April 2020 Surgery group

I was diagnosed with lobular carcinoma in my right breast on 2/20. Lefty has 3 spots that they wanted to biopsy but I am opting to have a bmx with nipple delay reconstruction. My doctors (surgeon and plastic surgeon) are coordinating times for the surgeries. Their plan is to do nipple delay procedure and sentinel node biopsy and then go back in 2 weeks to do bmx and reconstruction. I called them today because I hadn't heard anything from them in over a week and didn't know if maybe they were postponing it due to Coronavirus. My original thought when I was first diagnosed was that I wanted to do all of this as soon as possible so that I could just move on with my life. Now I'm not so sure. I'm scared of being in the hospital. I'm scared of having a lowered immune system due to surgery. I'm scared that something will happen with doctors and/or hospitals due to the virus and I'll slip through the cracks. Hearing you mention getting lumpectomy until things settle down resonates with me but I don't know. Will things settle down any time soon? Should I just get it done now. Should I just have bmx without reconstruction? Hopefully I'll get my surgery date soon and I'm thinking it will be in April so I'm joining I this group I'd love to hear others thoughts during this trying time

Finally! A thread for those of us scheduling April surgery! Raising my hand. I purposely pushed mine into April (I too was diagnosed on 2/21). In the interim, I have 're-played' our conversation with the surgeon over and over (not recorded) and thru my jumbled mind, played out every scenario ....deciding on mastectomy with no reconstruction. Get me in....get me out. Get IT out! Then....COVID-19 hits the fan! ~ I had the calmest conversation with his navigator this past Monday and she explained that I was still scheduled for a 'lumpectomy'.....not mastectomy. Our plan is for me to connect with them again about a week before the date to determine the census of the hospital (if affected by coronavirus) and IF they needed to push back my date, I was not in danger. I feel very relieved with their approach. (Ask me again as the date nears!)

Reason I push the date out was so that I could travel (within the USA) Naturally, that trip was cancelled. We were to fly back home, and the first question asked by surgeons office was how was I getting back home. They were very glad to hear we were going to drive, and NOT fly.

Let's all stay connected and hold each others hands during this topsy-turvy time....both in our bodies and in our society.

Good morning! I think you might be told the same thing I was.....it's "wait and see" as to the demands this virus puts on the hospital. I was told to check back as we got closer to the date. How far will you have to travel? Will you drive or fly? (Flying might become an issue) As I was told, my circumstances presented no danger if they needed to push me out for a bit. By "for a bit", I am thinking another month or more wouldn't change the outcome. That has put my mind at ease. My advice to you is to stay in touch with the surgeon/Dana Farber. Good luck and God speed.

I am waiting for a surgery date. I am not encouraged that it is going to happen any time soon. I spoke with the scheduling nurse yesterday and learned that the hospital administration is limiting the surgeries that can be scheduled; I'm dealing with Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. I have two Savi Scouts in place and that does not appear to matter. I requested that the surgeon contact me to re-affirm that I am not endangering my health by waiting more than if I were to have the surgery. I'm to have a double lumpectomy, sentinel node biopsy and oncoplasty.

I was diagnosed and met with the breast surgeon in January. She was adamant that she wanted me to wait for surgery as I was still recovering from two robotic surgeries for hysterectomy and ovarian cancer staging (10/19 and 12/19). The ovarian cancer is a rare form and is treated with surgery only (whew!). I took her advice and physically feel better that I have in a long time. My husband and I have committed to a self-quarantine until this is resolved. Grateful that we have a home in a wonderful small neighborhood where we can walk a lot.

Best to all!

I was just diagnosed Wednesday. Recovering from excisional biopsy last week. And I've HATED my doctor, so I'm going through transferring to a new doctor and trying to decide between mastectomy or further lumpectomy and radiation, all during this covid craziness. I'm super worried about surgeries being cancelled eventually. I just couldn't stay with my current doctor though...not only for the purpose of rushing. But I'm really hoping I won't have to just live with this knowledge until the pandemic gets better. My oldest daughter graduates high school this year too. She's getting acceptance letters and the last thing I want is to take attention away from her. She's already missing the end of senior year. So much to handle at once!

ill - Yes, they scheduled and did my Savi Scouts without a surgery date and before my plastic surgeon consult. The breast surgeon would have put one in for the malignant one at the time of my initial consult if she had been able to do it via ultrasound (the second mass showed only on MRI). No one has said anything about sentinel tracking placement and I don't know anything about it.

The Savi Scout placement was a miserable experience done with mammogram. The tech was awesome but the radiologist was clueless and required a lot of guidance from the technician from Savi Scout who was in the room with us.

This whole thing is really crazy!

Hello everyone, I am so glad to see this thread started for April surgeries. Great idea! I have previously posted on the COVID-19 thread with my concerns about my upcoming mastectomy on April 7th. I just got a phone call reminding me of my pre-op appointments coming up March 25th, so at least right now it's still a go. I had my biopsy on 2/7/20 and it came back high grade DCIS. So in some respects my surgery could be postponed but this is also a recurrence from IDC in 2013. I contemplated bilateral mastectomy, reconstruction or no reconstruction. After a nearly a month I decided on the unilateral with no reconstruction however I could have recon. 6 months later. So of course I'm quite nervous walking into the hospital for pre-ops and the surgery. I feel they could postpone it at any moment. Really I'd like to get over with since this started last Dec. with mammograms showing calcifications. We will all ride through this and look forward to hearing from any of you with similar situations. These are trying times indeed. Stay well.

Carol in California

Hello ijl and others, My surgeon's office called me this morning and they will do telephone pre-op appointments instead of coming into the hospital due to the COVID-19 health safety concerns. So I'm set for those appointments tomorrow afternoon. The nurse also informed me my husband will not be allowed in the hospital before for after my surgery. I will be dropped out at the hospital entrance. Not very happy about that but I certainly do understand and not want my husband exposed to the virus. He was just diagnosed with thyroid cancer in December and has had two surgeries. We will all hope for the best.

Carol

ijl, Hope you will be able to have your lumpectomy on April 8th as scheduled. My mastectomy is still a go for April 7 with one week to go. I am getting nervous about it but at the same time would like to get the surgery over with. I really do not want to lose a breast but know it is for my health. Take care.

My surgery on 4/1 went very well. I had a double lumpectomy followed by reduction/lift. It was a very strange experience. While the hospital would have allowed my husband to wait in the building, we opted for curbside dropoff and pickup. In pre-op, very few staff members were wearing masks and there were only 3 other patients. As soon as I was beginning to wake up in recovery, the nurse was asking if I was ready to go home. I woke up wearing a mask and I ended up leaving after less than two hours in recovery. I didn't want to spend any more time there that was necessary.

I was given Percoset for pain and I needed it! Wednesday night and most of yesterday were very uncomfortable. I woke up this morning with a migraine and took my normal migraine cocktail of 2 Excedrin Migraine tablets and a sudafed and then put an ice pack on my neck and forehead. It worked even though it was probably medically inadvisable. The breast pain has subsided to discomfort so I'm going to skip the Percoset and just take Tylenol.

I am allowed to take a shower today and expect that will be an adventure. I have huge pads stuffed in my surgical bra that I am to remove when I shower. I'm a little scared to look at what's underneath them. The plastic surgeon called my husband when surgery was over and told him it was a bit of a jigsaw puzzle and he's pleased with the results.

Still groggy from Percoset. Going to take a nap before the shower adventure.

Hi! I was diagnosed on 3/25 with invasive ductal carcinoma in my left breast. It was a spot the was around .5cm at its largest side. I chose to have a double mastectomy because I would be constantly concerned about it showing up in right breast. I had surgery on Friday 4/3, I was sent home two hours after surgery due to covid 19. My surgeon didn't want me to stay in the hospital and possibly get exposed. I had tissue expanders put in during surgery and they filled them to 300cc during surgery.

No One was allowed to even come in the hospital with me due to covid 19. Very scary to say the least. Thankful my best friends daughter is a recovery nurse and she was the first person I saw when I woke u

I could not take the hydrocodone it made me feel weird , I have been managing the pain with Tylenol and my anxiety medicine.

Tissue expanders are very uncomfortable as are drain tubes , I'm ready for these tubes to get gone.

My dr biopsied my lymph node during surgery and said he saw no sign of cancer in it but has to send to patty but said he doesn't expect to hear anything different from pathology. I am so thankful.

I was one hat never wanted to get a mammogram because I was scared. One day in early March I was waiting to pick my daughter up from school and something just told me to call and make an appointment. There is no doubt in my mind the good Lord was watching over me , plus a few precious guardian angels.

The pain is not as bad as I expected it to be. I think most of the uncomfortableness is from the drains