May 2017 Surgery Group

I concur with everything jerzey girl says, except I did t know about not using deoderant. Whoops.

That feeling of wearing a stone bra is awful but I had my exchange and its gone already.

Question: like I said I had my exchange yesterday. Today I'm having some difficulties eating or drinking.....it's like my esophagus spasms at the level of my sternum. Did anyone else experience this? Is there anything I can do

I hope all the ladies that are having surgery today are doing well - that all goes smoothly and they have as little anxiety as possible!

Herculesmulligan - I had problems with complete emptying of my bladder after surgery. They ended up putting a Foley catheter in overnight, but I still felt like I couldn't just completely go for a few days. The PS said that sometimes the anesthesia causes temporary problems with the sphincters in our bodies. I wonder if maybe that's related to what you're experiencing?

Just had my UMX left breast surgery with SNB and reconstruction yesterday moning. My surgery was delayed about an hour since my potassium was low. So they had to insert some in the IV and when it was at an acceptable level my anesthesiologist gave me a relaxer. I knocked out before I even got to the operating room. When I woke up 4 hours had gone by and I was in recovery! The surgery went well I was told, and the sentinel lymph nodes were free of cancer.

I'm still in the hospital but will go home later this afternoon. I have been on norcon for pain management but only once last night had some intense pain and high blood pressure so some medicine was added to my IV. But that made me nauseous & dizzy so I didn't want to use that drug again. Other than that, I'm fine. Blood pressure has come down and just feel lightheaded once in a while.

Here are some recommendations based on my experience the last 24 hrs... Keep visitors to a minimum. I had someone with me all day yesterday. DH brought me to the hospital and stayed with me until the surgery. He had to leave for his dialysis at some point so my parents came by and were already in my room after recovery. When they left, one of my sisters came to keep me company until DH came back. It was nice to have them there. DH was also keeping my family and a few friends up to date with texts and pics throughout the day.

Two of my girlfriends also wanted to come by and visit, and DH said it was ok. We didn't know that one of them would come with her family... of 5! I love her 3 girls but it was a little overwhelming that first day.

Other recos:

-Bring lozenges to suck on. I had cotton mouth all day, as well as a sore throat from the breathing tube. I didn't want to keep drinking water and have to get up to pee.

-if you have to take prescription meds (I take high blood pressure meds), make sure to bring the bottle with the label. They didn't supply my diuretic and they wanted to verify the label with my info on file.

-if your schedule allows it, take a mini vacation before surgery to relax your mind and release some anxiety. DH and I visited friends in Baltimore and spent a day in Washington DC sightseeing. I had surgery the day after we got back.

That's all I can think of for now. Hope those who are having surgery today were successful!

sunnyjay, that happened to me.  I had gone home before the path report so went back in ten days later.  I guess it is a fairly common occurrence.  I hope to find out the results on Monday.  I'll be thinking of you as you wait for your results.  The procedure itself hasn't been as bad as expected.  I had them just go ahead an put a port in in case I need chemo because I didn't want to go back for a third surgery.

Hercules, how long after mastectomy did you have exchange surgery

surgery yesterday. Up moving a bit today only on Tylenol threes . Was on Dilaudid but made me nauseous and too groggy . Hunched over feel like an old lady with a Walker. Surgery took 11 hour's had a bit of trouble getting the tumour off the capsule. Was trying to invade my implant. They took two nodes. One lit up and another one adjacent to it but didn't light up however was "firm" not sure what that means. Would a cancerous node not uptake the dye?

thank you Hurcules

also I'd just like to say that after three 90+Degree days without a shower I am so looking forward to having my first postop shower tomorrow. My hair has devloped a matted in the back, too oily to describe patina.

yes all my skin and both nipples made it. One turned black 3 days after my mastectomy and I thought ," uh oh", but eventually that necrotic tissue sloughed and there was pink viable tissue underneath. My PS says in a Few weeks no one will be able to tell I had surgery except for the scars. I thought he was unspeakably cocky but I'll bedamned if it doesn't look like he was right.

still at hospital, will be here another two days. things are going ok, in a fair bit of pain but controlled with Tylenol 3s every 4-5 hours, also giving me gabapentin which makes me dizzy. up moving around today, very slowly and hunched over. eating very small portions no appetite and no room

good luck to all upcoming surgeries this week! it will fly by

bilateral mastectomy or unilateral? And nipple/ skin sparing?

bilateral, skin sparing, nipple sparing is up in the air. The 2 surgeons have to dudcuds

Lordhelpmetoo.....it's a relief to put it in the rear view mirror, so to speak. I'm pulling for you. Keep me posted.

hi all. Our date was May 11 and things have gone well so far. My wife had an MX. Nodes were clear on initial evaluation and on the final pathology. Final showed the tumor to be 16mm. Doc ordered an oncotypeDX and results are due in 2-3 weeks.

Post op discomfort was not too bad, but my wife had a lot of fatigue. There have been emotional swings as well. This is a grind, and it's a marathon not a sprint. It's been 2 months from our initial diagnosis to this point, and it feels like a year. But, we would rather be where we are now than where we started. What we are all doing now is the first step toward putting this behind us.

I hope everyone is holding up and moving toward good outcomes.

trishyla. Yes u did talk to me about my thigh muscles and I did do some squats. Has really helped. Abdominal pain not quite as bad but I am so taped up I can't move it much. Getting in and out of bed in my own but slowly. Can use some of my ab muscles and can use both my arms ok.

Thanks for the kind words. Hope all is going well with u.

Going home from hospital I believe today. Had a pity cry. Now to worry about pathology. Always something to worry about. I got to remember to live in the moment and just worry about the day ahead. Very hard to do.