November 2017 Surgery Group

I feel your pain RoamingStar, it's definitely tough. When I got my reports (of IDC 1.7cm) I asked the BS if it would be better to start chemo first but she said we'll remove it then chemo. She even did IORT for me, which was not supported by evidence. Then the detail of triple neg revealed itself after surgery. The onc did query why was it done such a way. Seems that triple neg would respond better to chemo and a lot others are doing neoadjuvant chemo.

Life, unfortunately, is lived one way. No u turn. Stay positive darling. There are many recurrent cases who responded ultimately and got healed. You are in my prayer.

RoamingStar I'm sending hugs and hope to you this new year. Hang in there and you will get support here as you struggle with your diagnosis and so many unknowns and scary things. I heard a great sermon yesterday and it was about how we all need HOPE and where hope comes from.I'm glad you have family & friends to love you through this and you have us, too.

Hello, @swg! Glad to hear you are doing well!

And thank you for sharing your health tips. I was doing so well before and after the surgery (juicing, green smoothies, whole grains for breakfast, no alcohol etc. etc.) Things slipped around the holidays, however, and now I think I’m addicted to sugar. Your post motivated me to get my act together. That and the fact that my jeans got tight (and they are stretchy!!!)

I will try that cookbook as well. I’ve been reading a lot about nutrition, foods to eat and what to avoid. As expected, there is a lot of contradictory information out there (yes turmeric? no turmeric?, this mushroom or that mushroom - you get the idea), so I thought it’s best to use common sense. A good cookbook, however, gives you some structure. So thanks for sharing!

I’ve been doing ok too. I decided to do a bit of chemo, starting next Friday. I’m not convinced that it’s all that beneficial in my case, but it improves the odds somewhat, so I took it. Hormonal therapy will start a little later.

Also - I met with a physiotherapist. She told me that I didn’t need to come anymore (I only went once, as my mobility is back to normal (I attribute this to the daily yoga and pilates classes I’ve been doing, and strongly recommend exercising). She gave me some exercises to help prevent lymphedema. Supposedly they activate other lymph nodes and redirect the flow of traffic to spare the affected side. I’m not sure that I buy too much into this. I’ll ask my MO.

Hope everybody is doing well!

Stay warm! (If applicable

Hugs

R

Hi, @hariry. I’m doing 4 rounds of TC (taxotere and cytoxan). I think this is standard for TC. I keep saying “a bit” so I don’t get so scared, but I didn’t ask to shorten the cycle

Hope all is well with you!

Hariry- I’m sorry it took so long to get back to you in the choice to have oophorectomy. There is a family history of ovarian cancer in my dad’s side, prostate cancer on my mom’s side. (The scary part about ovarian cancer is that there’s no screening protocol and by the time they diagnose it it’s already stage 4 with few to no options on treatment.) I tested positive for a gene mutation that increases risk for ovarian cancer called BRIP1 and recommendation was remove them by age 50 (I turned 44 in 2017). I had pretty much made the decision to move forward with removing them at that point. Then the tamoxifen caused blood clots in my calf and both lungs so I had to discontinue it. Since I’m 100% ER & PR+ not taking an anti-hormonal wasn’t an option. I could’ve taken a Lupron or zoladex to shut the ovaries down so i could take an AI but by the time 5 years passed I’d be at that age 50 mark. So the tamoxifen debacle sealed the deal and I had the ovaries (plus all the other baby making parts) removed during my stage 2 DIEP recon surgery. I hope this helps

Hey Roxy13--glad you're doing well, too..I admit, I still like sugar. I put it in my coffee. One tip I got from the Unite for Her wellness seminar was--use cinnamon, instead of sugar, in your coffee.

I haven't quite gotten there, yet.

They made the point that yes, sugar feeds cancer cells...but it also feeds healthy cells, too. We need it, just..not too much of it.

As for lymphedema, I had a friend who was a massage therapist who highly recommended lymphatic massage. I think there may be some science behind that.

I might do Reiki, as it's one of the things my Unite for Her passport offers. I'll let you all know how it goes.

Thanks Lula, for sharing your experience. Hugs to all

Swg, I got a call on Friday last week from my PS office to get me scheduled for my exchange surgery! Mine is March 12th. My pre-op is Feb 27. You were only a week ahead of me, so I’m sure you’ll be getting a call soon.

Hey--just posting because my implant exchange surgery is finally set for March 21st.

Has anyone from Nov. done theirs yet?

Hi swg - I had my BMX Nov 21 and the exchange to implants on Feb 14 - with fat grafting because my implants are above the muscle. The exchange surgery was only 2 hours — BMX was 5 - and I was home that afternoon. I was a bit bruised on my chest above my boobs, and a lot on my butt from the fat grafting, but that all resolved in a matter of days. I was surprised at how much better the implants feel. They are so soft! I was back to work at the office looking normal in a little over a week. Just need to wear compression garments (snug spanx) for 6 weeks. Sometimes my chest under the implants feels tender, but much better than the hard tissue expanders. My PS recommended that I wear band above my boobs to help the implants “drop and fluff” but my left one doesn’t need it. I can tell the right one will need more fat grafting in a few months - ‘she’ didn’t keep as much of the fat as the left one. But in clothes, I think I look pretty good.

I hope all goes well for your exchange.

Ceci

Hi Ghionik - no, all I had was 2 strips of surgical tape on the 2 scars under my breasts. I was sent home with a front zip, not very tight bra. And the only med was Tylenol w/codeine. No antibiotics!

I will caution against judging how you look right after surgery - I was quite swollen and was not happy. Even though I read here many times to withhold judgement, I did it anyway and cried. So, that wasn’t fun, but like most everyone else, I began to look better fairly quickly