July 2017 Surgery

I won't start until after radiation. But yes I will be on hormone therapy

lynae,

that is a phantom pain you are feeling i believe. i get the iron bra feeling sometimes too and i take tylenol. i am only 40 % on my ROM but then inwas just released by my PS to do exercises due to pain ..we are the same, exchange in 2 months. i cant wait

Kae-yes the expanders always felt weird when I went from sleeping to sitting up.

Shela-wow! Way to go standing up for yourself! And wow! I am two years post bmx, 1 year post-exchange and I am just now at 85%. Did those exercises right away but something happened in surgery that limited my range of motion. It got better with the exchange and revision. I've had 3 Pts and they are all different.

I fired a podiatrist who looked at me funny. My toenails didn't do chemo well and I went to him for help. I told my regular doctor that if my plastic surgeon can look at my nipple-less chest with long scars and smile at his work then maybe I can expect respect from other doctors, who often don't have to see the scars

kae - I have the exact same feeling with my TEs. It feels like they're "stuck" then peel off when I stand up or bend over. Feels also like the edges are grating ( especially the tabs that stick out) digging in - worse on the bottom. These TEs are driving me mad.

For those of you getting ready for radiation (I've had 9 sessions), work hard now on your range of motion - you'll need to get your arms up and back, pretty close to your ear. The mapping appt takes 20-30 minutes. OUCH if you're still straining like I was - which just adds to the stress of being in the CT machine. I resorted to oxy and Ativan to get through it. Your first rad appt will take 20-30 minutes too as they will likely take scans (which have to be examined by the Dr in btwn, all while you wait, frozen in position, on the table) before the actual radiation. And then you're back the next day - but thankfully getting in position takes longer than the radiation. My rads take about 70 slow breaths to complete. It's still hard even after 2 weeks. PT is v v helpful, especially for the massage.

kae, I have noticed that sometimes the weird internal feeling can be from my shirt touching my skin - if I could walk around shirtless all the time I would. I'm hoping that having smooth implants makes a difference - my TEs are slightly textured with 4 small tabs the PS uses to initially attach them to your chest. He told me that those stitches eventually dissolve and the TEs can move around a bit - eventually they are held in place by scar tissue. (These are TEs placed over the pecmuscle).

Does that sound right (or wrong) to anyone?

I was also told that my TE are stitched in but around a month or so the stitch will desolve. I sure hope so. It's weird, I don't have any discomfort on the right side, but the left (cancer side) I do. It feels higher on my chest. I hope this lets up some

that is good to know toughcookie! are you doing TCHP next week

Hi toughcookie_21 If I followed you right are you BRCA 2 with a triple positive? I am also, I also got an infection on my left side after reconstruct resulting in removal of TE and 2 weeks antibiotics. Feeling better still not quite myself. I will be starting chemo on Aug. 24 and am very scared of the unknown myself. They say the good Lord doesn't give us more than we can handle, and we are also women so we got this. Stay strong!

Toughcookie, and Kimber

I was petrified of Chemo. I had Taxol, Herceptin, and Perjeta, Then 4 rounds of AC. I tried to keep a positive attitude. Doesn't work for all but it did for me. I will answer what ever question you have if I had that chemo drug. I will also be honest with you.

Things will eventually be ok! We are here!

Thank you Shelabela it is good to hear that the women on here are able to deal with the treatments that are given to us. We are neighbors I live in Minnesota. So do you still have to finish the year on the herceptin? Are you going to have to take the tamoxifen pill also? How were your SE? Stay Strong!

toughcookie my infection was on the right side non cancer too. I am getting my port on wednesday I will let you know how it went. To be honest I had 2 surgeries for my infection one on a friday July 14 and another on the July 17 everyday is better, still not quite there yet. Do you know when you are starting chemo yet?

Shelabela, yes I am at the Mayo starting chemo Thursday. Hoping to get it moved to the Northfield Mayo hospital, cuts the distance in half for me. The Mayo wants me to start treatment there incase of SE.

Well I should have known I would jinx myself with my post about feeling better. Looks like I have an infection. I had TE surgery July 10 and started radiation 3 weeks later(I'm half way through) and have been doing great until 2 days ago. Started having pain on my radiated side, Like deep muscle pain. I also have a high fever and chills. My RO has stopped treatment until I'm better. I saw my PS today and he put me on a strong antibiotic and I'll see him again in two days. He said it might have to come out. Well when I got home the hospital called to preregisterme. WTH Is two days on antibiotics enough to make a difference? He didn't say anything about doing it Friday! Now I have to figure out if I take both of them out or just the one. It's so frustrating!!

Toughcookie_21, I asked if going into the hospital for antibiotics was a possibility and he said no, not sure why. I'm afraid that Friday is one of his few days he has at the hospital. I'd like to think that isn't the case but who knows. He was defensive and just kept shrugging his shoulders and saying that we knew this could happen. Yeah, I knew it could happen but didn't think you would give up so quickly.

Shelabela I was there all day today too, tests and more tests, they keep talking me into the research studies, 8 tubes of blood later :0 Port tomorrow and chemo thursday the start to my road of recovery! I sent you a PM also. How are you feeling after your treatment?

Kimberbir

Kimber,

have treatment tomorrow. Not looking forward to it. But gotta do what ya gotta do...