April 2018 Surgery Support Group

Hi BarbMac! I have exchange surgery scheduled for April 24th. I just realized I should have probably started the thread in this fórum, but I started one for April Exchange Surgeries in Breast Reconstruction. I hope you get more responses. I had my MX last August. Surgery is hard, but waiting for surgery and results is harder, I think. I'm glad you're here looking for support, it's great!

Hi everybody!

I am having my third surgery in April. I had my bilateral mastectomy Sept 5, 2017. My exchange surgery Dec 15, 2017. I am now having my fat-grafting to finish everything up. I was supposed to have it along with my exchange surgery. But I had an infected cyst in my belly button that my plastic surgeon discovered during surgery. So that put it off until a later date. He said had he continued with the infection present we could have lost the implants and everything. I'm so thankful he discovered it and stopped the surgery when he did. I'm glad to be finally at this last stage. I had 6 rounds of Chemo and finished it in Aug prior to surgery. Then after my mastectomy I started 9 rounds of Herceptin. Tomorrow is my final treatment! I feel like I am finally coming to the end of all of this! It all started just over a year ago. My first diagnosis +/+/- was March 6 on my right breast. My left breast was diagnosed +/+/+ a year ago tomorrow.

BarbMac, you are so right. You just have to make the decision that is right for YOU. When I got my first diagnosis I was leaning towards lumpectomy. I had a Stage 1 mass that was non-aggressive and some pre-cancerous calcifications. My surgeon assured me that she could get it all with a lumpectomy. I wouldn't need chemo or radiation. She was totally on board with that decision. Then once the cancer was discovered on my left side the game plan changed totally. The left side was Stage 1 but nearly Stage 2 aggressive mass with a group of pre-cancerous nodules. It would need chemo and possibly radiation. Once she told me all of that I decided I had WAY too much going on and a bilateral mastectomy was really the only way to go. Ultimately it was my decision but my surgeon said she would highly recommend it. I haven't regretted my decision at all.

TaraLeeOm,

Is your initial diagnosis grade3(faster growing)? If not take your time to figure out what’s right for you. My breast surgeon promoted double mastectomy as did the first plastic surgeon I saw. If you plan for an implant reconstruction double is really the only way to get symmetry and they are thinking most women want that. My second plastic surgeon made me realize that my chance of cancer in the healthy breast was not really impacted but a double mastectomy doubled my chance of surgical complications.

Take your time to get all the information you need. Do not let anyone push you to something you aren’t ready for.

All the best to yo

April 9th nuclear injection

April 10th bilateral mastectomy, sential node dissection, maybe expanders (to be determined in the next week or so) and port removal.

Never had a surgery before. Part of me is ready to just get this done! But I know I will go into anxiety mode in the days leading up to it.

Hello Everyone Good Luck to all with your surgeries. I have mine on April 11th. I will have Lumpectomy with surgical reduction lift and taking of lymphnodes. With drain tubes. I am Triple Negative Stage 2 and cancer had not gone into to lympnodes yet so this is why I chose this surgery. Is anyone else doing this type of surgery?

Hello to all, I'm grateful to have found this group as we go through this journey. My MX with DIEP stacked flap reconstruction and sentinel node biopsy is scheduled April 18. I've been undergoing test after test the last few weeks to determine if my nodes were positive, and thankfully, they are negative. I'm a single parent and most of my anxiety centers around my two sons, age 17 and 20, but so far, so good (and I will check out the family support forum). As if SAT prep weren't enough stres...!

I'm blessed to be at a world class facility in Boston, and my partner is a physician/researcher so I feel very secure with my care. However, the post-op recovery is not gong to be easy. Although the great feedback on this site has helped me prep, the unknown, especially being dependent on others for help and managing pain, is going to be tough.

Thanks to all for sharing, let's get through this together.

I saw the surgeon today and it looks like I’ll be having surgery (lumpectomy with bilateral reduction and SNB- with SAVI spacer placed) in mid April sometime. I’m hoping to have a partial hysterectomy at the same time, but don’t know yet if the surgeons’ hospital privileges will allow for that. The radiologist told me on 2/2 that he strongly suspected cancer (official dx on 2/20), so I’m ready to move on to the next step already!

Hi!

My next surgery will be April 5th. I was diagnosed in October 2017, exactly one month after my 40th birthday and first mammogram. Gosh- that seems like a lifetime ago already. Anyway, due to a separate diagnosis of Tourette Syndrome, an uncontrollable movement disorder, radiation was determined by the Radiation Oncologist as "too risky" so it was confirmed that a mastectomy was the right path for me. However, scheduling with the general and plastic surgeons proved to be difficult, so my general surgeon scheduled me in for a lumpectomy and SNB in November 2017 as a "staging" procedure (to figure out the stage and pathology, and as a holding pattern until I could be scheduled for the bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction). I started chemo at the end of December and had my last treatment 4 weeks ago. Finally starting to come out from the chemo haze and only have a few lingering side effects.

The plan is to have a BMX with immediate placement of TEs. Then, ultimately go back for a 3rd surgery to exchange the TEs for implants. Had the pre-op last week and left the plastic surgeon’s office in tears. I don’t like her and hate how she talks to me. I’ve been fighting my weight since I was in elementary school. Up until my diagnosis, I was the healthiest I’ve been in my life. But, I’m still considered “obese” by BMI standards. Unfortunately chemo kicked my @$$ and I haven’t been able to exercise much. Now that my appetite is back, and I’m still not exercising, I gained 5 lbs. my PS threatened to postpone my surgery until I lost 10 lbs. After looking me up and down like a piece of meat (these are my boyfriends words - he was in the room while she examined me), she agreed to proceed because I carry my weight in my hips and thighs rather than stomach and upper body.

I considered firing her and going to a trusted plastic surgeon I have used before, but he’s far away, I’d have to find a new general surgeon with rights at that hospital, and the weekly trips for fills would just be too much. And honestly, I just want to be done with treatments without any delays So, I decided to stick with her. I know her work will be amazing (referred by my trusted plastic surgeon and one of my best friends who used her as recently as 3 months ago).

I have had surgeries before, so while I am nervous about my upcoming BMX, I have some idea what to expect as far as surgeries go. I am not nearly as nervous as I was about starting chemo, but still uneasy overall.

Hi all,

I'm scheduled for a lumpectomy on April 13th. Figured why not do it on Friday the 13th

I was diagnosed in February and of course got the spiel about doing it within 30 days of diagnosis, I just wasn't ready yet. I'm a single mom to a 10 yr old boy and so much to figure out.

I'm waiting on results from my MRI biopsy for a second lesion that was found.

Hi ladies, I will have prophylactic mastectomy and Diep Flap reconstruction of both breasts next Wednesday!

Hi all! I'm scheduled for my prophylactic bilateral mastectomies and tissue expander placement on April 16th. I'm grateful for this website, its wonderful members and volume of information, and I am cheering you all on in as you also face surgery this next month. It's getting close and I'm starting to get appropriately scared, daunted by the gauntlet I'm about to run, but I'm grateful for this opportunity to avert whatever this genetic BC thing is that I have going on. But I've already had bladder cancer and a breast lumpectomy (revealing ADH, ALH, & LCIS), so I've got some experience to lean on.

Hi, LAMinders,

My name actually is Larry. I use Engine104 (Fire truck thing ) in discussion groups.

Did you mean you weren't happy with the PS or that the PS was in patient?

My wife's surgeon is Dr. Kang, her internist, (Mine too) is Dr. Tallakson. We love them both.

Thanks so much. We were a bit taken aback that we are dealing with a recurrence after 22 years (With a battle with AML in between, 16 years ago), but then I heard from a friend of mine who told me that Olivia Newton John is dealing with this again after 25 years.

I pray your surgery goes easily with a great result.

I think bedside manner is very important. We've been lucky in that regard. I'm sorry that your PS is like that. I also think competence is more important than bedside manner and if a doctor could have only one, I'd pick competence every time. For example, on MASH, Charles was a big jerk, but he was a great surgeon. Still, it's good if your doctor has both.

Thanks..My wife's doctors at City of Hope felt the AML was probably a direct result of the duration of radiation she received following her lumpectomy. In those days, they did ten weeks of radiation as opposed to four now. That's a lot. My wife was in a study at City of Hope that researched a link between how radiation used to be done and AML.

I never thought after 22 years post BC and 16 years post AML that we'd be in the battle again, but here we are. It stinks, but what can you do? We just take each day and one step at a time. Please know though, that this recurrence is unusual and by far, the majority of cases result in permanent cures. Dr. Kang feels strongly that my wife's current BC is not related to the one she had 22 years ago.