection and some don't. Something I read said that some places only do this to women who are under anesthesia.

Don't want to be an alarmist, but also don't want to be surprised. It does seem strange to me that this is done while we are conscious if it is so uncomfortable. Also strange that we have to start the most stressful day of our lives with this very unpleasant sounding experience.

Thanks,

Mazy

Hi Mazy, I had this done, but my doctor did it when I was out. I don't understand why some do it different. If it can be done pain free, why not. Why don't you just say, you want it done after you are out! I am learning that I have to be proactive. I went to my first chemo treatment 4 days ago. I do not have a port, so the nurse started to get the IV going. Oh, my, gosh! She could not find a good vein and it hurt like crazy. I asked if she did not have any of that numbing cream. She said, "your doctor did not prescribe that for you." So, she finally got a vein, but you can bet, I had a RX for the Cream for the next time! She would not give me any numbing cream unless it was on my chart. I was NOT happy. I sure will have it next time, and, yes, wrap it with plastic wrap.

I slept in my bed last night instead of recliner. It had it's own set of complications. Laying on my back all night proved uncomfortable though it was nice to stretch out. I did ok in the end. The best part was Rob reaching over and taking my hand. We often hold hands while sleeping and I missed that. Actually we have not slept apart since we met 2 1/2 years ago. Our first night apart was my BMX hospitalization.

oh Audrey what a sweet story. It brought tears to my eyes. I am a side sleeper and no room or desire for a recliner so I slept on my back for months. When I was finally about ready to try side sleeping, they put the port in and again, ix-nay on the side sleeping. I'm sleeping much better now.

Mazy- I also wanted to be "out" during the blue die and radioactive injections. They told me since it takes a bit for it to work through the body, and they want to make sure it is working, and they don't want to add that extra anasthesia time to your total time out. I don't know. Maybe they just said that.

The important thing is I am THE BIGGEST BABY IN THE WORLD. And I really remember only minor discomfort and it was over in a flash. You are correct different people feel different things. When you go in for pre-op, and again, while you are in pre-surgery, and again, when they wheel you into the MRI room (which is where they injected me so they could wait a few minutes and ensure the dye was traveling), just keep saying you do not want to feel any pain and to put lidocaine in the shot. Make your wishes known.

I think it is normal to be out of sorts over this because it is the first procedure on a really big day. I had also believed they were going to do it while I was out, and when I found out different, I had a bit of a freak out. But in the end I rolled with it and it turned out ok. When I think back on the surgery in general, I never even remember the pre-SLN part of it. It pales. Just reassure yourself the best you can that this procedure is so helpful to you in that it spares the taking out unnecessarily lymph nodes that are negative, and reduces recovery time and chance of lymphedema- no small things.

Holding your hand all through this,

Katy

Hi Mazy,

The radioactive dye injection does hurt, more than the "bee sting" that they say, but in the scheme of things, it only hurts for maybe a minute. My lab techs thanked me for not hitting them. I think you'll be okay, especially with the cream. I have to use that cream every time I get chemo. I put it on my port about an hour before they stab me. The Saran wrap or wax paper is simply to protect your clothes.

Oh, and the blue dye is indeed injected while you're asleep. Most surgeons use two agents for a sentinel node biopsy, meaning they inject you with a radioactive dye and the blue dye. This reduces the chance of a false negative because two agents are draining into the sentinel lymph nodes.

I know it's scary. A lot of women have this hideous operation, and they get through it. That comforted me a bit. Part of me wonders how on earth we as a culture think that it's normal and okay to cut off people's breasts. I know breast cancer has been around for thousands of years, but it seems ridiculously common now. One in eight? We ought to be rioting in the streets. I guess I've hit the anger phase of grieving. I'm happy to be alive, but I just can't believe that women are supposed to accept mastectomies as a routine thing. It certainly was and is a big deal to me.

Hi ladies!

I was diagnosed with stage 1 IDC on May 1, and my surgery is May 22 (this Friday!!!). I am ready to do this! I had my physical with my primary care on the 15th which include fan EKG. The tech had a funny look on her face, and when the PA came in, he told me I needed to see a cardiologist ASAP because my EKG looked abnormal. After a great big WTF moment, I went out to the desk and they had me go across town and see a dr right then.

I show up at the office, and the staff was great. The doc came in read my tape, and said, let's do this test again. Turns out the tech at my PCP swapped the electrodes and it gave me an upside down result. The cardiologist gave me a stress test just for good measure, and pronounced me extremely fit. I swear, this stuff only happens to me! I laughed so hard!!!

Best wishes to all having surgery in the near future. Make sure they hook you up to the instruments correctly!

Onwards and upward, I say!

~Midge

Hello! I've been lurking and getting a lot of helpful information on this board for months. This is my first post. I have IDC, Stage 1, low grade. I have SNB scheduled on 5/20 and BMX with immediate reconstruction scheduled on 5/27. I would like to join the sisterhood!

Welcome to all our new Surgery Sisters!

Mazzy, I agree with Metta about the reason for not doing the blue dye or radioactive dye while you are asleep.  My surgery was going to be a long one so it was good not to tack that procedure on to it.  Also, the nurse told me not to put my lidocaine cream on until 45 minutes before it is needed.  Plus, she said to put a glob on, not a small rubbed in amount.  I was a little freaked out when I heard they would do the blue dye while I was going to be awake so I asked if I could have a valium. It worked.  Was very relaxed, slightly numbed up by the cream and didn't feel anything more than a three second pinch. 

Mazy, I went to INOVA Fairfax and I was out for the blue dye injection, not sure if they did the radioactive. I don't know if they intended me to be out for it but they started my IV in Pre-Op and I didn't stay awake to see the OR. It may have been because I was tired not having slept the night before. I did have the wire localization and that wasn't a big deal. Good Luck, MJ

Hello all, I've been reading your thread for a couple weeks. I won't have my BMX surgery until the end of July but I've been reading your posts to get an idea of recovery and everyone's experiences. I have been on chemo since 1/28 and am so ready for it to be over! I'm trying to wrap my head around the surgery that is the next step - it gives me something other than chemo to think about!

Good luck to everyone with surgeries happening this week!

MySunshine, Pat, Audrey, Katy, Metta, SoutherMother, Little K, Thanks so much for sharing your experiences and for offering up your encouragement. It really helps me to hear your stories.

MJ, Good to know that is how they did it at Inova Fairfax. I will be at Inova Reston so we will see.

Midge, Glad that your EKG turned out to be okay.

Charlotte, Thinking of you today.

I go for my pre op appt today and hope to have a better idea of the timing of everything after that.

Thanks,

Mazy