April & May 2015 Surgery Sisters

I've been reading this thread as my surgery date approaches and it's been very comforting to me, thank you to everyone who posts! It makes me feel like I'm not alone.

I had a pre-surgery appointment with the lymphedema specialist last night, and have a question I forgot to ask her that someone here might know: The standard to avoid lymphedema is to NOT have an IV in the affected side, but for me BOTH sides will be affected. Is it typical to just have an IV in one arm during my hospital stay anyway?

Summer angel -.I need answers too. I had a BMX with lymph node removal on the right. So my first treatment and IV was in my left arm. Now, I have lympthedema in that arm! Why? I have been very careful. I go in for blood work later today and am NOT going to let them do blood pressure on either arm! I think there is a way to take it other ways than that tight cuff. Anyone else get lymphadema? All these side effects - just keep coming.

Lynn

ugh- the lymphedema argument rages on.. I got a lecture from an RN when I went to the hospital for my port insertion, months after surgery and SLNB.

She said in a very snotty voice over and over that it was "old school" thinking to have BP taken and IVs done on the SLN side. It really pissed me off. i didn't need a lecture right before a surgical procedure!

Obviously, the big advantage to the SLNB is it REDUCES risk for lymphedema, since fewer nodes are removed than in the old days. But there is still risk, and I know and have read of many who get LE with only one node taken. So why take more risk? I will always have BP and IVs done on the non SLN side.

They (the medical community) also rarely even mention breast and truncal lymphedema. It's like they want to keep it a secret. But it happens with breast surgery also. You can get truncal LE after gallbladder surgery!

SummerAngel, in your case, it was very smart to make early contact with an LE trained and certified specialist. They have much different outlooks than surgeons, as they see the long term problems. Surgeons are like a one night stand. Hah!

Getting blood pressure done in an alternative manner (thigh) sounds like a good first strategy. The hospital may have ideas about alternate IV sites. But even though you are having both sides done, you may not get LE on either side. And I truly hope you do not.

I would call your LE specialist now, though, before surgery, and ask. . It's the only place to get the right answer for you, since she has seen you.

Sorry, was away for a bit there (relaxing and recovering! and getting a few errands done).

downdog -- Great info on the blue dye. I was at Cedars-Sinai. I'm not sure what they used on my, but they kept saying that my breast or even my face might turn blue! That would be terrible to be stuck with a partially blue face (they mentioned the chin area!), for ages! Luckily--if anything is slightly blue on me, I don't notice! Of course I'm only a couple of weeks out and still have surgical tape on, so it's not as if I can really tell all the details... and what is bruising and what might be blue dye! But I'm not too worried at this point.

I am pretty sure they gave me the dye while I was out! I had the wire localization thing first, and got local anesthesia for that. Then got wheeled back to the pre-op area, then went to the OR and that's all I remember! So my only bit of pain was the shots for the wire localization, which was stinging, but fairly brief.

I have a whole tube of lidocaine from my chemo days. I keep forgetting to use it, though, since you need to put it on about 45min to an hour before... I guess I'm so used to being stuck with needles by now that I just don't remember and just deal.

...But I'm happy enough not to have to have worried about getting the blue dye injected when awake!

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I'm still feeling pretty good after my LX on May 8. Haven't bothered to remove surgical tape... I'll just wait until it gets loose and ready to fall off. Particularly at the SNB site, since my arm definitely rubs against it as it is.

I finally got a copy of the last bit of my Path yesterday... My HER2 + came in as inconclusive, which is weird. But my MO said it might be because I already had chemo... and it was a bit inconclusive from the biopsy... only positive with a FISH. I'm guessing this won't change my treatment???

I'm heading for my radiation mapping appointment today. That should be "interesting." I get to check in with all the radiation folk on the board! whee. --But really, it will be good to learn a bit more about the whole thing. I can barely keep up with all the treatments I need to do and learn about--even when they take months! It's just a roller-coaster. But it definitely keeps me distracted and not over-worrying.

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Continued good luck and wishes to those going in for surgery and those recovering!

PMR and Midgie - Best wishes for a smooth surgery tomorrrow and uncomplicated healing.  Warm hugs!!

Best wishes for pmr53 and midgiemoon tomorrow !

5/28/15 BMX with left side Sentinel Node Dissection & Immediate Reconstruction - Good Luck to all with upcoming surgeries. Glad I found this forum

Lovevt, as far as driving, I tried at two weeks - took a spin around the block, and while it felt good to get out, I was very uncomfortable. After about 3.5 weeks, I started doing quick errands. Getting in and out of the car was a little rough, but tolerable… it slowly got better -- now I'm fine; I don't even feel the incisions when I enter and exit the car. My surgeon never gave me any restrictions as far as sitting. I sat at the table to eat as soon as I got out of the hospital, and I remember sitting in a desk chair trying to catch up on bills a week after surgery... I couldn't take it for very long -- loved that recliner! My surgeon lifted all restrictions at 6 weeks. At that point, he encouraged me to start stretching my legs, and he said I could go back to the gym and do anything that felt comfortable. After that, I , really started to see some big improvements, and in the last couple of weeks, I've had huge improvements….I'm able to do squats and lunges; I can crouch down on the floor - pretty much everything….. I'm very pleased! Of course, I'm still not 100%, but I see a light at the end of the tunnel.

By the way, I think I mentioned that I too had some bumps at the scar line on the thigh, but most of them have resolved. I still have one or two which I will have removed if they don't disappear at Stage 2 surgery in July. Dr. Allen said that is no big deal.

I think you will start to see some big changes for the better in the next couple of weeks, but especially when your restrictions are lifted.

ditto what April said. The wire thing wasn't bad at all . Better than biopsy. I didn't have injection just tracer and just a little stingy.

Best wishes ladies!

I had my SNB on Wednesday (thank you for all your good wishes!!!). My BS took out three nodes, which she said looked pretty healthy to her visual inspection. I'm supposed to find out the results today. I hate this waiting! The procedure itself went well. The only complaint I have: I woke up from anesthesia with a very sore throat. Later I looked in the mirror and found that I have a cut on my lip and a cut on my uvula. Looks like somebody carelessly shoved a breathing tube down my throat while I was unconscious. Two days later, my throat still hurts a lot and I have a low grade fever. The incision site looks clean though. I called the hospital and they said I probably have a cold. Strange coincidence? I don't know. Today I'm just feeling cranky... and my upper body feels achy and sore. And I'm soooo scared that it might be bad news, that there's cancer in my lymph nodes and I will need chemo. All I can do is pray and wait...

Tresjoli2, please call your BS. You have a right to know what was done to your body. Even of pathology is not available, you should at least know how many nodes were removed. My BS calls me just to see how I'm doing. After my lumpectomies I didn't really remember talking to my BS so I called her the next day to just review everything. I like to believe I set a standard of communication with her

Tresjoli2: My BS talked to my family member in the recovery ward so he could relay the information (I was knocked out too).

My BS called to tell me the good news that my lymph nodes are clean!!! She made the effort to call me today so that I wouldn't have to wait all weekend. I really love her. She always makes herself available via email too. I feel so fortunate to have her as my BS.

Tresjoli2, I hope your waiting is over soon too. And I hope it's good news for you as well.

I also had a hard time with anesthesia. They had a hard time knocking me out and had to drug me pretty heavily so I had a hard time waking up. I didn't see my BS either when I came to. She had talked to my husband and he relayed the information to me. That must be typical. If you didn't have a caregiver who obtained information on your behalf, you should certainly call your BS and find out the details. I agree with AudreyB that you have the right to know.

Audrey, There is a good page on here called Arimidex Users...... I will be on Arimidex when chemo and exchange surgery is over and have been reading that. Evidently, there are different manufacturers and the one most mentioned without a lot of side effects is Arimidex by TEVO.