Hello Sally, welcome to the forum but I am really sorry for your diagnosis. We can all relate to how you are feeling - we've all gone through the shock of being told we have cancer, whether we found a lump ourselves or had that terrible call back from Breastscreen.
These early days are so difficult dealing with the unknown. There is so much going on, it's like a foggy nightmare! I've always likened it to a roller coaster. There are days when you feel like everything is spiralling out of control and you just want to get off!
I had a left nipple sparing mastectomy with immediate silicone implant last August, 13mm IDC picked up in a routine Breastscreen mammogram. I was lucky and didn't need radio or chemo.
I was surprised how little pain I had post op. I got back to my room at 10.30pm and was really thirsty. Several glasses of water later I was up and down peeing 3-4 times in the hours immediately post op. Shower the following morning and a walk down the hall carrying my drain bag. The most discomfort came from the drain in my side under the arm. This one seemed to run up my side and over the top of my breast under the collar bone. Felt fantastic when it was removed on day 3. The other drain hung around for another 6 days. Neither hurt coming out.
The physio came to visit the morning after surgery and started my exercise plan. It's so important to do the stretches. It really helped the tightness in my pec muscle from the implant and stopped too much stiffness in the arm my sentinel nodes were removed from.
it also helped to gently massage my pec muscle when it initially felt tight.
Button down PJ tops were handy as I seemed to be forever opening my top for drains and dressings to be checked. Plus it made it easy for me to dress without needing to lift my arms.
You will be sleeping on your back for a while at home so make sure you have lots of pillows to support you.
You are never alone and will find amazing support here. Wishing you all the best for 21st Sally. Jane xx
