Good news / bad news

AnnieMae, when I had some time and knew I was going to have to have surgery about three weeks out I cooked and froze a bunch of things so I had easily microwaved or reheatable stuff ready for when I knew I wouldn't be able to do it when I felt bad

Your slow-cooker will be one of your best friends. Make large batches of healthy stuff (chili, soups, stews, etc.) and freeze individual portions. Canned proteins--salmon, wild line-caught tuna, sardines, cooked chicken--will come in handy and are ready-to-eat without cooking (and unlike a lot of shelf-stable nukable mixes, not processed. The exceptions are Indian meals in pouches, which are generally all-natural and not necessarily spicy). Hummus, baba ghannouj (if you can easily find it), tabbouli salad, etc. are all healthy and need minimal-to-no prep. Frozen fruits & veggies are easy to prepare and you needn't have to shop several times a week and worry about using them up before they spoil. Bagged and pre-washed salads are good too. If sugar isn't an issue, individual servings of flavored yogurt, rice/chocolate/tapioca pudding, flan, etc. are helpful. If you are within the delivery area for Peapod or Instacart, shopping becomes so much easier.

If you have a DVR, time to stockpile episodes of shows you'd like to watch; if a Netflix or Amazon account, time to pick the shows in your queue. You may get fatigue that gets too much for you to think straight as to which shows to watch, and it’s nice to have them lined up.

And don't be afraid to open up to your church--that's what they're there for. Wouldn't you jump at the chance to help a fellow congregant in a similar situation? There's also cleaningforareason.org, as well as takethemameal.org--the latter allows friends to pick a night to have a meal they choose (based on your registered preferences) delivered fully-prepared to your door for you & your family. Your nurse-navigator will have a wealth of other resources to help you through your surgery & recovery and on to the next step.

AnnieMae, if you’re not going to have a mastectomy, you might not even need a prescription painkiller. I wasn’t even given a prescription, and extra-strength generic Tylenol worked fine. Icing helped immensely.

AnnieMae, dental work and surgery hurts much worse than breast biopsy/lumpectomysurgery as far as I'm concerned. I could have gone to work the day after mine if I hadn't had the lifting restrictions. I'm allergic to steri-strips, so I was just glued on my incision, so I had to be careful about anything that would pull on my incision for about five days

AnnieMae, you should absolutely be able to meet with the anesthesiologist the day of your surgery. As far as I'm concerned, the anesthesiologist is just as important as the surgeon.

I had minor surgery when I was 19, and I felt so sick after that surgery I was terrified that I would feel the same way or worse after my BMX.

I am also sensitive to medications. Most antibiotics make me extremely nauseous, and I'm allergic to a couple of them. I took Codeine once for a toothache, and I had a horrible allergic reaction to it. I told my anesthesiologist all of my concerns and spared no details with respect to my history and experiences with meds.

He was fantastic. He had an anti nausea med attached to my IV in case I felt sick when I woke after surgery. And I did for about 5 seconds when I woke, but the nurse released the med and the nausea dissipated immediately.

When I had surgery to clear the margins, that anesthesiologist put an antinausea patch on me before surgery. You may want to inquire about this to the doctor.

Wishing you the best for an easy surgery and fast recovery!

hello Anniemae. All of us here went through everything you are feeling: disbelief, confusion, anxiety and, most of all, sheer fear. I'm only a few months ahead of you, diagnosed in feb, lumpectomy then rads and now struggling with ai/tamoxifen.i can tell you i was absolutely terrified of the anasthetic and convinced i would die under it. Guess what, i didn't! Afterwards the was surprisingly little pain and i needed v little pain relief. I was driving 3 days later and back at work in a week. I was able to keep working part time through rads. The most annoying thing after a day or so was a nipping feeling under my arm from the sentinal node biopsy but even that didn't last. I wouldn't try too hard to get your house etc sorted if you don't feel up to it. Accept help; in a surprisingly short time you'll be in a position to give it back. Best wishes and every good luck to you.

anniemae, for me, getting through the surgery was the scariest part... I have a v serious blood clotting disorder and had to go off my warfarin, take injections of a different blood thinner for 4 to 5 days before surgery, then take both after the surgery until the warfarin was back in the therapeutic range, so my fears centered around clotting or bleeding out. Neither happened I'm happy to report! Re pain meds... I didn't have significant pain....took Norco as directed but it made me feel fuzzy brained so on the second day I switched to Tylenol (can't take Nsaids due to clotting issue). Worst part for me was breaking out in hives from the antibiotic (I think it was ancef) used during surgery.... still itchy from that but most of the visible hives have cleared. Melissa lol on the mom thing... I can sooooo relate. I second/third the relief from icing. One thing I didn't expect, the seat belt in my car crossed over my incision. It's ok now but the first 2 times I drove I kept fiddling with it. Not sure what your doc will advise about driving after surgery but between the anesthesia and the norco I felt too loopy to drive until about day 6 after surgery.

I was just diagnosed today. I am in shock. Totally healthy otherwise, don't drink don't smoke. 49 years old, no history of BC in the family. Lump is 20 years old (first one I ever had) and was clear 18 months ago. I need an MRI next week and lumpectomy. I wish things would just move faster, the waiting is the hardest part.