January 2016 Surgeries

Arrrgh! I'm so frustrated!!! My clinical case is complicated.... Tumor looks small, 6mm. But there is a large area of suspicious looking calcs that biopsied negative, but that was just a sample and nobody could be sure. Surgeon recommended Lx, and would see if margins were clear at surgery, could always return for Mx. But then I met with rad onc yesterday and she reviewed everything and doesn't think clean margins would be enough to decide that area is OK, and she thinks I should have a Mx! I agonized over this decision once, and now I have to do it all over again! I'm meeting with the surgeon again today to discuss.

Oh, no, so sorry BlueHeron. Do you have time to get an unbiased second opinion.

I will keep you in my thoughts.

SVG, my primary care doc ordered the EMLA cream for me, she's great! Maybe you could ask your PCP

HI ladies,

Do any of you know anything about nipple sparing mastectomy? I've decided to proceed with BMX for my peace of mind.

My PS is recommending this route to me, but there's a small part of me that's afraid to leave anything behind. Has anyone here had nipple sparing mastectomy or know anything about the risks of leaving tissue behind?

Thank you everyone for the good posts. I now have more questions to take with me for my pre-op appt on Friday. I had two excisional biopsy and felt different after coming out of it afterwards. I am sure it was different anesthias. I also am have a snb at the time of surgery I was told that they would be numbing the area a head of time so I will be definitely asking some more questions at my preop meeting.

Svgsurvive- I am having surgery on the 13th and my ps had me come in on 1/4 for my ps preop visit to go over everything again, give me my post op instructions, med prescriptions for after and to get me scheduled for my post op appt. I would definitely give them a call.


Great to hear everything went good gemma12

I wish my BS would have a preop visit. I went for preop tests (labs & EKG) and they scheduled my first post op appt but post op insyructions & when I asked about prescriptions was told that I will be given them at discharge. I guess everyplace is so different.

@Svgsurvive: I didn't know you were following us on November surgery. I look forward to getting to know everyone over here.

I'm particularly glad to be getting rid of the TE's. The left one has drifted into my armpit and spasms first time I move every morning, and other times as well. I had a nipple-sparing BMX, so I won't need nipple recon.

@edwsmom: During the nipple sparing mastectomy, the BS will remove tissue right behind the nipple and send it to pathology for testing during surgery. Pathologist will give a report so BS will know whether or not nipple can be spared. The risk associated with leaving nipple behind, presuming it passes above test, is about the same as a Mx.

My BS said that she's only had one nipple that could not be spared in all of her NSMx's. Patient had a lump in another part of her breast, and they were surprised that the nipple also tested positive. She also had one patient have a recurrence in the scar tissue of a Mx, non NS. So, anecdotal, the odds of recurrence were similar.

Sending good thoughts to our surgery sisters for this week.

Here's a link to the discussion about nipple-sparing surgery and the risks for recurrence that I mentioned above:

http://medicine.stonybrookmedicine.edu/surgery/blo...

One thing that may be an issue, however, is that the nipple may not be correctly positioned after implant so the surgeon may have to do some adjustments. I'm not sure what that entails - does anyone know more about this?

Has anyone researched pain meds for when you go home?

My BS was going to prescribe tramadol but I had a horrible experience with that once and it gave me hallucinations so I told her nurse no way.

Then she said tylenol 3 or oxycodone.

I am hoping to not be on any pain meds long but also do not wnat to take anything that will make me feel even worse.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

Thank you. I will ask for the Percoset.

I used to take Darvoset for my fibromyalgia before it was banned by the FDA and I never had any problems with that.

I have some left over but they are at least 7 years old so likely not to work too good.

Hello everyone,

Just wanted to introduce myself. I'm 42 with 4 kids aged 1-12 and just had surgery Monday. I was more scared of the actual surgery than the recovery, so I'm glad it's over! If I could fast forward 2 weeks though, I'd be much happier! I have a family history of cancer and was positive for the Chek2 gene, so I went with a bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction instead of opting for a lumpectomy. Please feel free to ask any questions!

helloKaybee, glad to hear everything went well. I to am going to have bmx w/diep reconstruction. What type did you have? I can't believe you just had surgery and already feel like posting, remarkable. I feel so much better knowing I can ask you questions. thank you...hope and good thoughts that everything progresses well for you.

Hi Kaybee....glad to hear you are now on the recovery road. I am having surgery next week. I am 43 and having similar surgery. How are you managing your pain? I am nervous about the drains. Glad to hear you were up to posting here. Hoping everyday gets a little better for you!!!

Hi ladies! I had my surgery at 10am on Monday and had to be there at 5:15am for the dye injection so I had plenty of time to be nervous. I have never had any kind of surgery or health problems, so this was all very new to me. I was really scared of the anesthesia process, etc. My surgery took 4.5 hours which seemed longer than I would have expected. It took me a long time to wake up after, close to 90 minutes. It amazed me how much work could be done and have no pain or awareness of it. They had oxygen on me and it took me awhile to be able to open my eyes once I started to wake up. I had asked for any possible nausea medicine beforehand based on a friend's experience earlier this year when she was sick for a full 48 hours after this surgery. I was terrified of that because I am susceptible to being carsick, etc. My cousin told me to just ask for everything ahead of time because they may or may not give it to you. It was probably around 5pm when they moved me to my room. I wasn't really in any pain, just not able to move a lot, but I was comfortable. I still had my IV and oxygen going, so getting up was a pain. I finally made it to the bathroom with someone watching, but I was able to get up without help (very slowly!) and she said if I was comfortable myself after that I wouldn't need to call anyone. I held off on additional pain meds because I really wasn't feeling much, but by around 11pm started feeling some soreness, so I asked for something so I could sleep. They gave me one dose of morphine, but wanted me to stick to pain pills after that. I was home by 1pm the next day. The pain has not been intense, more just soreness. I have been trying not to take too many pain pills because of the constipation. I spent nearly an hour in the bathroom yesterday, sorry for TMI, but get your Colace or milk of magnesia ready! I was thrilled that I could get around by myself. My husband was planning to stay home for the week if needed, but I told him yesterday he might as well go back to work because I was able to fend for myself. I wasn't even sure if I'd be able to empty my own drains, but it has been easy, just a pain to have them. I managed a shower yesterday which other than trying to figure out what to do with the drains, felt great. I look scary, but I had looked at enough "after" pictures that I was prepared. I don't really have bruising, but I am very lopsided at the moment and one side is lumpy. And of course the stitches from the incision. I had tissue expanders put in and they were able to inject some saline, I'm not sure how much, but they were able to get more in the right side. I can use my arms more than I thought, just not for anything heavy. For anyone that has breastfed, the way I feel now is if I were breastfeeding and became engorged. Just like my chest is exploding and tight. It's not really painful, though, just more uncomfortable. I am not sure if my experience is normal or not. My two friends who had this done are close to my age and found it to be much more difficult, so that is what I was prepared for. I don't believe either one could get up without help for a few days. I did have a mini-meltdown for the first time this morning because I've been telling everyone how great it went, how thankful I am, how well I'm doing, etc., and it's really not that easy as I'm making it sound, so when my husband was leaving I just started sobbing because I do just feel useless. We have 4 kids and he is responsible for getting them everywhere right now which is really hard. We also work together, so he has to pick up my slack there as well. I just sit in front of the fire all day reading or on the computer and while I know it's what I should be doing, I feel really bad like I'm being lazy. Sorry so long, but just wanted to share my experience! Hopefully when the drains come out I will be feeling more human. That's the other thing... I'm not sure if I am supposed to just do nothing so not as much fluid drains and I can get them out sooner? I believe more activity increases the output, so I'm not sure what is best. My first appointment is Tuesday, and I'd love to be rid of them then!