AUGUST 2015 SURGERY SISTERS!!

1…131415161719»

Comments

  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited October 2015

    Artista I am so glad that you were able to be at home for this. Prayers and positive thoughts!

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Artista928
    Artista928 Member Posts: 2,753
    edited October 2015

    ^^ ^^

    Thank you! It's been quite the journey so far and chemo et al is yet to come! Ikes! xo

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Carrie37
    Carrie37 Member Posts: 331
    edited October 2015

    Thinking of you Arista!

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Molly50
    Molly50 Member Posts: 3,773
    edited October 2015

    Artista, how is home care going?

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Artista928
    Artista928 Member Posts: 2,753
    edited October 2015

    Thanks ladies! It's going.. I've got the process down and don't feel like it's as "gross" or weird as I did on Tues night. The color looks close if not the same as the left side so that's positive. It's still a little harder than the left expander so not sure what that means being I am scheduled to be done with abx on Tues. I'm getting a bit nervous about the time line you have to get on chemo. I had my sx 8/6 and I've read from folks here that 3 months is the window to start chemo before it becomes less effective. By how much it wasn't said. So end of this month is the 3 months for me post sx.

    I was bouncing between keeping the picc line that I already have and saving myself from port procedure as I hate procedures but after posting on the chemo forum port vs picc, I'm seeing folks loving the port- especially since tests don't end after chemo. With the picc line it is a pain showering with a bag on it trying to keep it dry. With the port no worries on getting it wet, plus no dressing change. The dressing change on this did hurt a bit. So most likely I'll have this pulled and do port sx once infection is cleared. Thanks for asking. xo

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Girl53
    Girl53 Member Posts: 225
    edited October 2015

    Think I will probably have CPM coming up in next month or so. Saw your comment about wiping and had to laugh! Is this difficult? Does it hurt when you sneeze? Can you pick up a carton of milk? Can't wait until it's my turn to laugh about this!!!

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Artista928
    Artista928 Member Posts: 2,753
    edited April 2016

    Anyone from this group still around? :)

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Molly50
    Molly50 Member Posts: 3,773
    edited April 2016

    I am

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • mjh1
    mjh1 Member Posts: 445
    edited April 2016

    yes, still here although not as frequently as I was once but that doesn't mean all my BCO sisters r forgotten.. I try n check in when I can and answer any questions from our new sisters but quite honestly I'm just trying to move on and forget what a nightmare it's been trying to get to boobyville. warm hugs!!!!

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • mkinoly
    mkinoly Member Posts: 86
    edited April 2016

    So I had my UMX in August with no complications and I feel like I haven't really healed up like I imagined I would. It doesn't look like I thought it would. It's all wrinkly and sort of discolored skin around the front incision area. The incision area that goes under the armpit looks totally different than that--looks basically how I thought it would, but a bit swollen. There's still a seroma in the front part of the armpit. Aside from how odd I think it all looks, there's also pain. I get a lot of soreness in the rib area. Sometimes there's pain behind the front incision that feels kind of like tearing muscle. And the side under the armpit throbs and hurts at times and it's still hard to lay on that side for long. Seven months post-surgery.... I guess I thought I'd be flat and smooth and without pain instead of lumpy and wrinkly and with pain. Maybe I was delusional and all this is normal?

    I don't know anyone in "real life" to ask about this, so I was hoping anyone that had a mastectomy in August and did NOT get any reconstruction could chime in.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited April 2016

    I am too. Been around just lurking as nothing new is going on with me. Although I had my 6 month ck up with both my surgeon and oncologist and all looks really good. All blood work is within normal values except my iron is high but that's my fault due to an increase in red meat and spinach in my diet. All healing has gone well. I did have the misfortune of returning to the scene of the crime, the hospital where I had my surgery, for a friend who has started her own journey. Thank the Lord her lymph nodes were clear but she did choose reconstruction and does not handle pain very well and has had a hard time with it so far. She's pushing on though - 3 children with her first graduating this May and then a sophomore and a 7th grader too.

    My family and I have been very grateful to this site and this group, we have done a lot of healing but still have so much more to go. I hope that all of you are doing well and if you are having difficulties please know that you are all in my thoughts and prayers every day regardless.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited April 2016

    My incisions are wrinkly on the bottom part as well. I still have some swelling at the ends of the incisions that are under my armpits but it is slowly going down with time and weight loss. As for pain, I feel it in the middle of my chest if I bring either of my arms across my chest too far but I think that is just from scar tissue pulling as scar tissue does not stretch. I also have a little pain with pressure on my chest be it my bra & prosthetics or when the doctor did some pressing at my appointment but that is because there isn't much cushion there anymore.

    I hope that your pain begins to ease up for you soon.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Artista928
    Artista928 Member Posts: 2,753
    edited April 2016

    I start rads in about 3 weeks. After sx I had drains for 5 weeks. Then it was infection for 5 weeks that landed me in the hospital for a few days. After that my hemoglobin, rbc, hematocrit were all way too low to start chemo so another week in delays to start chemo. Then end of Feb I go to pay my Feb premium for Blue Cross to find Covered Ca accidentally cancelled me and put me on blue cross medi-cal which to boot, none of my providers take! 3 weeks of fighting to get it reinstated, even though they knew it was wrong- can't change the computer. Took a miracle but 3/18 I got it back, 3/25 was back to onc to decide if with a month delay of last chemo if it's worth it. She said better do it than not even if it doesn't do much. So that was last Mon, end of chemo. Visit with RO next Mon to map and plan. 3/25 visit with onc to see result of CT scan, if lung nodule has changed. Then on with rads and eventually hormone suppressants.

    And we forge on hoping the other shoe doesn't drop..

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited April 2016

    Woo, you have definitely been dealing haven't you? So glad that you got all that insurance business straightened out.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Artista928
    Artista928 Member Posts: 2,753
    edited April 2016

    Oh yeah, it's been quite the ride. All kinds of delays. The medical ones nothing you can do but the insurance was a whopper. I can't count how many hours I spent on the phone of course being passed over here and there and how many sorry nothing we can do until 4/1 to fix it. 4/1 does me no good. For one it'd be taken as a new policy and I've already paid majority of my deductible and out of pocket max. I can't afford to start at 0 in payments I've made. Oh man I thought I was going to have a heart attack! It's amazing how many people don't even jump when you say you have cancer. But I found one angel who fought for me.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Molly50
    Molly50 Member Posts: 3,773
    edited April 2016

    Wow, Artista! I am glad you got the insurance straightened out. That would have been a disaster. I am waiting for my 4/15 appointment with my PS to schedule exchange surgery and prophylactic Mx on my good side. PS will not be happy I am choosing implants over flap surgery but I have taken 3 months to contemplate the whole ordeal of having a TRAM flap and decided the best thing for me right now is to go with implants. I can always do flap surgery later. The prophy mx on the good breast will allow me to only have annual MRI instead of mammo/MRI rotation every 6 months. This whole BC is so complicated. I am also taking a break from Anastrozole. I emailed my MO through the patient portal. Hopefully he reads it. The SE's are getting worse and worse for me. Artista, hopefully your recent scan is good news!

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • mjh1
    mjh1 Member Posts: 445
    edited April 2016

    mkinoly - my mom had a bilateral mastectomy without recon in September 2014. One side she had a modified radical due to the size of the tumor n the other side she had a simple. The incision on the modified radical is all puckered and the other side is not. The color of the skin around the incisions at first was like a reddish purple (no infection) and that took a long time to fade somewhat but still discolored. Me on the other hand had inframamory incision n u can hardly c them. I wonder if the location if the incisions n what type of suturess used plays a role in the ultimate look of the incisions. My mom had sutures n staples n I had internal dissolvable sutures n glue for my 2nd revision but I also moisturize twice a day so maybe that helped too.

    Arista - u must have had the same nitwit that canceled me out if my insurance in the middle of my expansion phase. It took 4 month's to be reinstated to my original plan n then it took another year for them to straighten out my deductibles. After countless phone calls with more nitwits in 3 different states since claims, billing n the IT department r in different states I finally threatened that I was going to call every news channel n camp out at their corporate headquarters because I was done with phone calls. Well that must have got their attention because I was reinstated in 3 days after months of being given the run around. I also learned to ask for every persons ID number n the reference number for the call since I knew they record every conversation so when they wanted to backtrack to what I was originally told I told them no go back to the tape under this references number. So I certainly feel the frustration u went through. Glad it all worked out for u. Good luck with rads. Hugs!!!!!

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Artista928
    Artista928 Member Posts: 2,753
    edited April 2016

    Wow mjj1. I thought my 3 weeks of fighting was bad. Wow. I got lucky in that I got an angel at BC who fought further for me when I was out of gas. Thankfully everything was reinstated correctly so I'm done with my deductible and oop max for the year.

    Today I went to do my taxes. I get SSDI and don't have to file because I don't get enough to be taxed but just went to do the proof of insurance for last year. Since it was back in Oct that some twat set my income to 0, I showed double coverage for Nov and Dec. The tax lady was telling me that it 's a good thing I caught this early, 2 months showing last year, because she's seen situations where folks were penalised, having to pay back the help they were given for the insurance---even though it wasn't their error! I was like wtf?? So I was sitting there waiting to see if I'm one of those and thankfully I was not. Maybe since I never knew I had Medi-crap let alone use it. Who knows but I couldn't believe that there was a chance that I'd have to pay back whatever assistance amount was given to me to have Medi-crap when I was not in error! Wow.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • 39andhip
    39andhip Member Posts: 164
    edited April 2016

    I still check in occasionally. It is good to hear from everyone! I am feeling really good eight months post DIEP reconstruction. I've got some scarring issues that I'm receiving injections for, but otherwise no complaints. :)

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • mjh1
    mjh1 Member Posts: 445
    edited April 2016

    39andhip - glad to hear from u and that you're feeling good after the DIEP. As time goes on the dark days start to fade but I'm sure all of us will have some scarring whether physical or emotional that will always remain just from being on this journey. Hope the injections will provide some relief. Hugs!!!


    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Suzy1067
    Suzy1067 Member Posts: 36
    edited June 2016

    I'm still here too...checking in periodically. Mainly to check on everyone and to research an issue when needed. Like others have mentioned, I feel like I've tried to move on and get back to "normal"...I've gotten my tattoos and am very happy to feel "done". Still working through some Tamoxifen issues...but, I found a great remedy for the awful leg/feet cramping I was experiencing every night. Since I've been using the apple cider vinegar and baking soda, I have not had any!! Praise the Lord - they were waking me up at night for weeks. And in the oddest muscles...ones you can't seem to stretch out easily. Other than that and hot flashes, I'm hanging in there. Glad to "see" you all :)


    Suzy

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Molly50
    Molly50 Member Posts: 3,773
    edited June 2016

    Suzy, how do you like the tattoos?

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Artista928
    Artista928 Member Posts: 2,753
    edited June 2016

    6/2/16 was my 1 year cancerversary as well as my mom's bday (fam doesn't know about me). I think the counting should begin from the date of your last active tx myself. Last year this time, all kinds of scans lined up, setting up meet with surgs and such. Time flew but it didn't feel like it last year as I sat in pain until 8/6 when I had bmx with TE placements. Still have those things. Rads ends 6/20 and have to wait 6 mo for full healing before can switch out, so Dec is hopefully it! I had 2 month delay before chemo with infection and drains in a long time and then a month before my final chemo when insurance accidentally dropped me and it took 3 weeks to reinstate. Did it effect the effectiveness of my tx (chemo and rads)? No doc can say for sure as all I get is "it's not ideal"). Hope all of you are well and done and are looking at having a great summer!

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Suzy1067
    Suzy1067 Member Posts: 36
    edited June 2016

    Molly50, I love them! They make the scars less noticeable and give me a little more self confidence when undressed!

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Molly50
    Molly50 Member Posts: 3,773
    edited June 2016

    Artista, those delays are probably a bit unsettling for you. Good luck with rads. It wasn't horrible for me. I have surgery for my summer plans. I want so badly to finish and have cancer in my rear view mirror.

    Suzy, I hope to have Vinny Myers do my tats. I understand they require you to wait 6 months post any TX. I think he comes to California once a year. If not I will fly out to him. I am glad you are happy with your tats.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Artista928
    Artista928 Member Posts: 2,753
    edited August 2019

    Found this oldie. Exactly 4 years out from bmx and te placement sx.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Molly50
    Molly50 Member Posts: 3,773
    edited November 2019

    Hi Artista, I just saw this update. 4 years ago I was in the middle of radiation. Where has the time gone?

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Artista928
    Artista928 Member Posts: 2,753
    edited November 2019

    Hi Molly! Time does fly. Seems so long ago to me. So far so good. Can't deal with the ses of ai's so it's years of Tamoxifen for me. Here's holding steady for us all!

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Categories