Forum Discussion
OMG
OMG, just over 2 weeks since diagnosis of lobular breast cancer, head spinning like linda blair, not even sure how this blog thing works but will give it a try
booked for mastectomy and reconsturction on monday, scared beyond belief, i hope i am doing right thiing
ALL my surgeons and specialists and NURSES are fantastic
feel like the cyote on the road runner who is just dangling over the cliff.....can i hang on? stay tuned.....
14 Replies
Hi Sam,
thanks so much for your lovel;y supportive message!!!
almost 2 weeks post op, much bigger than i anticipated.....emotions all over the place, same as you drove too early but who else is gboing to drive kids around??? love all my medical people, so lucky in that aspect, have wound infection but that is minor detail......so scared about future......
first time back on computer.....even paying a bill by phone takes it out of me.....bizarre....
do hope you are well and happy
thanks again, love kerry.xx
HI Chris,
thanks for your message, greatly appreciated!!! its now almost 2 weeks since the op, much bigger than i anticipated......i figured i had flown thru the last two ops so would do same again, had mastectomy and immediate reco, flap repair......kept nodes, and no cancer eslewhere........so far.....
funny, like you i did some casual worke in day chemo and loved the nursing and helping people, did short chemo course b ut couldnt continue working cos of my neck and back pain......now i am going to see oncologist at that u;nit.....monday to find out if chemo needed......blimey......life throws a few curve balls doesnt it......
meanwhile all my doctors and nursing stafff have beeen fabulous.......
thanks again for the support and i do hope you are doing well
with love kerry.xx
Hi Tonya,
thanks for the lovely supportive message.....its almost 2 weeks since the op, much bigger than i anticipated, third op in one month so thought i would skip through it like the last ones......its been tough on many levels, first time back on computer......everything is such an effort.......ridiculous that an icu nurse gets worn out paying a bill or writing an email.....emotions all over the place.....seeing oncologist monday, believe no radio nec but unsure about chemo.....need tamoxifen......i
do hope you are doing well and cant tell you how much your support means.....i am a single parent and its damn scary and not fair for the kids.....
take care with loove kerry.xx
- Hi Kerry, I too am a nurse, so understand what it is like from that side of the fence. One month before my diagnosis, I enquired about a job at the SAN in their oncology suite. I didn't have the oncology experience to for the job, but little did I know, that I would gain this experience first hand in a month or two. After chemo, I realised that this would be a great place to work. The nurses were so great and very compassionate. One day I might venture into this area, but will need to do study in this field first. Please don't worry too much about the surgery, as it isn't as bad as you might imagine. What type of reconstruction are you having with your mastectomy? Tonya is correct re the lymph node removal being worse than the mastectomy. It does take awhile to get full movement back, but the physios are great and it does come back. The mastectomy is fairly superficial as opposed to say, abdominal surgery. When I had reconstruction, I had tissue expanders put in at the time of my second mastectomy. ( called delayed and immediate reconstruction ). This was only slightly worse than the straight mastectomy, but really only involved a bit of extra tightness of the chest muscles, as the expander was also inflated at the same time with 200mls of normal saline to begin the stretch. There is adequate pain relief, and I was on panadeine by about day 2 to 3. After 3 weeks, I would go weekly to the plastic surgeon and he would add another 100mls painlessly. There would be a slight sensation of fullness, but this would pass in a day or two. As far as driving, you should be good in 3 or so weeks. Everyone is different, and your surgeon will tell you when you can drive again. All the best for Monday, and we will be thinking of you. Love Chris xx
- Hi Kerry, I too am a nurse, so understand what it is like from that side of the fence. One month before my diagnosis, I enquired about a job at the SAN in their oncology suite. I didn't have the oncology experience to for the job, but little did I know, that I would gain this experience first hand in a month or two. After chemo, I realised that this would be a great place to work. The nurses were so great and very compassionate. One day I might venture into this area, but will need to do study in this field first. Please don't worry too much about the surgery, as it isn't as bad as you might imagine. What type of reconstruction are you having with your mastectomy? Tonya is correct re the lymph node removal being worse than the mastectomy. It does take awhile to get full movement back, but the physios are great and it does come back. The mastectomy is fairly superficial as opposed to say, abdominal surgery. When I had reconstruction, I had tissue expanders put in at the time of my second mastectomy. ( called delayed and immediate reconstruction ). This was only slightly worse than the straight mastectomy, but really only involved a bit of extra tightness of the chest muscles, as the expander was also inflated at the same time with 200mls of normal saline to begin the stretch. There is adequate pain relief, and I was on panadeine by about day 2 to 3. After 3 weeks, I would go weekly to the plastic surgeon and he would add another 100mls painlessly. There would be a slight sensation of fullness, but this would pass in a day or two. As far as driving, you should be good in 3 or so weeks. Everyone is different, and your surgeon will tell you when you can drive again. All the best for Monday, and we will be thinking of you. Love Chris xx
I'm a nurse too -don't think we make very good patients cos we know too much.Ignorance is bliss-so goes the saying.I've had breast cancer twice.First was in 2003(age 47)and I had a lumpectomy,full node clearance and radiation. I was ok for 7 years and then it came back in the same breast,same spot,similar pathology.The cancer had grown 3cms in a year.I had a mastectomy and then chemo,middle of 2010.I am now on Tamoxifen and seem to be ok. I didn't have reconstruction for several reasons- can't have implants cos radiation stuffs up skin elasticity, I wanted the cancer out pronto so didn't have time to shop around for plastic surgeon- Diep recon is not for the faint hearted! Another reason was that I"d lost confidence in my health and I wanted to keep an eye on my scarline should cancer pop up again.Paranoid I know,but twice around makes you that way! I haven't ruled out reconstruction in the future but just not ready right now.There are no right or wrong decisions-you just have to do what feels right for you at the time and have no regrets. I remember it being painful for about 3 days post op and needing strong pain killers.The drain is sore and irritating on all levels but usually comes out after a week(?) I was driving and back at work(part time) after about 3 weeks- just some discomfort at that point.If you are having a full node clearance as well then it's a different story.Your arm might be sore/stiff - that op(2003) took about 6 weeks but hey,we are all different. I feel for you Kerry cos the waiting is the worst part of this journey and OMG,you have to do alot of that!!!! If you have any questions just blog back- always someone here who has had what you need answers to. We'll be thinking of you on Monday -you'll be ok cos I got through it and I was such a big sook.Sending hugs.
Tonya xx
Looks to me like you have the blog thing figured out pretty well, so don't worry too much (you can't break anything :).
But if you do want some tips on how everything works, have a look at the help page (there's some good links and a downloadable guide there), and also the Q& A page.
I've put links here for you, but if you lose this post, just have a look at the top right of any of the network pages (just underneath the navigation strip) and you'll see links to 'help' and 'Q&A'.
At the end of the day you all need to be able to chat together without having to worry about the technology, so ask any time you have questions or something doesn't seem to work -- everyone here is learning at the same time so questions and answers help everyone. :)
*hugs to you for your surgery*
Di
HI KERRY I TO HAD LOBULAR CANCER FOUND OUT JUNE 8TH HAD MASTECTOMY, CHEMO AND RADIO. IAM NOW GOING IN TODAY TO HAVE MY PORT TAKEN OUT AND THEN I AM LOOKING AT RECONTRUCTION HOPEFULLY SOON . I HAVE HAD ALL THIS TIME OFF WORK AND I WANT TO GET BACK SOON. GOOD LUCK AND KEEP IN TOUCHXXXX JENNY FROM ADELAIDE.
thanks di, i figure i need all the help i can get......having a very emotional day, so scared, so much to do before sun night admission......OMG, still unsure how this blog thing works but will get the hang of it!
Kerryxx
Hi Tonya,
you took the words right out of my mouth!!!! I think they have pre sedation sedation ready for me already!!! They are expecting me to be a nervous wreck, great team but sooooooooooo nervous (worse being a nurse!!!) but try to be goood patient........scared stifff.....good advice, heaps to do just not much energy.......
soooo much to be thankful for tho.....stilll not quite sure how the blog thing works, i have only justgot used to facebook (though my kiids do most of it for me!
did you have a mastectomy and reco at the same time? if so how long were you out of action? (ie driving kids around etc i do hope you are well and happy now, thanks so much for your kind advice
love kerry.xx
