Lumpectomy Lounge....let's talk!

Tsoebbin, cry all you want. I remember when I was in your shoes not that long ago. I dealt with being down and depressed, overwhelmed, constantly waiting on the next appointment, test, test result. Wondering if they would get all the cancer, if I had to do chemo, if I had to have a mastectomy? I completed my radiation today!!!!!!!! I have come a long way since my diagnosis in Jan and this wonderful group of people have been part of my saving grace that kept me from going crazy. Everyone here understands what you are going through. We may not have all had the same treatments, but someone here will always be able to answer questions and pep you up when your down. Hello to all the new people and Hugs to all! I agree that CANCER CAN KISS MY ASS!!!! RADIATE THIS!!!!!!! LOL!!!!!!

Bmg welcome! This group is great! I was just diagnosed in March & they have been very helpful & uplifting I now check in ever evening to see how everyone is doing

Created, sorry you are in pain. I would check with your bs too. After my first surgery, i used ice 20 minutes at a time & was never in any pain.. I bought an refreezable Ace ice pack from walmart that is softer and you can form it to fit around your breast & underarm.

Traci, I agree with everyone else, it gets overwhelming and it's hard to stay upbeat & positive all the time. Most days I manage but find myself more emotional now and I have to give in.

ejmann, perhaps if you can post your profile (type of breast cancer, grade, tentative stage, hormone/HER2 status if you know it) it would help us help you. Sorry you had to find us, but welcome in!

Assuming you're having a lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy, if you have someone to help you with household responsibilities those first few days it'd be great. 10-11 is an age where your daughters can actually do some of the light housework, wait on you, even nuke frozen or pre-made meals. If you are not loopy from pain meds or too exhausted, you might even be able to handle some of the teaching you've been doing. If your DH can take the time off, and your mom can help out (how great that she's a nurse!), so much the better.

I can only relate my experience. My DH is a cardiologist and can almost never take time off unless it's a dire emergency--for him as well as for me. He took off the day of my surgery. I am lucky to have a housekeeper and a 31-yr-old son who's an actor (which means not exactly fully-employed). I drove to the hospital, but they got me home, ordered and served me dinner and made sure I got to sleep (downstairs on the daybed). My housekeeper went home as soon as I assured her I'd be fine. My DH went back to work the next day, and my housekeeper came in. My sister flew in from VA, expecting to find me bedridden and exhausted--instead she found me fully dressed, on the porch, eager to go out to dinner. (Because we have cats and she's allergic, we spent most of our time together outside on the deck and she had to sleep at a nearby hotel). Third day was a Friday, so housekeeper came in for half the day, we ordered out for pizza and my best friend came over. Saturday, DH, sis, DS and I walked to brunch and then to the lakefront beach before she had to drive to the airport. Sunday night, DH & I went out to dinner and I was able to drive home. I never got the “extreme fatigue” my BS’ nurse warned me to expect. (Never got it during radiation either).

I am obese (5'3", 188 at the time but 200-ish after 4 mos. on letrozole) but my tumor wasn't too deep. But my breasts are very large and fatty. So your mileage may vary. But you can handle this!

BMG, Welcome! I'm glad you found us. We are warm, comforting, supportive and quite funny (weird??). Hopefully you are coping with your chemo. That's hard but we all do what's necessary to kill cancer! Please help us help you by filling out your profile as completely as possible and making it public. You can tell that this thread moves quickly and often we can't remember each person's particulars and that helps immensely. Ask any questions you may have - we have many ladies here who have done or are doing (or about to do) chemo and they may be able to answer you.

HUGS!

I was able to get the surgeon to change the pain meds around noon yesterday, what a difference! She also told me that the lymph node portion of the surgery was much more complicated than they anticipated and they ended up cutting i& tearing some nerves so I will likely have some intense pain for quite a while. At least now I'm getting periods of rest

I think i am off pain meds during the day!!!

I am feeling pretty good today and hope I keep improving at this rate. I seem to need them more at night when I am laying down so I may need them one more night - I guess I will know later. I am on ibuprofen every 6 hours and that seems to be helping.

I will need to decide about rads and hormonal therapy soon. I hate the idea of both but if I do not have to go through all of this again it might be worth it. Such BIG decisions to make in the next couple of weeks.

Many thanks for everyone's support during my "cry-fest". I am sure there will be more but I cannot explain how much better I felt afterwards. I am going to contact the staff at the hospital that were with me that morning to send my thanks for treating me like a real person and not just a stranger having surgery that morning. Might need to bake some cookies or cinnamon rolls when I feel better!

Peggy - That is where I am heading right now (rads/hormonal therapy). I am scared of both but sure appreciate all of your honest posts about both rads and hormonal therapies and I hope I am one of the lucky ones that tolerate both well.

On another note Peggy - I cannot wait until you get to Spokane! I will probably be in the middle of my rads and not be quite "me" yet but i am sure I will return to me or a better version of me soon.

Traci, you'll be fine and yourself during rads. Maybe a tad more fatigued than usual (what woman ISN'T fatigued?). I didn't notice any difference. Had no reaction to the rads. Just another thing to do while sitting at the hospital with DH when he was extremely sick with pneumonia after surgery. Now THAT is exhausting. I also am anxious to meet you in person! It's coming!!!!

HUGS!

Traci, we all have those moments and then realize we have to slog on, doing everything we can to beat BC!

HUGS!

LovingGrouches, got that right. It's what we do.

HUGS!

Grazy And we're thankful that those prescriptions and supplements are available to us - little old lady containers or not!

HUGS!

Aw, Peachy (Claire!), what a sweetheart.

Though his leaving his toothbrush head on the electric toothbrush base drives me batty on a daily basis, I think I'll keep him. ;-)

Aw, Claire (Peachy)- what support and acknowledgement of your journey...30 or 60 rads treatments- DH "gets" your strength and what you did. Precious way to show you!

EJmann, I was once a homeschool mom, too, so I really get your concerns. You probably won't feel great after your lumpectomy, so you might want to plan for that. At the ages of your kids (10-11) they should be able to entertain themselves, do some of their work on their own, and help with simple chores. It is very likely that you will have some discomfort, which can range from mild to pretty bad, depending on what they have to do and your pain tolerance. They will give you a narcotic prescription. Fill it, even if you think you won't need it. I didn't need much pain relief in the daytime, but holy cow! Come nightfall and my underarm was really hurting and swollen. I took the narcotic at night for about a week, just so I could get some relief. But by daybreak, I was fine again, no narcotic needed.

As far as what other help you need, I think you'll be okay. If your mom can come over to help you with some of the things that the children might not be able to manage, that would be good. You're not going to be a complete invalid, but you won't be able to lift anything heavier than a paperback book for several weeks until your LX and SNB heals. So, no laundry or carrying in groceries for you~!

Good luck to you with surgery. It's getting close to the end of school, so maybe you can let the kids watch a Disney movie DVD every day, do a little math and writing, and have a 1 hour reading time. It won't mess them up tooooo much.