Hi Reddi
I hope everything goes well for you, will be thinking of you xx
My consultant meeting went ok but my operation has been put back to the 19th now. I'm anxious as i am to have a new surgeon and the consultant couldn't pronounce his name ! I'm sure all will go well it's just having another week of anxiety and trying to keep positive thoughts in my head.
Just a quickie before I drag myself to bed! I think I'll have the drain for a few more days, still oozing and very sore where it goes in on my left side. I think it is just the drain that is giving me grief.
Journey home was bumpy, husband did his best but the potholes round here! OMG! We have changed sides of the bed so I can sleep on my good side and can get out to the loo easier ... I don't know how he will sleep on the 'wrong' side! lol..
Best wishes to all... X
Hi Mags, Friday i was scared but the hospital staff were great, especially in recovery. I was in a great deal of pain and had a big dose of morphine - i felt wonderful. Today (Saturday) is a different story. I have been nagged by nursing staff for low blood pressure! Not a lot i can do, it's always been like that! Going home tomorrow. And will have ditrict nurses come in as i still have a drain. Very sore and had scant attention. They wantedme gone today but i could not stand the drive, every movementis painful and i am dreading getting in the car. I won'tget results till after Christmas. Feeling very low. Wish i could have a shower or even a wash. Excuse awful typing/grammar.
@MrsG1962 and @essexgirly2 Seconding what @Magsv said -- and I hope you are recovering well today! I also hope any pre-surgery jitters have settled. I know I certainly wouldn't have signed up for this particular life event, and I'm feeling nervous, too. I think that's totally natural with such a major surgery -- major, no matter how much tissue is removed, because of the underlying reason for it as well as the effects the surgery has on both mind and body.
@crochetaddict How did your meeting with your consultant go? I hope you got all your questions answered. It seems we'll be the two in this thread having surgery this week -- though, of course, some late-comers might join our party. I'll be thinking of you on Wednesday.
@Pulapula Our journeys seem to have been somewhat similar, with neoadjuvant chemo, then some choice between a very wide WLE and a Mx. And I, too, work for myself from home, and recovery was a factor -- though for me, it was more a factor in considering whether to go for immediate or delayed reconstruction. I just felt I'd like to try immediate, since I knew I wanted reconstruction and I'd prefer one big surgery to two. We'll see if my body agrees to that plan!
Apologies for being so quiet this week -- I've been busy consenting to surgery and going through pre-surgery assessment, with this coming week no better, with more pre-surgery bloodwork, Herceptin injection (first post-chemo), follow-up with oncology, and check-up with ophthalmology (for an inflammation in one eye that seems to be a side effect of chemo) squashed into Monday through Wednesday. So I may be quiet again til I'm discharged home next weekend. I'll be thinking of all of you and eager to hear reports when/if you're ready.
As to me, I've signed on the dotted line for the lumpectomy on the left and the mastectomy on the right with immediate reconstruction using a prepectoral implant. Fingers crossed, the implant will take and my margins will be clear, and at most I'll need a little lipo top-up surgery to balance things up in late 2019 or 2020. At this point, though, I'm prepared (as much as I can be) for any turn of events.
@Magsv Thanks for your packing list. I think I've now got my list sorted, but I'll have to pare back a bit in order to fit it into a suitable bag: button-front PJs, thick nonslip socks (cold feet!), front-closing sports bra (probably not required in my case), drain dolly, earplugs, eye mask, toothbrush & toothpaste & hand sanitizer & moisturizer (for my post-chemo care regime), throat lozenges, dandelion tea bags, book, mobile phone & charger & extra battery & headphones, and thank-you card for the nurses on the ward (my mother was a nurse, which is why I do this). I'm hoping to wear in what I wear out, but if my shirt doesn't fit over the swelling and bandages, my stretchy jersey PJ top should.
I got some post-mastectomy pillows from the fabulous Jen's Friends (if you're having surgery, I highly recommend them -- they were great after my sentinel lymph node biopsies in the summer). However, I don't know that I can fit them in my bag, so either my OH half will need to bring them to me in the ward after surgery, or I'll just leave them at home. (I have to report at 7:30am, so I'm going in on my own -- my OH is not a morning person.)
One nice early present: I found out that I'll only have drains on the mastectomy side, and I'm being given a type that I don't empty myself: they're vacuum-sealed, so if they get full, I have to go into the hospital to have them emptied. I'm going to have to be sure I know what to do if they need attending to on the holidays, especially as both my surgeon and my breast care nurse will be on annual leave. Tis the most wonderful time of the year!
Thinking of you both today Melanie and essexgirly
I hope your ops went ok? :-)
Mags xxx
Hi Pulapula,
Welcome to the forum. I send my best wishes to you, and can empathise with your dilemma as to the best option. I had a triple positive tumour, but, although it completely resolved with chemo, I had a large area of dcis, so a mastectomy ended up being my only option. I still need radiotherapy to prevent recurrence, so I wasn't able to have an immediate implant. Although I wasn't happy about having a mastectomy, I did feel pleased to think that I am cancer free, as my nodes were negative too.
Good luck with whatever you decide.
Jane xx
Hi Mags, it is strange isn’t it how different it feels once the decision is made. Will certainly let you know how I get on and if I have any tips ( or things I wish I’d taken in with me ) I will let you know.
take care xx Melanie
Hi Essex Girly I’m so pleased you’ve managed to get the guidance and advice you needed. Must admit my surgeon is brilliant, I’ve got so much confidence in her, so when she told me it was non negotiable and I have to have a mastectomy and loose my nipple I felt really calm about it. Funny how once the final decision is made you get an almost serenity and ability to concentrate on what needs to be done.
Good luck for the radio active dye and for Friday and let’s both look forward to Friday night when we can actually get some sleep xx Melanie
Hi Magsv, I feel we have been down a very similar path in the way we have agonised over what choice to make, but, as I have explained in my post to Mrs G. I really just wanted some 'guidance' which I got today, and now I am happy (well, as happy as I can be about losing a breast) but at least I am not sobbing every half an hour like I have for the last couple of weeks!
I was told that the recovery was very similar in both operations, drains with both, but I am not worried about a night or two in hospital, I worry more about being sent home 'not quite ready' as happened with my hysterectomy 25 years ago (I ended up in hospital for another week after being sent home too early)
I want to 'move on'. We get the keys to our new house on Thursday and I get my op on Friday!! I want to be free of this thing so that in the new year we can look forward, no more worry about 'is it going to come back' and all that.
I will never know, maybe a lumpectomy would be ok, but do I want to take the chance? or be in and out of hospital for goodness knows how long? No, I have songs to sing and places to go... life is too short!
After so much agonising I am so happy to be calm and be 'myself' again!
Wishing you all the best for your New Year op.
Thank you so much for your advice, after spending hours trying to read up on diagnosis and treatment you start to feel quite insecure. I will be spending more time on this forum and less on google. xx
Hi, Mrs G! snap!
My BCN arranged a quick meet with the surgeon today ... I finally got what I wanted, he said 'if you were my wife or daughter I would want you to have a mastectomy' really, that was what I wanted to hear, its all very well saying to us, 'you choose' but my head has been bouncing between the decisions and I felt I was going nuts!! I know it may sound daft to be pleased to be having a mastectomy, but I am now calm in my mind.
Yes they offered options, but I do not want to be going back for more surgery and I do not want to be getting an implant replaced when I am 80! He did say that one area would be easy to find but the other one would be 'challenging' and that he was not sure if something was 'going on' between the two areas of calcification. He also said he was not sure what the cosmetic appearance would be like. So I am thinking, and knowing, that a mastectomy will give me peace of mind and no further operations.
Good luck to you on Friday.
Hi and welcome to the forum, I think Stereo is referring to a wire they insert in to the area to be removed, Im sure they call it a stereo wire. I had one Inserted and it's done via ultrasound with local anaesthetic so it wasn't painful, it does hang out of you like an Ariel which would explain the term stereo!
This stage is very stressful and your nerves will be shredded but it becomes easier the more you find out about your treatment plan, its best to just deal with the facts and not to speculate about the things you don't know yet, it only adds to your anxiety and isn't helpful.
There will always be someone around to listen and help answer any questions for you Xx Jo
Hi I'm new here and am due to have WLE with targeting clip on the 12th December, I have been diiagnosed with pleomorphic LCIS which from what i have read up on is treated the same as DCIS. I am due to see consultant on 6th December and my nerves are shattered already.
Silly question but does anyone know what stereo WLE mean does it mean two incisions ?
This forum is amazing, it's uplifting reading other peoples experiences and everyone is so helpful. xx