December 2016 Surgeries

Keiki, you'll be the hottest 67-year-old (or 47-yr-old as far as others are concerned) out in the Gulf! I almost went double for symmetry's sake, but last minute decided against it because I wanted to have some feeling in my chest. That ended up being the best decision for me because I'm an absolute wus and don't think I could have handled a double, lol!

Greetings Warriors!!!

It has been three and a half weeks since my surgery bilateral mastectomy with expanders. We should be done with the saline injections by the end of January or early February. My plastic surgeon said that we can schedule the silicone transplant in April. He said it will be an outpatient surgery. He also said he will decide during surgery whether to transfer fat (lipo suction) from my tummy to have fullness or wait until December when all surgeries have settled down.

Two nodes were removed on each side. Both of my surgeons said that Pathologist report shows good results and that I most likely not need radiation or chemotherapy. Oncologist will be the one who will confirm all of these good news!!! I have an appointment next week, on January 19th. I'm super excited!!!

God bless you all! You are all Warriorsand Victors!!!

Thank you all of your prayers! Thank you for sharing your journeys!!!

Row

Kav327, I highly encourage getting second opinions. I did so for all my treatment decisions, but yes, I had 2 different MOs plus a tumor board say no to chemo when I had 2 positive nodes.

On the other hand, I did have a 2nd opinion for radiation therapy last week with a great RO and although I'm in the grey zone, she wants me to consider it. It's tough making all these decisions.

keiki - what are the scar strips you are using? I had my exchange recently and the incisions have healed nicely, but still really visible

I second the scar strips idea. Silicone scar sheets are one of the only things that have evidence behind them for minimizing scars. I've been using ScarSheetMD ones, cut to size so i can be thrifty about it. They last for two days and look blurry/clear like scotch tape. The week before my re-excision surgery i used them on the lower half only and after just a few days could see a difference in the healing. I was surprised.

Goincrzy8: I am praying with you. How soon can you get in to see the urologist?

MyJourneys: Yes, like you, it's not that I think that it's disgusting I just can't stand the numb type sensation. I try to touch my chest area as little as possible. I flinch every time the PS touches it and he tells me I'm tense, lol. He simply has no idea. I'm so sorry you're having issues from your SNB. In one way it seems strange that it comes and goes, but do you think it has to do w/nerves reattaching? Maybe that's a good thing. What does your PS/BS say about it? BTW...you're not pouting! :-)

Keiki: Since you say you touch your chest a lot, I'm curious if the sensation bothers you at all or you're accustomed to it? Maybe it feels better, even to the touch, w/an implant vs. TE?

Row: I'm happy for all of your good news!

goincrazy8- I feel you! A mass on my right kidney was found in a PET scan after my BC diagnosis. It was big measuring at 6.7 and per a urologist, very likely to be cancer. Even if not, they recommended removal of kidney due to size- but tabled surgery until after chemo & mastectomy was done. I had it removed Wednesday of last week- and yes, mass was confirmed to be chromophobe renal cell carcinoma (a rare form of kidney cancer). Take a deep breath- if you need to vent, PM me. It really isn't fair to be dealt 2 forms of cancer at once.

Hi to all of the strong ladies reading this,

I had bilat mastectomy in December 2016 for DCIS on left and ILC on right, both primary sites. Sentinel lymph node biopsy done on right at time of mastectomy was negative. No SLN biopsy was done on left as we thought we were only dealing with DCIS. However, a 2 mm area of invasive ductal was found during examination of the left breast tissue during pathology. This was a surprise. This area turned out to be Her 2 positive, ER -, PR - I'm so discouraged that a SLN biopsy on that side wasn't obtained. 3 lymph nodes were found in the mammary tissue and those were negative, which is reassuring. My oncologist states no need for herceptin or any chemotherapy for a 2 mm area with no evidence of lymph node involvement. No radiation either. I'm on Tamoxifen for the invasive lobular that was in the right and was ER+, PR-, Her2 -. I am just so anxious because the pathology findings indicate that this very small area of invasive ductal found in the left tissue was highly aggressive. I'm getting a second opinion which will take a month, to make sure that no further treatment is recommended in this situation. I can't find a whole lot of info on treating Her 2 + cancer with no evidence of lymph node involvement after a mastectomy, with consideration given that the actual sentinel lymph nodes weren't tested. If anyone has familiarity with treatment of this type situation, it would be appreciated!

Hi everyone, I'm new here. Everything went very quickly for me. I was diagnosed on 12/12/16 and I just had my nipple sparing BMX with reconstruction on Dec 27th (right side was prophylactic) and am planning to return to work (teaching) tomorrow! No need for chemo or radiation. I started taking letrozole about two weeks ago. So far, so good, but still sore from the tissue expanders. Being 5 weeks out, I'm still having trouble getting comfortable sleeping at night. I'm a side sleeper and I feel like the TEs are under my armpits when I try to sleep on my side. Maybe I shouldn't be on my side anyway? I also have seen my chiropractor once since the surgery (3 weeks out). I wasn't able to lay on my tummy, but he did adjust my hips and neck. I'm wondering how long I should wait before laying on my stomach for an adjustment?

Anyway, I'm so grateful to have found this thread and connect with my other December surgeries! Good luck to everyone.

I am so tired of sleeping on recliner!!! And now that my right breast has been fully inflated for rads starting next week, I'm sure sleeping in bed would be even worse. I'm now having neck issues from recliner sleep so I bought one of those neck travel pillows in the hopes it will help prevent soreness & immobility in neck in the morning. When will this get better??????

I had my BMX 12/9 and am still sleeping on my back with lots of pillows. I wake up slid sown and boy to my TEs fill tight. I haven't slept through a night either.

I'm with you as far as not sleeping in my bed. It's the expanders that make it hard for me to lay flat. I have an electric recliner that I moved into my bedroom. I sleep great in it, but when I try the bed I'm uncomfortable. They didn't expect me to need chemo, but my Oncotype DX score disagreed! Now, I'm stuck with these expanders until at least May! ugh! I've read that cannabis in various forms can really help with sleep. Unfortunately, I live in Missouri and it's not user friendly here. I've heard the spray is great, but I haven't found an easy way to get it and I don't really want to get stoned! Chemo brain is bad enough, so I don't need to be altered! If any of you live in a cannabis friendly state, try the spray or the oil.

Catgirl, i won't be too far ahead of you with the TE exchange! (I just have one - left side) I got my last fill a couple of weeks ago and my PS says he likes to keep them in for 3 months before the exchange! Somehow I missed that bit of info during our first discussion. I'm looking at the end of April before mine is removed. Praying sleep improves then. I'd gladly try the cannabis if I could legally. It became legal in AL just last year, but only for use in patients who suffer from seizures...I believe.

Pepper, I'm not sure how long that is spread out but I hope it goes very quickly for you and w/no SEs.

I've not taken vicodin. Glad it works for you! Looking forward to getting this TE out! Most say the final results are worth it and it feels SO MUCH better once it's removed. I keep holding on to that!! :-)