Hi Simone,
All the best with your drain, hope it's not causing you more pain.
I've got my medical oncologist appt next Tuesday. I don't know much about the chemo (only what I've read from the bc guide book) or for how long until then. The tumour was hormone receptor postitive so it'll put me into menopause followed by tamoxifen. At 48 and with 2 teenagers, that's ok.
I didn't have a full axillary clearance of nodes. Only nodes taken out during the sentinel node biopsy and a few more nodes taken out (near breast tissue during the mastectomy). I found the dvd to be excellent for focusing on my shoulder/back postop. (esp after 3 surgeries to that area).
With micromets found in 2 of 5 nodes, it was recommended earlier that I'll need radiotherapy. I'll have another appt to see if that's the case still.
As far as getting used to my scar, I still get shocked. I'm looking forward to going to get a proper prosthesis (for small breasted women like me, it looks like a chicken fillet with a nipple) & planning to take a couple of close friends to help pick out some nice bras. Need a few laughs.
Eventually, it'll be a reconstruction (once treatment is completed). For me it was too complicated to consider at the time of the mastectomy esp as radiotherapy wasn't confirmed.
All the best Simone and stay in touch. We're not alone in this journey,
Karen xx
