The Beast & Me: Round Two

g..I am so happy for you..I've been praying that you find the right ps and everything will fall into place. Rest,your body is trying to get ready for the battle. You can do this..we are all there in spirit w/h you..wish I could do more...Philly is not far from NY...
Joyce

I love plastic surgeons. They are so awesome!!

Kisses for him!!

Hi Ns,

I am so happy for your news! I will keep my fingers crossed that your insurance comes through. You could use a break.

Sorry you are not feeling well. Hopefully that will pass soon. Take care and I hope you are feeling better soon.

Take care and get plenty of rest,

Jackie

Where have I been? I am so sorry to hear of your new findings. It really does suck big eggs! Please be careful of any surgeon that tells you this is 8 -10 hrs. My bilateral with axillary dissection was that long and I now firmly believe it was because the plastic surgeon was not very experienced. My bilateral DIEP much later down the road with experienced surgeons was 5 hours with no complications (or at least very minor complications). My firsdt surgeon netted a long operation with more than six weeks of lingering major complications. I do so wish there was some kind of licensing agency that would help us weed out the inexperienced or less than desirable surgeons. I do believe that one of the issues are docotrs don't offer honest thoughts about one another. I do believe in your heart you need to trust the doctor you hire to do the job and not have any doubts about qualifications. Insurance companies have a unique way to make this joourney much more stressful and again I feel the insurance company should have much more liability to their decisions they force upon their subscribers. I do believe that me making my position very clear about holding them responsible may have been an asset to my winning my multiple appeals. I do not think one has the time or the emotional strength when active disease is present. Hoping this awful stressful time is short lived and an easy journey. Thinking of you!

I am so glad you found someone you like! Great news. Receiving encouragement from other patients is invaluable. I'm a strong believer in instincts and it sounds like your instincts are giving this ps a thumbs up. I remember having a feeling a peace come over me from the moment I requested an information packet from the surgeons I used. You didn't have a good feeling about that creepy dr who hoisted his keister onto the table with you. You ran screaming (figuratively that is), kept looking and found someone better. You rock!

Gina...Your post about the responsiveness of the PS and the 2 other ladies actually gave me chills! It's so awful to feel alone and so frustrated when you're facing this surgery and to get such support and help has to feel great. Hope you feel better and strong soon!

Gina,

So good to read that you have found a PS you trust and who sounds like a dr. with empathy for his patients. It always helps to have confidence in your dr. when you are facing surgery - especially surgery like yours.

Sorry you are sick with flu/ nerves - that is just what you needed. NOT! At least not having the surgery until March, gives you time to try and build yourself up before then.

Not a surprize about the other BC ladies but still awesome what they did.

Feel better darlin',
Niki

Maybe you just want to keep this trip as even-keeled as possible and just get through it safely and sanely. The first go-around was probably full of drama (I know mine was), but this time steady and straight through might be the more attractive way to go...? The sooner it's done and behind you the better, right? I get that.

Maria,
Great post. I felt very much the same as you, and you expressed it wonderfully.

NS,
Remember, this is about you. You are not being anti-social, you are not vain, whatever do you and however you choose to handle this, you are not being selfish. This is about you. You have to do what makes you feel most comfortable. Don't worry about the rest of the world. And remember too that regardless of what the outside world might think, there are lots of us here who have felt exactly the same way as you, and who've handled it exactly the same way.

Your only responsibility is to do whatever is best for you.

g,
I was so terrified of surgery when it was looming on my horizon. My mom had bc 25 years ago and they were yanking lymph nodes in those days like they were loose teeth. She couldn't lift her arm over her head for years, or what seemed like years. I was so afraid of diminished capacity post surgery.

Thank goodness for SNB's. I forked over one or two nodes for the test, which thankfully and miraculously showed no cancer. I was able to lift my arm over my head, and I could still wear pull over tshirts. Just one side was affected for me, and I opted for diep instead of implants, so I know our cases are different. I just want you to know that I can still yank on my lawn mower cord and get it started even in cold weather when it would rather sit idle. And I yank with my right arm, which is my affected side.

I know the risk of lymphedema is out there, but I just say a prayer asking for protection and wail on that cord anyway. You are going to be FINE. Just read something about the law of attraction. If that's not enough to scare away the dark thoughts, I'll think of some of my own. Sweet dreams dear one.

"I WON'T EVER have to wear one of those again!"
It's a great thought isn't it? Hahaha ...

I am very active and use my arms a lot-
I am told I won't be as physically strong as I am now?
Is this true?

Is not so linear neither simple as that,
you will have to keep your arms in shape
one way or the other; the more in shape you are at,
the less is the probability of problems,
in this situations things like to not move can be worst.
Your arms will have around the same strength, but
you just can not use it for heavy stuff,
and if so or when needed,
for that you take precautions.
Like my PT says, you can do it all
as long as you are very careful,
measure what you do, be attentive to yourself,
and be preventive when in doubt and just in case.
I was always very active and had some couple
of sports activities that were about arm work,
found solutions for that and today I can not do some,
more because of my back then because of my arm.
A small example;
to workout with weights, for instance ... sleeve on,
with the appropriate weights, not over do on it,
rest, sleeve off, shower and I'm good to go.
Anything or when there may be the chance of overdoing,
I use a sleeve as prevention, sleeve and other things
is not for whom has LE already, is to prevent it.
To me to bake a pizza still is more dangerous,
I'm too clumsy and keep burning myself.
My profession still gives me more problems, then my
daily life things or leisure activities.

Anyone around here on Lymphedema Concerns boards,
can give you very good advise on this,
and there's some literature around about it.
To me the biggest problem with the literature around
is that, it was created based on 20, 30 years ago,
when life style and
woman's age affected by this was very different.
We nowdays have very different life styles,
and most of our things just do not come on that reading.
Who would say for instance
that to stay for too long in front of a computer
can be bad for a person with arm problems
related with this kind of surgery with node involvement?
This and other things you will not read around.
Yet, that's the basic of our daily life today.

My advise is that after you recover from surgery,
you consult a Physical Therapist expert on this,
preferably one expert on LE
this are the best for this situations,
one willing to teach you some couple of things.
With them, one can learn better
and according to our situation,
just as also some and most of them will
give you tips on how to deal
with your implants too, massage the stretchings
how that should be done, and so on, and so on, and so on.
or if one is on expanders, or even if one just had a mastec.,
You can learn what and how you can do things
according with your specific situation,
just as also how to keep yourself in shape and
even how to massage yourself, self maintenance and so on.
To me and in my opinion it does worth always the investment,
it's a "for life thing" and
you will learn "in loco" a pile of things
according with your conditions and
that you will use for life;
and learning with a Pro. will make you feel FAR MORE safer
and will help you A LOT mainly on gaining back
your self confidence on your physical abilities.

You may think, "Oh no, not another doc. please!..."
In my opinion is always good to have the
contact of a good one for any eventuality,
then what may seem to be complicated and take long time
in around 2 or 4 sections not more then that,
you can learn what you need to know to get you going.
Right on the first you will notice what they can do
with our arms, that after surgery and during a while
most of us just do not dare. Just the way they deal with us
improves A LOT our self confidence and at the same time
we learn a lot of things, including until where we can go.

Hope everything goes well with your tests next week.
And have a good rest during the weekend.
Hugs.

.

Gina...Oohh...a beautiful butterfly will emerge from your cocoon! Take all the time you need to complete your metamorphosis! We will treat you new delicate wings with care so that you may fly strong and free!

Gina,
You CAN be as strong as you were before. As someone who's gone through this twice also, I'd really recommend getting some physical therapy soon after surgery (insurance paid for 8 sessions for me). I didn't do that the first time around, when I had lumpectomy, SNB, and rads, and wound up with limitations in my range of motion and then, two years out, frozen shoulder, which was no fun. At that point, I finally made it to a physical therapist and learned how helpful PT can be. So, when I had the new primary diagnosed in my other breast and had bilateral mastectomies, I was at the physical therapist two weeks after surgery. That's rather early, but as soon as you're able, a good PT (try to find one who works with bc patients) can really keep the scar tissue from adhering and affecting your range of motion. The result--my arm on the new-cancer side has full range of motion. The other arm will never be quite there, since I waited too long, but it's better than it was. And I'm as strong as I was before!!

BTW, I didn't have recon, but I know my PT works with women with implant and tissue recon all the time, so I think what I've said applies to all of us.