May 2019 Surgery Support Group

Hello - I meet with my surgeon May 10th and anticipate surgery before the end of May. I haven’t received my surgery date yet, which is making me nervous since I finished chemo 4/11 and don’t want my tumor to have a chance to start growing again. I’m having BMX with no reconstruction, and likely full axillary lymph node clearance on the right, since one node was already confirmed positive on my original biopsy. Radiation to follow this summer. Looking forward to getting this all over with

Hello ladies,

I am 39 years old, recently diagnosed with DCIS, my UMX is scheduled for May 10th. I decided to go with tissue expander.

Somehow the phone call confirming the date for my surgery was the worst one, I think with the date things start being real?..

Maybe someone wants to share how you are planning to spend the days before the surgery? Work till last moment? Take some time off? Go somewhere? I told my family I'd probably like to go somewhere with them for a weekend just before the surgery. And hopefully will take a couple of days off to get my house in order.

Good luck to all of us!

Hello everyone! I am scheduled for Unilateral MX with sentinel node BX and direct to implant prepectoral silicone implant on May 9.

On March 4, I had a concerning area on screening mammogram, which was biopsied that day. My path came back as a ductal papilloma with atypia, so excisional biopsy was done on April 18. I was blindsided with the DX of extensive, high grade DCIS with necrosis and without clear margins. My surgeon and I agree that unilateral mx is the next best step.

I will be working up until the day before my surgery. The weekend before my surgery is my 48th birthday, so I suspect DH and I will go camping that weekend.

It is nice to meet all of you, and I am looking forward to hearing about everyone's uneventful recoveries. We've got this!

I’m having a lumpectomy and reduction on May 20th. As it happens we have tickets to see The Who in concert on May 18th. I thought that ended up working out pretty well.

I saw my surgical oncologist yesterday, we went over everything with him, did bloodwork and ECG, I don't think I have more appointments coming, and the surgery is two weeks away.

Today is my last day at work, I haven't been sleeping for a while and there's been a lot of tension going on with my little kids, so I decided to stop working earlier. I am potty training my little one, catching up on their appointments, taking some time to get my house in order, will send my dentist next week..

Funny enough, I have registered for weight loss program in March, day before I got diagnosed no need to say, I gained even more weight started with sciatica and everything.. I was already given post op exercises by PT, I want to start exercising a bit before the surgery.

I went to the breast cancer "boutique" in the city today and to get fitted for my postoperative compression bras. Holy cow...if anyone ever needs a sports bra that doesn't let your breasts bounce even a little bit, these bras are the way to go.

My surgeon had recommended two different styles. They are going to file insurance for the more expensive one (I think the Patrice?}, and I paid for a slightly less expensive one out of pocket so that I will have one to wear while I am washing the other one. I made it through the whole process without crying, so that was a win.

BS also said that underarmour makes a nice zip front compression sports bra, but my normal bra size is a 40 or 42 B-C, and the underarmour one only went to a band size of 38 and I didn't want to risk wearing anything too tight.

They also had better button front PJs and loose, lightweight button front tops that I had been able to find at Marshalls or Ross, so I picked a couple of those up, as well.

My insurance, BCBS, denied my genetic testing. BS said they usually deny it the first time and then approve it after the appeal. This is the sort of thing that would usually stress me out, but from this whole crappy breast cancer experience I am trying to be less anxious and irritable to to trust that things will be okay, so I am just going to let my BS handle it for now.

Tomorrow I will finish planting tomatoes and peppers and some flowers in the garden, then DH and I are going to scrub the house so we don't have to worry about much as we get closer to surgery.

I hope all of you were able to find some joy and beauty and worry free moments this weekend!

Nice meeting all of you!

Pinky24, do you have your surgery date already?

Meeko, I ordered my post op bra a couple of days ago, my size was tight, I ordered one for now and will decide about the second one later. Nurse in the hospital suggested to go one size bigger to avoid extra pressure and pain, however I wasn't sure about it. I am also not too sure what to wear through the whole process, I am doing single mastectomy with tissue expander, how it's gonna look and feel if I go one size bigger with the bra?..

I don’t have a surgery date yet; I have my MRI and echo tomorrow, bone scan and CT Thursday, then meet with surgeon a week from Friday (5/10). Hoping for a surgery date either the week of 5/13 or the week of 5/20. I work at a school and plan to take 2 weeks off, so I’m hoping I can make it back for the last week of school. I wish I could do something fun like take a quick vacation during this time, but I’m out of sick days and having to take unpaid time off now. Maybe after I finish radiation we will have time for a getaway before school starts up again Hope everyone is doing well and feeling prepared for surgery!

Tiggie, Thinking about you today! Be gentle with yourself while healing and check in when you feel up to it!

Spratt, It sounds like you are doing a great job taking care of yourself mentally and physically preop! I find myself doing "2 a day" workouts for the first time in my life because I want to be in great shape for the surgery!

Pinky24, I hope that the scheduling works out for you and that you get a relaxing vacation!

JulieSim, it seems that my BS and PS are both big believers in postop compression, so my postop bras are a little smaller than I would have liked, but I'm sure it will be just fine either way. I know for sure they aren't super comfy and I will be happy when I get to wear something more comfortable.

This weekend is my birthday, so we are going camping and HOPEFULLY I can not think about cancer very much and just enjoy myself. I hope all you can do the same!

Hi Ladies,

I’m scheduled for a single mastectomy with sentinel node removal first thing tomorrow morning. I went in today for my four radioactive injections. I was super nervous up until that point, but now I’m just tired and want to get it over with. My biggest concern isn’t the pain or the actual surgery, but how long it will take me to get back to being able to do everything I do. Next week is going to be a tough on my kids I think, depending on how functional I am. Good luck to everyone else here! It’s so nice to be able to see how others have done

I want to wish everyone good luck first. And for those of you who've had your surgery already, I hope your recovery is proceeding well, and that you're sleeping and not in too much pain.

I'm scheduled for a lumpectomy, sentinel node biopsy, and reconstruction on May 10. I've never had surgery before. I've never had general anesthesia. I'm a bit freaked out, but also surprisingly calm. I sometimes think I must be in some kind of denial, but that's not possible because I think about it a lot and of course I'm doing all the preparatory things and appointments. Today was my last multi-vitamin, baby aspirin, curcumin supplement, and green tea for at least a week. Sheesh.

I took advice here to heart and bought a wedge pillow and a top that has pockets for the drains. Not sure how many drains I'll have, could be just one, or none. Could be as many as three. I'm prepared either way. I also learned here of the studies suggesting that morphine may not be a great idea during breast surgery so I discussed it with both the BS, who said they don't use morphine, and during my presurgical consult with the anesthesiologists office. I didn't want opiates anyway, as who knows how I react to them. There are other options.

Anyway, I'm rambling, I apologize. I have zero clue what to expect since I've never had anything done and that really sucks, being in the dark. I'm so grateful to those of you who share your experiences so that I can at least have some idea.