April 2020 Surgery group

Hi callMeTenacious. Glad to hear you survived your surgery and that your pathology report was great! I also had a lumpectomy and reduction and lift on both breasts at the end of Feb. I am very pleased with the work done by my breast surgeon and the plastic surgeon. My breasts are considerably smaller now. I'm still getting used to not having heavy large breasts. I had zero issues and healed well. I am doing my radiation now. Today was #2.

I started taking Colace 3 nights prior to surgery and took it every day for about 2 weeks so constipation wasn't an issue. I learned my lesson about post-surgery constipation after other surgeries I've had AND my surgeons advised me to prepare!

I enjoy your sense of humor regarding your husband helping you. If he's up for learning...there's a YouTube video for anything you can think of!!! A lot of good recipe sites also have videos. lol If all else fails take-out and delivery will save you both.

Continued success with your healing process.

I just posted (my lumpectomy was the 6th) before seeing this group. My original plan was a bilateral mastectomy as well. Due to the pandemic, I also switched to just a lumpectomy. I am rather irritated at not having the surgery I originally wanted, but know I made the right decision for what is going on now. So far recovery is going well. On the thread I started I posted the final pathology report. Clean margins. 2 nodes removed. 1 clear, 1 with small tumor cells but not measurable so no true metastasis. Radiation referral made. Just waiting to hear from them.

hi. Just wanting to join the group and feel connected. Diagnosed in February and just got surgery date for BMX on 4/15. I keep trying to play it cool and take things one step at a time but this pandemic situation is eerie and so unsettling. Thanks for a place to connect with others in the sameboat. Best wishes to all of you.

Welcome Mamasita: I was diagnosed in February also and originally my surgery date was 4/14, however the COVID19 has forced them to move my surgery date until May 18. This is a good group for you to have posted......they will follow along your journey with you. Good luck on the 15th. Come back and let us know how it went. ~ Where are you located (State?) Curious only because you were able to get an earlier date than I have ended up with!

Thank you, ladies! For the support and warm welcome.

Ijl and cm2020: so glad you were able to get your surgeries and things seem to be going well! I wish you good healing.

Nana: I’m sorry your date got pushed back. I was told they could still call and cancel me at any moment. I’m in the Philadelphia area. They are bracing for a covid surge here in May I think. I don’t know. So unsettling.

All we can do is take the next step. (Or sit and wait for it, right?

Welcome HotFlashes! Please don't beat yourself up over taking your time to make your reconstruction decision. You clearly needed the time to make the best decision for yourself.

I too found the prep/shopping post to be more intimidating than helpful. A lot on there that doesn't apply to everyone. And I have a long-standing history of being ultra-organized and over-prepared for any situation. My travel friends call me "Mary Poppins" because I'm the one who can always reach into my bag and magically pull out anything they need. That said, everyone's situation as to what you're going to need is a little different and we do live in very different times this month.

Do you have a nurse navigator assigned or an advocate from your surgeon or hospital? That may be helpful for the specifics you will need for your recovery. There is a wide variance in how surgeons handle drains, incision management, pain management and activity restrictions. I suggest starting there.

Then look around your home and move things around so that you will be able to reach what is important to you. I made sure that I could reach clothing that I would be able to put on myself and that a few plates and some snacks were on my kitchen counter as well as "grab" items like fruit and yogurt on a refrigerator shelf at reach-in height. Arrange your bed area and any area outside of bed (couch, chair) to be sure you are surrounded with what comforts you -- extra pillows, books, long charger cords, tissues. If you are WFH, finish as much outstanding work and clear your desk.

As you organize your home space, think about what will make you more comfortable and happy as your recover. If you're a reader - download or order a new book. Pick out some lighter movies.

I only had 1 day notice on the scheduling of my surgery so all I could do was to organize - couldn't run out to the store during quarantine. I knew that I wouldn't have drains so I didn't have to figure that out. I have a number of different icepacks and have used several. Also put a small stool at the side of my slightly higher bed to aid in getting in and out (learned that trick from previous surgeries).

Hope this helps!

Thanks, CallMeTenacious (Mary Poppins) and ijl, for the tips! I just made an appointment to talk to a nurse from my care team tomorrow, and she emailed me the hospital's 70+ page guide (!) on what to expect for the mastectomies and various appointments leading up to it, so that gives me a week to prepare. I can't imagine having only one day, Coronavirus or no virus! At the same time, I also way over-prepared for chemo--which leaves me with plenty of options if the anesthesia or painkillers make me nauseous now, I guess. I have every form of ginger there is, I think--several ginger teas, candied ginger, ginger lozenges, "fresh" ginger in the freezer lol. And since I shaved my head before starting chemo, that takes care of shampooing...it's just patches of fuzz up there, now.

I was wondering about how immobile I'll be, with just the top wound site. Since I live alone, I'm actually going to stay at a friend's for the first week or so after surgery (she has a spare bedroom and bathroom with a bench in the shower), but I'm going to see what I can move down to lower shelves at my own place for when I return to deal with my drains. Luckily, it seems the hospital is going to give me two surgical bras (the one I wake up in and the one I take home)--I was worried about getting a hold of specialty items like this now, with most stores closed. Another good thing is that I can shop my closet for button and zip-up tops--I haven't given them away in a fit of Marie Kondo-style spring cleaning because Goodwill etc have been closed for weeks. And according to my friend, the grocery stores in PA near her are much better than the ones here in NYC--fewer and faster lines to get in and more things are in stock, so I should be able to bring food back with me.

Okay, enough thinking/typing aloud. Time to start packing my bag! Thanks again for the heads-up, and I hope your recoveries continue to go well! We can do this!!!

Hi cm2020,

I've never had a lumpectomy, but when I had a bunch of biopsies in one day, I was sore in spots for weeks, long after the bruises had disappeared. And those were just biopsies!

MSKCC has info about this online, in their "About your lumpectomy" page--this looks just like the info they gave me about mastectomy. I'm pasting it below, because this site isn't letting me include links. Maybe it will help!

Is it normal to feel new sensations?

As you are healing, you may feel a several different sensations in your breast or arm. Tenderness, numbness, and twinges are common examples.

These sensations usually come and go, and will lessen over time, usually within the first few months after surgery. However, some may last months, even 5 years or longer. This is because the nerves are the slowest part of your body to heal. Most people report that the sensations are not severe or distressing.

As you continue to heal, you may feel scar tissue along your incision site. It will feel hard. This is common and will soften over the next several months.

cm2020, did you have nodes removed? If so, it is very normal to have pain in the underarm area as the healing starts. The pains might be mild and achy, or you might have sharp pains. I remember having pains that literally had me jumping out of my chair - but they would come on in an instant and then be gone. This is all nerve regeneration and the pain can last for months. Everyone is different; in my case the pains only lasted a couple of weeks but my underarm and the underside of my arm down to my elbow were numb for 6 months.

Hi all - I was originally scheduled to have surgery in May, but due to all things COVID, I just received confirmation that I'll be having surgery next week. I am a bit relieved as they had originally talked about having to delay, but thanks to the persistence of my surgeon, I have approval from hospital committee! Of course now I have to scramble to get everything at work ready to hand off and all the things at home I need to prep. Anyways, wanted to say hi and wishing everyone well in their procedures/recovery!

Hello everyone, I thought I would chime in here since I'm in this group. I had unilateral mastectomy 10 days ago. Am doing okay, sore, sensitive and achy in the chest area, gaining more strength every day. I'm taking daily walks in our neighborhood and love doing that. My husband was allowed to be with me in pre-op up to the time I was taken to surgery, but that was all. Initially he was told he couldn't enter the hospital at all due to the COVID-19 precautions, so that was a huge plus. I stayed one night and the care at Kaiser Fontana Medical Center was excellent. There were patients there, but far less than usual. I didn't have a lot of pain after surgery, the nerve block I was given did it's job for 2-3 days, stopped pain pills 3 days out and the discomfort has not been as bad as thought. I still have the drain, it's kind of a pain, but not too bothersome and will be glad it will be removed at my post-op visit next Monday as well as receive my pathology results. I guess they say no news is good news but I thought my surgeon would have called me by now. I have taken a look at my chest and incision through the bandages and it's rather shocking. I will get a better look most likely at my visit coming up when the bandages are removed. I'm trying to be positive about that as much as possible, but I know it's OK to cry and this is a process. My ribs and chest area are quite sore and sensitive to touch and it appears I'm concave too, more than what I expected but I didn't have huge expectations as how I would look. I'm also quite a thin person and lost a few pounds since my diagnosis in Feb. This was was second go around with cancer, so this has been a little more scary in some ways. Both times the cancers were small and found early, Stage 1, grade 1 in 2013, this time regional high-grade DCIS. But I'm glad its over and the cancer is out. I'm a survivor and will go on. I wish all of you the best and good health. The posts here on breastcancer.org have truly helped me in this breast cancer journey.