January 2016 Surgeries

Hi Kessa,

I don't think there are any nodes there. I would definitely call Drs....they should be aware of any changes. Sending calming thoughts....the anxiety is awful.

I have a skin spot that has a bluish tint to it that they have me cream to put on .....hoping it isn't the start of necrosis. The top layer keeps pulling off but seems like new skin keeps coming up but still is bluish. I go tomorrow to both bs and ps so hopefully they will be able to tell me something on it.

Good morning Grandma3x

That is great to have first fill. My ps told me that usually it is 50cc a fill but depends on the person. Sometimes they have to do less but more often. He also told me possibly weekly fills. Did your ps tell you how often they will fill

What a group of special women! I have read as many posts as possible since joining and chimed in my opinions and the little knowledge that I have. I chronicled much of my journey about DCIS and the New Standard of Care that is emerging on a thread I started in August 2015.

I hate to let go of this group. So many of us are not finished. Some will have more surgeries and others will go on to other treatments. Some will heal with no recurrence. Like some of you, I don't have any idea what the near-term holds.

I will be checking in to see if there are new posts. Since I am sidelined for 30 days, I cannot do much. By the time I return from the post ops, it will be 19 days. The incisions are delicate so I cannot really look at them very often to tell what is going on. My right breast feels as if the breast surgeon went on a cleaning spree. Good for her that she had plenty of acreage to clear out! Lol, I had some blue spots but they were also on the surgical vest. About 99.9 percent sure it is from the ink drawings the plastic surgeon put on my skin in pre op.

I am blessed to have had a wonderful cancer surgeon and plastic surgeon. I will be especially blessed if I don't have to see them for a while!

DecisionFreak, we don't have to let go of this group. We can still be in touch as we continue our journeys. All we need to do is keep it in our favorites, and we'll know when someone checks in. We can also add members to our friends list.

I was noticing that the February 2015 surgery group is still active. It would be nice to know how everyone from January 2016 is doing in a year.

For my warrior sisters

Hey, everybody, boy am I suddenly down in the dumps. Some of it is anxiety waiting for the path report. Some is frustration that there is nobody in my home to help me heal. Long story...but all the energy goes to my 85 year old mom with stage 1V cancer, a lady that I dearly love. I cannot cook for myself, I have to get my brother to do my laundry, the house is falling around my ears because I can't do housework. My brother does as much as he can but it takes two people and one of them is on the bench.

Anyway, I was looking at my breasts when I was putting new strips and clean gauze pads and I noticed that the left one that was reduced looks perfect. The right one that suffered through two lumpectomies plus a breast reduction looked great last week at the post op with the plastic surgeon but it appears that a big dimple is starting to form around the incision site for at least the first lumpectomy. I cannot tell where the breast surgeon went in for the second lumpectomy, but I thought she was going in through the same incision.

The PS told me that she might have to put in a TE along with fat in my stomach if the surgeon took out a lot of tissue but she did not have to do that.

Does anybody know if the PS can fix a post surgical dimple? I am not vain about my breasts but I have gone through an agonizing ordeal for a good or great cosmetic outcome.

I have tried to be cheerful but tonight I just want to cry!

any ladies noticed swelling on the affected arm(s)? I had all my axillary nodes removed on my left during my bmx. Now my left wrist is slightly swollen (I can tell by the visibility of veins and knuckles). I just noticed that the whole of my left aarm is a totally difdifferent colour. Any ideas if sI hould be alarmed?

@decisionfreak - it will be ok!

Balthus- I go to both ps and bs today. I also look pretty good but can most of the time move like a turtle. I still have drains in and not allowed to get them wet. Both Drs said I am out of work at least 6 weeks but possibly more. I have a desk job but it requires a lot of up and down.

Definitely feels like Groundhog Day

@blueheron yes that is where my most painful swelling still is but I have still swollen all over my chest. As mentioned the PT I saw last Saturday said I was doing good and it takes 6 weeks minimum for most of this to be gone.

Hi, everybody, I think the rule is that if you see or feel something alarming, get it checked out immediately. It doesn't matter if it turns out to be nothing serious. It is your health after very serious surgeries at stake. My mother at 85 years of age has stage IV breast cancer, and she is taking three big-time cancer drugs. We are fortunate that the doctor allows me to send him photos of things we are concerned about. We took her to the doctor this morning after I sent him a photo last night of a red rash on her neck. He determined that It is a bacterial infection on the skin, which could be dangerous with her compromised immune system, and the doctor prescribed an oral and a topical antibiotic when he saw her.

I was reading about what the plastic surgeon had to do for the breast reduction and I was floored. I knew it was rough surgery, but I found out that cutting around the areolas and straight down the breast to the chest requires larger incisions than breast reconstruction. I found out that it can take months for everything to settle in the breasts.

I was moving like a turtle before the reduction. I move so much more quickly now, but I still am not allowed to do heavy lifting or housework. Infection from incisions usually occurs within one week after surgery, and I am a week out today with no signs of infection. Due to cutting around my areolas, my nipples feel numb, and other areas feel numb. I don't know how much sensation will return with healing.

Hi, BlueHeron. The lump is still there. I spoke to the PS yesterday. She suggested lymph node. When I saidthat there are no lymph nodes in the area, she countered by saying we have lymph nodes everywhere. Hope she is right and this is just a reactive lymph node. I am seeing my BS today and will let you know. Quite honestly, I feel sick with worry.

Thanks for checking up on me. I really ppreciate it.

It is a reactive lymph node. Whew. As always, thanks gor the support, everyone.

@kessa619 - good to hear.

Kessa- great to hear that!!

I saw bs and ps today. They decided to take drains out even though my output was still higher than 20cc. They also cut out dead skin caused by the blue dye and stitched together the good skin. Glad they were able to do that in the office.