July 2019 Surgery Support Group

I was told 4 to 6 weeks.

Hello all, I have been absent from site for a while but came back to get and give some support. I was diagnosed Jan 2nd, chemo started Jan 15th, finished dose dense April 22nd, had single mx May 29th without clear margins, and plastic surgeon clipped couple main veins in diep flap area in preparation for eventual procedure. Popped small area of incision in belly at 2.5 weeks out and popped large area in chest ( doctors had said that would be a very good possibility as they had to take way more skin than initially thought, tumor bigger with skin and underlying muscle involvement.). Well breast incisions popped at 4 weeks so have had open wound now for 2 weeks with surgery scheduled for July 29th to get clear margins and close up the area with either skin grafts or lat flap to get me to radiation. After radiation treatment sometime in the future I can have my deip flap procedure done Am I the only one who just wants all treatments/surgery done so I can get back to living my life without vacations and not being able to play with gkids, riding my atv being taken away do to treatments?

hi everyone. I had my BMX last Wed. July 3. Went direct to implant but now questioning that decision due to the cancer being so close to skin they cut a small football size piece of skin out of my breast. It feels like it is always something. I hadn't a reaction to pain meds & ended up in ER. Just now feeling a bit better thepast two days.

@55cellos - glad you got your drains out, sounds like they were a real headache. Glad you have had good support too!

@ blue22 - my surgeons said 6 weeks for mastectomy + direct to implant reconstruction

My mastectomy and direct to implant reconstruction went well on Weds, the 10th. Pain was bad the first night - we didn't realize I'd actually missed my dose of oxycodone (the little pills stayed in the cup when t tipped the mix of meds out), got it under control yesterday morning and came home yesterday afternoon. I've just taken ibuprofen so far today for pain. Managed a short walk 1/2 way down the block this morning. Surgeons & home care nurse are very happy with wound healing so far, drains have been manageable. Fatigue has been pretty intense

I haven't taken a good look yet - I'm not quite ready.

Praying for you all who are scheduled for surgery this week. Mine is in 1 week and I'm starting to get nervous and really emotional. I do not want this surgery, but I don't have a lot of choices and I want to be here to see my little ones be big adults.....so surgery it is.

Had my BMX yesterday and was home by 10:00 this morning! Everything went well. The only surprising thing is I had 6 sentinel lymph nodes! I’m told this is unusual. Two is average with 5 being the most. Anyway, all 6 were removed and all tested negative! Woohoo! The soreness and drains suck but it’s bearable. I’m happy to have this step over with. Now on to recovery and chemo.

Alden722 - I was surprised by the intensity of my grief after my diagnosis and before my surgery. I've been heartbroken and angry about having to lose my breast, and I was very emotional in the days before my surgery. I've felt better physically & emotionally than I expected to be 1 week out, but I know there will be more ups & downs to come. It helps me to remember that it typically takes about 2 years from diagnosis for most women to fully recover emotionally.

I hope you have good support. Be gentle with yourself these next several days. I will be thinking of you next week.

~Lisa

ps - what part of MI are you in? I used to live in South Bend and I spent a lot of time in & really love SW MI

My surgeon told me that she has seen rebounding after 6 to ,8 months of chemo. But to be safe side, please pay attention to what you eat, avoid sweets and milk cheese etc. My surgery is scheduled after 6 weeks of chemo.

Some said blend lemon in hot water and take it will prevent cancer.

DrMae, I am sorry to hear that you have encountered some before surgery. Use mindfulness and deep breath. Hope all will be ok.

My surgery is scheduled in 12 days and am excited. Does any have to remove drains after 2 days? I m doing simple Mastectomy and go flat. I live in bay area.

Wishing you all well and fast recovery.

Hugs 💗

Cutie - Hi! Great question. I am assuming my breast surgeon could tell? She told me she was worried about having a clear margin & she likes to have 2 mm of clear margins. Good thing she did I guess as path report came back with all margins clear, but there was a <.1 cm margin where she took the skin so she was correct and it was really close.

My Bmx and snb with tissue expanders is scheduled for first thing tomorrow morning at 7:30. I'm scared. I was originally scheduled for surgery last Tuesday the 16th, but ended up sick with fever the Sunday and Monday before. I already pre-registered with the hospital a week and a half ago, but I have to go this afternoon for a sentinel node injection. Has anyone had this done the day before surgery? Tried looking it up on Dr. Google, but not much info out there.

I had my bilateral mx on July 12, with expanders put in but not filled. I had around a 5 hr surgery and went home same day. I still have my drains and they fill less and less everyday. My PS said no shower till drains are out, so anxiously awaiting that, and restrictions for 6 weeks. All seems to be healing well, 6 nodes taken two with cancer so radiation is recommended so far, meet with oncologist tomorrow so we will see if chemo is on the table or not. Hope everyone has a quick painless recovery!

Hi all,

Hope all are having quick recovery. My surgery is planned on 31st. So I may be the last one in the group. I went to have another chip in my existing marker for my see surgeon to located the biopsied lymph node with rador in Ax lymph node but ultrasound couldn't find it because of chemo did well and the nodes appeared normal. Now my BS has to follow blue dye path and pick what she thought for pathology report. I don't want any marker left in my body. So I don't know how it can be removed if the ones BS removed not exist after surgery. I will have DMX due to MRI finding of tiny probably benign cyst in healthy breast. May be it is false positive. It was done after chemo. My oncologist doesn't think it is cancer. Because existing lump disappeared after chemo. The thing is this benign is located at the bottom of breast and near muscle. So, I changed my original plan of doing single MX to DMX with no reconstruction.

I m so excited how things are going to be in next week. My BS said because I had chemo and she will have drains more than 2 days. She said surgery will be approximately 1.5 hours. By the way, does anyone know keeping nipple at healthy breast side after mastectomy will be ok or not?

Wishing you all quick recovery.

Cutie

I had left breast mastectomy on July 16th with expander placement. Diagnosed 5/7/19 with ILC. Mastectomy behind me now was not too painful, just discomfort that was tolerable. Hopefully getting my drain out today. The only way to sleep is propped up to almost a sitting position. I had a chaise that I made a nest with about 12 pillows. I found out Monday that the tumor was larger (5cm+) than expected and was graded at Grade 3. Now facing chemo in August. That was a hard pill to swallow. Uncertainty has me anxious and knowing this is the new normal for now. Trying to stay positive but there are times when you just have to cry

Home today from Surgery yesterday. They had hoped I would go home yesterday, but apparently I had too much oozing, and it seems like maybe a lot of anesthesia. Not hurting too much, only on Tylenol and Advil so far. I had a Mastectomy on one side and lumpectomy on the other. No reconstruction.

How many of you were able to NOT take any narcotics.?

I was surprised about the Ibuprofen - they fed it to me at the hospital before I went home, and prescribed 600mg 3X a day.

They discourage narcotics - for multiple reasons - I don't want the side effects and certainly don't want addiction. I am already too much in love with the Ativan they prescribed for nausea during chemo (works great for insomnia too)