February 2016 Surgeries

shpva57 · February 2016

Balthus

I also was presented with only one choice: UMX on the right side. The area of DCIS and calcification was too large for a lumpectomy. I trusted my BS on this, knowing his skill and expertise in these things. He did my lumpectomy on the left side three years ago and I had no problems with it. I am comfortable with my decision and now nearly two weeks out from surgery feel pretty good. No regrets. No reconstruction, but I can revisit that decision.

blg4 · February 2016

thanks everyone for their response

anniekaja11… The bad surgeon said she could do a partial mastectomy. The good one is the one that said the breast can't be saved. I don't know who is right. I don't see how I would have time for another opinion before the surgery. It is less than 2 weeks away. I am over the 90 day window already. I hate my job. It is very physical. It is all upper body work. I felt I needed disability before I even found out I had breast cancer due to fibromyalgia and injuries from car accidents. (My dr does not agree. Or maybe he agrees but knows I will just lose because there are no tests that could show I am not just making it all up.) It will be even harder for me to do my job after the surgery. I am glad some people love their job.

Balthus I saw the first surgeon after the MRI. She thought she could save the breast. She mentioned something about reshaping it. (She was terrible at explaining stuff.) The surgeon I liked did not think he could close the wound because the area is so large. The other breast is affected too but it is LCIS. He wants to biopsy it to make sure that is what it is.

CoolgrammieNC · February 2016

hello everyone, one week since surgery...it was 13 hrs long, did not wake up until next morning...Drs had hard time getting my meds right....morphine was horrible for me, but they finally got it right. I came home sat. Other than extreme exhaustion getting better every day....thank you for the prayers..

anniekaja11 · February 2016

Well my surgery date is upon us! I'm very excited to have this cancer source taken OUT. I'm all set, got my daughter and hubby on my team. Surgery at 9am tomorrow for right breast, central excision with nipple going bye bye and my sentinel node taken out. Please keep me and my family in your prayers. I can't wait to get back on the forum and support other's afraid of this with my story of how easy it went.

Best to you all -

A

Bliss58 · February 2016

Hello all. Welcome, anniekaja11! I'm not sure if your surgery is today or 2/17 from your post, depending on where you are located, but my surgery is tomorrow, 2/17 at 12:30 pm, left breast. I'm ready as well to get the source out of me, but I'm mourning the loss as well. Oh well, my new "normal." My best wishes to you for a smooth surgery and easy recovery.

VSB2015 and JACTsMom thinking of you as you go through your procedures today. My best wishes to you both that everything goes smoothly for you and you recover quickly!

Numb · February 2016

Surgery 2/22/2016 Numb Lumpectomy Right Breast ILC with 2 lymph notes to be removed

Skittlegirl · February 2016

Thinking of you today, VSB2015, JACTsMom, anniekaja11, and Sunnyone22,

I hope that everything goes well tomorrow, Bjsmiller.

I am doing okay. Thursday was a long day. We were told to be at the hospital at 9:15. At one point I saw my BS come out to talk to another family. A little later I saw my ENT surgeon also come out. Both of them ended up having surgeries that took longer than anticipated, so it was after noon before I was moved to pre-op. My BS won the coin flip to go first. We went over surgery plans one last time with each surgeon. Each part of surgery was supposed to last around 2 hours. Each surgeon was expecting a 1-night recovery to be enough of a hospital stay. However, I have 3 young kids at home, so I asked my breast surgeon for another night. He said that that would be fine, he just wouldn't be around on Saturday morning for discharge. They gave me 2 IV cocktails before I left pre-op and by the time they wheeled me out the door I was already feeling the effects of the drugs.

I started waking up and noticed it was a little after 8pm, so I ended up being out around 7 hours. They transferred me upstairs and got me settled. The nurse called up a clear liquid tray since the kitchen was getting ready to close. My family said good-bye. My husband had to go get our kids and my mom and grandparents wanted to go rest. I ended up getting sick with no one around, so that wasn't good. The nurses got it and my bed cleaned up.

The night went okay. Waking every 2 hours for vitals. I ended up with 3 drains (one of each side from the breast surgery and one in the throat from the thyroid). The surgeons stopped by before heading over to the office. Both said that everything went well. Half of my parathyroid was removed since it was 4-5x larger than normal. I met with the ENT surgeon today and pathology came back clear, so no thyroid cancer. The breast surgeon said that I had a good response to the chemo. He found the biopsy clip that they placed when they biopsied my lymph node. Since the node was now negative for cancer, he didn't have to take any more nodes. He wrote out my discharge papers for the next day.

Saturday was pretty much spent waiting for my bladder to snap out of it. I had gone once on Friday, but so much time passed that the surgeon wanted them to put a catheter in that night. Saturday morning they removed it, but then I was on the clock to use the bathroom. So a lot of drinking and walking and finally, like 7 hours later I peed. But then they did a bladder scan and I had only peed about half of what had been in my bladder. But apparently it was enough for the BS because they decided to release me. I was ready to come home and my family was ready to have me home.

So, I have just been recovering. Probably not taking it as easy as I should. But life doesn't slow down with 3 kids. I have a meeting with the breast surgeon on Friday and am hopeful that one of the drains can come out.

Bliss58 · February 2016

Skittlegirl, thanks for your update and well wishes. So glad to hear no thyroid cancer! Very good news. Tough to have 3 young ones and going through all this, but you be kind to yourself and rest, too.

Sunnyone, hope all went well for you, too!

anniekaja11 · February 2016

Bjsmiller

Hello! Thinking of you...you are probably going into surgery right now donning one of those blue surgical hairnets and rocking your surgical gown. You got this! we're all with you and pulling for you and praying for you. See you on the forum later.

Skittlegirl

Epic hurl woman! So sorry no-one was around to help you. So glad you got that pee pee going.I hope you have a restful day today and you're healing is going very very well. All those drains will pass. I'm glad you are home with your loving family.

Everything went well for me. Surgery came out as expected - with 1/3 of my center breast taken out - yay!!! and only the sentinel lymph node taken and it was clean. Well I knew that I was very lucky to get routed from my new gynecologist who has pink hair to my BS Dr. Cary Kaufman. And I've heard that he is very well known and skilled, a bit of a folk lore in this town. But when he came walking into the pre-op area one of the nurses gasped "OMG< Its Dr. Kaufman!!!" and people were watching him talking to me! Ha! The last thing I remember before I went out was him looking at me with my images up on the screen behind him and I was telling him think of the Seahawks and go wide and he was smiling at me.Well tomorrow I get the pathology results. Praying for clean wide margins, clean lymph and a nicer cancer...but I already know that my biopsy looked ugly.

So grateful to find ya'll here. Thanks for thinking of me yesterday.

A

blg4 · February 2016

Any tips on what to bring before surgery or to have on hand after? I will be staying in a hotel the night before. I don't live that far away but not really worth it to go home either. (Have to have dye on the 24th and surgery on the 25th)

Went out with sister today and got some scrubs... thought that might be easier to put on after surgery

Have a prescription for a camisole... have an appointment for tomorrow.

Skittlegirl · February 2016

I wish I had brought my robe. I ended up needing to walk around the floor. I had some sweatpants to wear on the bottom, but the nurse brought a second gown to use as a robe.

To go home, I wore my sweatpants and a button-down Hawaiian shirt that used to be my dad's.

I wore my glasses for the first day and then put my contacts and hat on for the second recovery day in the hospital.

Phone charger was really the only other thing I needed. I spent a lot of the first day napping. The second day I was awake more.

Skittlegirl · February 2016

My surgeon put a binder on me after the surgery, so I just left that in place in the hospital. I wore it for a day at home and have been going without anything on this week.

Mckaylaleigh · February 2016

Due to a nasty virus running through our house this week, my surgery is rescheduled for March 7. Good luck to everyone with Feb surgeries!

mom2boo_and_buzz · February 2016

blg4 - I was in for 2 nights and had an iv in the whole time and compression things on my legs hooked up to a machine so I could only wear the hospital gown. I slept a lot, barely watched tv and didn't even use my phone that much but I did bring a charger. I had a cotton cap on the whole time unless I had a hot flash and then I took it off.

To go home I brought yoga pants, the cami to hold the drains ( left the hospital bound and that stayed on for 6 days until my post op appt with the plastic surgeon) and a big comfortable button up shirt. I'm wearing the mastectomy bra 24/7 and the cami for the drains that are still in at 2 weeks. I'm still wearing only button up shirts and probably will for another few weeks. I'm not allowed to do any exercises until the drains are out so my range of motion on the right side where I had lymph nodes removed is not so good. I should have brought slip on shoes, DH had quite the time trying to put my sneakers on me and tie them LOL!! I think comfort is key, whatever seems comfortable to you, bring along. Good luck!

Mckaylaleigh, sorry to hear your surgery is rescheduled, I hope the virus fairy leaves your house soon! Good luck!

blg4 · February 2016

Thanks for the comments

Do you guys think scrubs would be too hard to put on at first? I am having a umx (Is there somewhere that lists what the abbreviations mean? I think thats the right one for unilateral mastectomy)

I have a prescription for a camisole. One place said they were not allowed to give it to me until 24 hours after the surgery (?!) due to Medicaid rules. Since my surgery is on a Thursday that means I could not have it until the next week! Nordstroms says they don't take Medicaid... but they have had people that were able to get it before their surgery.

Do you think a tablet is too valuable to bring? It is a Samsung Galaxy A. Or maybe it would be too hard to hold it anyway.. it is 8 inches. My cell phone is small, it's a Tracfone

I am going to have the dye in the node the afternoon before, so not really worth it to go home then come back in the early am the next day. Supposed to stay in the hospital overnight. One time when I saw the BS he said some people don't want to stay overnight. The last time I went, he just said I would be staying overnight.

ksusan · February 2016

I really think you'll want a button-up shirt. You're not supposed to lift your arms for awhile in order to let the skin and lymph system heal. I couldn't get into even a button-up jammie top without help the first week.

Skittlegirl · February 2016

Scrub bottoms would probably be fine. I ended up pantsless my first day of recovery. They did a lot of bladder scans and ended up putting a catheter in me. And I wasn't very coordinated so pants seemed like an extra hassle.

A tablet would probably be fine.

I am very glad that I got 2 nights to recover before going home. My surgeon did the dye that day after I was already out. The nurse was a bit concerned the next morning when she put the catheter in and it was bright green.

blg4 · February 2016

ksusan not sure how you can put on any shirt without raising your arms since you have to put it through a sleeve. you might get in one arm without raising it but how about the other?

Skittlegirl… My BS said the dye had to be done before the breast was removed. They are doing it the day before. Did your surgeon tell you that you would be in for 2 nights? Was it because of the bladder issues? Mine told me 1 night.

Skittlegirl · February 2016

I was only supposed to be in one night. In the pre-op room I asked for 2 nights (I had already gotten a letter from my insurance saying I was approved for 4 nights) and he said that was fine. The only thing was he wouldn't be around on Saturday to discharge me so it would be his co-worker. But then Friday morning he decided to just fill out discharge papers for the next day.

ksusan · February 2016

You can get one arm into a button-up without raising it--with arm extended and pointing down, pull on the sleeve. I had bilateral, so as I said, I needed help even with button-ups for the first while.

mom2boo_and_buzz · February 2016

Skittlegirl you've got great insurance! I was approved for outpatient surgery with 23 hours of observation. My breast surgeon had to get approval for the 2nd night since I hadn't been able to keep anything down or take meds by mouth when she saw me about 18 hours after surgery. I was so nervous that they were going to send me home anyway. It would have been nice not to have to worry about that for weeks ahead of time.

blg4 · February 2016

ksusan I can see how you would get the first arm in that way but not the second unless the top was extremely oversized

ksusan · February 2016

If you have lumpectomy or unilateral, you can pull on the one sleeve, then you have flexibility to move the non-affected arm at a greater angle. If you have bilateral, you can either get one sleeve on and ask someone to help you by holding the other sleeve and gently guiding your arm in, or you can hold both arms pointing down slightly behind your hips and ask someone to slide the sleeves up both arms. Pulling a non-buttoning shirt on is really likely to make you put your arms in a position that is generally not recommended after surgery. Plus, it's harder to get non-buttoned shirts off, even with help.

blg4 · February 2016

ksusan good ideas thanks

Skittlegirl · February 2016

I had my first follow-up with my BS. He took out one of my drains. I see him again next Friday to see how my other drain is doing with output. Right now it's at 60-75 mL per day. The incisions are healing well. He did notice an area with some redness. He thinks it might just be bruising, but in case it is the beginning of an infection, he wrote me a prescription for an antibiotic. He is also sending me to physical therapy.

blg4 · February 2016

Does anyone know? Is physical therapy something you normally get sent to, or do they just assume you are ok on your own?

grandma3X · February 2016

When I went for my first fill the nurse practitioner asked if I wanted PT. I said yes, so she wrote an order for 30 sessions. My BS also wrote an order for me to go before I had surgery to get a baseline, but I was too busy and never got around to it. If they don't offer, be sure to ask. I've been to 8 sessions and it has helped immensely.

Skittlegirl · February 2016

I think my BS sends all of his MX ladies to PT.

Looks like he was right about the beginning of an infection. Been running a slight fever since yesterday. My drain output is now a cloudy peach color. He had us draw a line on the border of the rosy pink area so we can see if the redness increases in area or decreases. So nice that I can text him and let him know what is going on.

ksusan · February 2016

I had to ask for PT. My otherwise delightful BS did not even give me a booklet of acceptable stretches (my MO did, later) and just said, "You can do what you want." The PT has helped me with surgical recovery, appropriate exercise and stretches, and the rotator cuff impingement caused by chemo.

Bliss58 · February 2016

Hi everyone, just checking in to say all went well initially with my surgery Wednesday, was discharged Thursday afternoon around 2:30 pm, but then that night developed a huge hematoma. When I first got home, I relaxed a couple hours then decided to empty my drain for the first time. I noticed the blood was thick and didn't drain out of the bulb as easily as the nurse had shown me. BS gave me her cell number upon discharge, so I called and told her about the clotted blood and that I seemed to be swelling. She said she could get to me quicker than I could get back to the hospital, so she actually made a house call to check me out! She agreed something was wrong and I needed to get back to the hospital, so back I went and was readmitted for surgery at 10:30 pm. Luckily, I hadn't eaten too much, so the anesthesiologist was able to put me under with no worries. Turned out a small arterial vessel was not completely sealed off during the breast removal. I was fine at the hospital I guess because I pretty much stayed in bed except for bathroom runs, so I guess once I got home and moved around more it started really pumping blood. They removed a whole liter! Stayed overnight again, was discharged Friday afternoon and now I'm doing very well. My hemocrit dropped from 40 to 28, so I'm taking an iron supplement and see the BS on Tuesday. I took Vicodin while in the hospital and yesterday, but this morning I'm just taking two extra-strength Tylenol which seem to be managing the pain just fine so far. I had massaging wraps on my legs as well.

I actually took too many things to the hospital because I didn't even use most of them. I only have a flip phone, so took that with me and decided to leave a tablet or laptop at home. I brought books and magazines, but really, between people visiting, eating, getting up occasionally and sleeping, I never read anything, but watched some TV. The hospital provided everything to me even lip balm, so I didn't use any of the sundry items I brought with me except maybe my back scratcher, mirror and tweezers. I think a change of clothes, button-up shirt for sure, was all I really needed and my phone. A nurse navigator brought me a surgical bra and a camisole to take home, but recommended I not put them on for a couple days, so I'm just wearing my pj top that has a pocket for the drain. So grateful for this forum, too, and all your great advice and support. Thanks for thinking of me and hugs to you all and best wishes.

February 2016 Surgeries

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