July 2017 Surgery

Hooray KayaRose!

what a great post to read for those of us anticipating (?) this. I'm so ready to have it done.

thinking about going to a movie tonight to distract myself. I've already seen Wonder Woman (and a freind brought me an action figure to take to the hosptial!!!), so i'm interested in other suggestions.

I Am up early on my way to the hospital! Let's get this cancer out

Shelabela, Keeeping you in my prayers today. Cancer be gone!

Hi,

By the time you see this msg, you are already in recovery. To answer your question, I had similar situation. PS said it is common to trigger period during surgery. As predicted, my period arrived the day after surgery. Needless to say, it was a bloody mess - lol. Anyway, with all the discomforts going on, all modesty and embarrassments were out the window.

I made it through and was glad my period came at the hospital than having to deal with it when I get home.

Hope you are recovery well. The 1st week is the worst but it does get easier everyday.

shelabela: I wish u speedy recovery

toughcookie, hang in there. i am postop day5 and what bothers me the most is the tightness and heaviness. they used wound vac for my suture and it addsto the pain/ discomfort. will come off friday. i am still taking my pain med around the clock

toughcookie,congrats on clear lymph nodes. that is big! my nodes were clear also. i did chemo first and i will know pathology on tuesday... how many drains do you have ? how are your TEs? i pray to God that we will all have a good and speedy recovery. may God bless us all! shelabela,hang in there! those having surgery this week. we got thi

My friend brought me this, so I think I'll take her along to the hospital tomorrow.

Well, I'm home from the hospital. In hindsight it wasn't bad at all. I was really worried/scared silly going into this. For anyone who doesn't know what to expect, here's how they lumpectomy went for me.

1. Asked to change into gown and wash my breast with a special washcloth. In my enthusiasm, I accidentally got it on my armpit, which stung a little. I suspect that's because I had shaved earlier. So if you have to do this, make sure to only wash your breast.
2. They gave me a tiny bit of lidocaine prior to putting in the IV. I barely felt the needle for the lidocaine. And I didn't feel the IV insertion at all.
3. The nurse applied emla cream to my nipple and covered it with a plastic bandage. This stayed on until my dye injection 2 hours later.
4. I was sent to nuclear medicine to have my guide and dye placed. This was the part I was most dreading. I had a magnetic seed inserted via ultrasound. Again, a tiny pinprick of lidocaine was given, and then the seed was placed via needle. I only felt the prick from the lidocaine, the rest was pain free.
5. Next came the radioactive dye for my sentinel nodes. 4 needles right into the nipple. I asked about this procedure a few days ago, and was told that they had switched to a new version off the dye which the manufacturer claimed was pain free. And I would agree. I didn't feel a thing. However, I still cried throughout the whole thing because I was so scared.
6. After that, I waited in my room watching tv until the surgeon was ready for me. Then off to surgery.

On a side note, I'm allergic to amoxicillin so they gave me a different antibiotic which caused me to babble like crazy after the surgery. Apparently, I announced that I was mad at the surgeon for cutting me while dressed like a Smurf. Told the nurse I was mad at the dog for not helping me escape to Mexico. Told anyone who would listen that i needed an ice cream sundae. Then explained exactly which ingredients would go into it (Apparently lots of chocolate, brownies and fudge). Then informed them that my bf was mean, and probably wouldn't let me have a sundae. Then i babbled about Chinese food for a while. Apparently i wouldn't shut up.

The good news is that they only took 2 nodes out and the surgeon believes they are clear. Just have to wait for the pathology report to hopefully confirm.

Hi All,

It's so great to have this blog, it really helps to read all of your surgery stories and suggestions. I go in on the 25th at 6:30am to have my BMX and I am getting very anxious and nervous. I plan to have tissue expanders put in place. Can those of you that have already had surgery let me know if you felt up to having company the same day as your surgery or the day after? My son is 8 and would like to come see me after but I was not sure if it would be a good idea for him to see me or if I would even feel up for visitors? I will also have family and friends who want to come see me at the hospital as well but I know that we probably should not have too many visitors?

I am also praying that my lymph nodes are negative and my path results come back clear because if so then I will be done with this part of my cancer journey!! No radiation would be wonderful news. I have already had 5 months of chemo (Taxol and AC).

Please let me know your thoughts and it's great to hear how you all are doing! Prayers for you all.

Thanks!

surgery went good. Spent 1 night in the hospital and came home today. I am keeping ahead of the pain. They took 4 lymph nodes. Both breast removed and TE put in. They are filled to 400 CC. I think that's what they said.

Hope everyone is doing good

Going in Thursday July 27 for lumpectomy and snb in left breast, biopsy on right breast for LCIS.... Sounds like I won't be able to sleep on either side!! For how long? Between that and the night sweats I'm having from having gone off the pill, I may just give up on sleep altogether....

good luck Jumpship! Things will go good

Right mastectomy yesterday went well. Little bit of pain but with some meds I slept through the night. I actually walk the halls last night and had a good dinner. Only a little pain this morning and I'm ready to go home. The good news is that the node removed by the surgeon appears to be negative. I will know more after the formal pathology results.

Now that it's done I really think the anxiety leading up to it is much worse than the little bit of pain I'm having now. All the best of those of you still facing your surgeries and treatments. So grateful for this group.

toughcookie, that first shower kicked my butt, but it felt so good. I'm 3 days post surgery. Pain is ok, worse on my left (cancer side).

I haven't pooped yet either, gonna start drinking prune juice and hope it helps. Don't wait to long, I did with my back surgery and it sucked.

Appetite is not the best here either.