Forum Discussion

LoisLois's avatar
LoisLois
Member
6 years ago

recovery and life

It has been a week since my surgery for the lumpectomy and node removal.  Funny enough, I was not nervous. I went into surgery calm and with the attitude - I am in good hands.  Surgery took a bit longer because I found out today they got a rather nasty surprise.....the lump measured 8.5 cm or 85mm instead of the 2.5 cm they thought it was going to be.  In their words "it was angry".  With my slightly dark sense of humour - all I thought was "you would be angry too if someone came and threw you out of your comfortable home!"  However, i know that 'angry' is not a good phrase in medical terms.
The nodes biopsy hauled out 5 and 4 came back positive with the 5th showing signs of being 'annoyed'...clearly another medical term for "Not happy Jan!'
This afternoon, I am being 'rushed' in for a full body cat scan and on Monday a bone scan is to be done.  The medical team were hoping for both scans to be done tomorrow so they could have the results to be back for the conference being held prior to our meeting Monday afternoon.  Alas, they will only have the CT scan.
The doctor was truly fantastic in her delivery of how things had gone and she gave me time to try and catch my breath again. 
Once we had finished talking, my Breast Care Nurse called and confirmed the appointments, requirements for them and then asked the important questions - "How are you feeling??"  - shell shocked again but to be honest, I had a 'feeling' that there would be more to come.
So, come Monday - a new ball game will begin and this time the team and I will be going in to win the game! 

Oh yes by the way - the scars have healed amazingly.  had 1 really rough day out which had me in tears, I found as long as me and my new best friend - my little u-shaped pillow go everywhere together - I am comfortable. 

Hope you are all coping with the lock-downs and life is throwing you giggles, chuckles and laughter.
Lois xx
lumpectomy
new-diagnosis
surgery
treatment
  • Beryl_C_'s avatar
    Beryl_C_
    Member
    6 years ago
    YOU HAVE TAKEN CONTROL OF THE REMOTE!!!!! There had to be gold somewhere in our new reality. I agree with @ddon and when you have the bone scan tell them that you were in a lot of pain because of surgery. Would it be ok to take a couple of Panadol about half an hour prior to scan? XXXXXXX
  • ddon's avatar
    ddon
    Member
    6 years ago
    Lois, tell the person positioning you for your bone scan about your surgery - when I had mine they positioned my arms in a place I could cope with and supported them with bands so I didn’t have to hold them there. I was quite comfortable. 
    Loing your attitude and humour. Hope it all goes well for you xx
  • LoisLois's avatar
    LoisLois
    Member
    6 years ago
    thank you ladies. your words of encouragement are truly awesome!

    thankfully, i put myself into lockdown before it was officially advocated due to no immune system.  So, I am now used to the quietness of our little bubble -  I have also taken over control of the remote control, from my husband who has been driving me insane with endless four wheel driving you tube videos (poor guy is in withdrawals).  He got told go and talk to your Mistress (his trusty patrol) in the garage".   Jamie and Claire Fraser are on Netflix and we have a date!!

    When Jamie, Claire and I aren't galloping through the wilds of Scotland and Virginia - I like reading, doing creative projects or organising the story lines to a series of Children's books I was in the middle of writing before Brian and the Lymph Nodes Band came to town.

    The day I found out that the lump on my chest wall was BC, the song from The Life of Brian (Always look on the bright side of life) kept replaying over and over in my head right up to the day I went into surgery!  So I decided to call the lump - Brian!  told you my sense of humour was slightly dark!  The night before surgery - all four of my kids face timed me and we all raised a glass to Brian and his Lymph Node band as they ended their final concert together. It provided a tangible relief to the family and a way to farewell that part of the journey.    
     
    Prior to leaving the hospital, I did ask IF there was a possibility of more surgery would it happen or be delayed. I was assured that surgeries would not be held off .  It will be interesting to see what the team say on Monday and how swift things will begin to occur. 

    I did the CT scan today - only uncomfortable part was having to extend my left and right arms over my head - the raw and fresh scars from surgery (my left) and several prior dislocations (my right) were stretched to the point of shedding tears...both arms protested by then full locking into that position which brought more tears as I needed help to unlock them to be able to move. 

    To be honest, I am now dreading the Bone scan on Monday for that exact reason...however it needs to be done. I will just deal with the arms afterwards. 

    i sincerely hope you are all doing okay during lockdown and all the limitations it has brought to us all.  Keep smiling ladies - your words of support are a true blessing to every single one of us.

    Big hugs
    Lois. 



  • Giovanna_BCNA's avatar
    Giovanna_BCNA
    Member
    6 years ago
    Wishing you well @LoisLois take care of you.  I love the phrase by @Fraser 'Power to you!'
  • ddon's avatar
    ddon
    Member
    6 years ago
    Hang in there. Similar story to me - lumpectomy, nodes out - nasty surprises, in for full body CT and bone scan, back for mastectomy and full axilla clearance. I too felt there was more coming so wasn’t surprised. 
    Hope you can get it all done with the pandemic that’s really mucking things up. Best wishes xx
  • Beryl_C_'s avatar
    Beryl_C_
    Member
    6 years ago
    @Afraser - 'power to us all' indeed! Having adjusted to a new reality, aka, the roller coaster ride that is BC we are all adjusting to another new reality - I have an image of those Russian nesting dolls and feel as though I can identify with Alice as she went through the Looking Glass. By contrast this forum is GOLD! I had to have a small procedure last week and it threw me off kilter. @LoisLois make sure you stay in touch, many of us have been through the scanning procedures but maybe not in the midst of a pandemic. At the risk of sounding trite we are in this together! xxxxxxx
  • Afraser's avatar
    Afraser
    Member
    6 years ago
    Best wishes @LoisLois for speedy  and good results. I had a lot of ‘irritated’ lymph nodes - all removed but biopsies post-op indicated that only the known, pre-op biopsied, one was malignant. The rest were just reacting to the one malignant node. So fingers crossed your ‘annoyed’ node is the same. I am so amazed at all of you coping with diagnosis and treatment AND a pandemic! Power to you all.