December 2015 Surgery Sisters Part Deux (with list)

For everyone that had their surgeries yesterday, Im praying for a quick recovery......

For everyone recovering, hope you are all doing better....have a Blessed New Year....

Kate glad you are home and resting. To the others who had surgery this week sending positive thoughts that your surgeries went well. It is a New Year and I like everyone hope to leave most of this behind us and move on to a better year.

3 days after surgery and my doctor called me today to give me the news that between what was left of my breast tissue and the lymph nodes removed there was ZERO CANCER detected any where. There was no residue or anything. She figured I would want to hear that before the year end instead of waiting until next week when she return from vacation. Made my day. Still will probably have radiation since the sentinel nodes removed last summer did have cancer cells. So either it had not spread any further or the chemo took care of everything. Either way I will take it.

As for my surgery I have been doing pretty good but the drains are a pain. How long do they usually stay in? Also no one said anything to me about exercise for my arm so do I have to wait until the drains are out?

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE AND HOPE EVERYONE CONTINUES TO GET STRONGER EACH DAY

Kate- so glad you're feeling well and was able to get home to your own. Bed so fast. Rest and heal now.

Duzy- great news on your path!!! Yes, drains are a pain. I've seen some get them out within a week, others 3 or more weeks. Mine were in 2 1/2 weeks and probably shold have staped in longer. Take your time, they will come out eventually, I promise!

Jen- glad your fever is down. You're a tough girl. I hit 100 and am toast. Wishes that you continue to get better. I too am waiting on genetics results. Think it takes about 3 weeks. I registered so I can see the progress of the testing. Do you have that option?

Happy New Year everyone!!! On to a more healthy year.

I asked my surgeon about the regional block and she said they don't do that where I had my surgery.

grandma3x- I was offered the block but declined it. It wasn't that I felt it wouldn't work, but they didn't bring it up until right before surgery and I didn't have time to think, so I said no. I did agree on an epidural though. Worked great during the first night. I was itching from it though so kept scooting my back against the bed in an attempt to scratch and at some point it fell out. I knew something was up because I started hurting more, so clearly it was helping. Is that an option?

Deaconlady- great news!

I feel like writing a haiku for the JP drain, but I'll restrain myself.

Feeling pretty good overall. Just made the mistake of looking at my pre-surgery labs, which show moderate neutropenia (thanks, chemo!), so I'm trying not to worry. One of my plans for the new year was to do less worrying, so we'll see how it goes.

Other than the drain, I feel great. I'm compressing my chest with an ace bandage (over the dressing, which I changed two days ago), and draining very little. I wish I could get this sucker out of me before my post-op on Thursday!

Sending hugs to all.

Deaconlady congrats on your results.

Grandma3X I had some type of nerve block but I am not sure what it was called because they surprised me with it about an hour before surgery. It was a shot they gave me in the back and would help with the pain for about 24 hours.

KateB79 glad to hear you are resting. I was given a compression in the hospital that has Velcro and was told to wear for the first 3-4 days. Rest all you can

Songbird72 I go for a follow up appt a week from Monday. I am still draining quite a bit but it has not been a week yet. It sounds like maybe we had the same type of block during surgery. I don't necessarily have a lot of pain but I have a lot of tingling/numbness around my armpit and on the under side of my arm. I wasn't sure if that was normal and just takes time to heal so I don't want to do to much. The BS said to do as much as normal as possible but nothing repetitive or over my head.

Hope everyone else is getting stronger and healing well.

Jen- so sorry you're dealing with that. I had a staph infection after my excisiona biopsy in september and remember how bad I felt. My fever didn't get that high, but I've only had one adult fever in my life. They didn't realize how bad it was because of the lack of fever, buy I felt terrible all over. Ended up in the hospital for 4 days for iv abx so I can relate a little. I was so worried about it after my mx, stayed on oral abx for 4 weeks. The 1st infection didn't happen until 2 weeks post op, so I'm still not confident my risk is over. It's been 2 days since stopping abx. I'm hopeful but cautious!

Since you were on abx, are they gonna switch you? Did they do a sensitivity on it to make sure what you're thing works with what you have?

of course you feel run down! You've been through so much, stinks. A friend of mine suffered with Cushing symptoms for years before being diagnosed, that process alone was draining, im sorry youve been through so much. Hoping the next med works better at getting rid of the infection. Does your doc consult with your other providers? Seems with your other medical concerns, this may require a team approach.

And you are NOT whining! !!!

The ps said since the drain is the source, he opted to remove even though it is dumping 200 a day. So it is gone and they took a sample. They added levaquin and I have to take both antibiotics for a while. I will see an infectious disease doc tomorrow. It is one painful, red hole in my side. On the plus side everything else looks normal.

It is sadly typical for Cushing's to take years. I had a known pituitary tumor for 12 years and was sick before, still it took so long. Doctors are taught it is rare, and if you don't have one symptom or some want 2x ranges (!!!) and even now when I was in the hospital with a covering doctor he ran literally 2 blood tests (tsh and t4) and said in my records he did not think I was panhypopituitary... Like I am supposed to explain to him years of medical history in the icu after I wake up from a 12 hour surgery and all the data is in the office, he chooses not to read... Or believe after all, tests when I am sick are so accurate.

Warrior Women!

I just wanted to drop in and see how all of you are doing! The month of December was life changing for all of us! We've seen it through and we are looking to Warrior On to the next hurdle... some of us have chemo, some have rads, some have both, just different time frames...

Know that all of you are conquerors! You will rise above! You will kick this thing to the curb and rise up more woman than you were before!

Let's continue to be out here and encourage each other, especially in this group! I feel connected to all of you as we've shared so much through the surgery journey. We'll pop up on other boards, but I hope all of you will continue to check in here. Or we can start another board for our group, now that surgery is over... maybe a Warrior On board? Hmmm, there's a thought... lmk what you think...

Warrior On!

((Musosgirl)) You've been through the wringer today! My day was a piece of cake compared to yours. Hope you are done with surgery now.

I woke up with my heart racing, and I freaked out. Gave myself a headache crying. I told DH that I was taking my dog and running away. LOL. We talked to the nurse and Doctor and convinced them to give me a baby dose of drugs for the port placement. They also tracked down a scopolamine patch for me. I was awake for the whole procedure and it was no big deal. And NO nausea! Whew! Hope I can get some better sleep tonight.

Got sutures removed today. Was not fun, they have been in almost 5 weeks. Ps wanted to go slow because of my lack of skin. Chest is still very tight. He said first fill would be in 2 weeks. Worried now reconstruction may not go well. The nurse who removed the sutures Said she had never seen them so tight before and had difficulty getting them out. Thankfully incision is numb. I asked if that was a bad sign, and she assured me I'd have good results. Guess time will tell.

Musogirl - so sorry you're dealing with a complication, just a bump in the road to full recovery. Feel better-star wars isn't going anywhere, maybe they'll want to see it twice.

NJJen I hope you are starting to feel better with the drain removed and taking antibiotics. That must be so difficult to go through.

Musogirl so sorry about all of your problems. It makes it seem like it will never end but it will get better. Get lots of rest.

LovemyVizsla sorry for the worries but glad everything turned out well. I am assuming the port was for chemo treatment? If so I hope that goes well for you. I had treatment before surgery so I am still gaining my strength back from that. And watchfully looking for my hair to grow back (Ha HA).

BethL glad you got your sutures out today and I am sure everything will turn out great with your reconstruction.

MisV123 So great to hear positive results from your doctor. I understand radiation is not suppose to be as difficult. I think they originally told me before my last surgery 5 weeks but I go for another consult the end of this month. You had quite a few lymph nodes removed. I had my auxiliary removal and the path report said 6 were removed and tested.

Jerseygirl22 Great idea on the warrior board. I have not posted a lot on any of the boards but being in the same group as everyone having surgery it would be nice to see how everyone is doing as we each move on to other treatments.

For anyone else who had surgery I hope you are feeling better and getting stronger every day. I feel like I go try to go back to work but I think it is too much of a hassle with the drains still in. I go for my follow up on Monday so I hope she removes them. One the output has gone down before 20 a day but the other is still around 50 a day.