You so remind me of me when I was diagnosed 5 weeks ago. Run arround to all the relevant doctors to make sure I would find the right surgeon; organised everything and everyone at work so they would not be affected too badly during my absence; organised as much as possible at home to ensure hunby and our elderly sick pets would be taken care off as much as possible and then waited... and waited.... and waited...
Read the "all you ever wanted to know about BC handguide" (well my nickname for it) that Breast Screen gave me some 10+ times. And waited.... and waited...
Positive attitute and all that but then the closer the actual procedure date the harder I had to work to stay cool calm and collected.
One BIG BIG BIG mistake I made was an ocassional Google session on what I should expect for (and after) my lympectomy and sentinel node removal. Surgeon warned me to stay away from Mr Google but dumb me did not listen so as prepared as I was my last minute Google session had me rush to the shops to try find a top that buttons up as supposedly i would not be able to wear tshirts for many many weeks.
Yes - dumb me instead of resting or spending quality time was running arround shops not being able to find a comfortable nighty that buttons or a comfortable shirt that was not made of plastic
My surgery was on the 31st (last week) and due to my various medical conditions I stayed the night in hospital.
All I can say is (as far as lumpectomy and sentinel node removal go) that it is not that bad and that no one darm Googled internet site gave appropriate results or information.
Best advice I saw was on this group and advice given to me by the breast care nurse the day after the surgery. My recovery was (and still is) really good (even though I picked up a small infection) and in my experence at least this would be the best advice I could give in terms of prep.
If anyone asked me "how to" get through lumpectomy and sentinel node removal:
- get yourself a nice cottony (definitely not lace) loose fitting bra. A size larger width wise but same cup size is great as there will be swelling of your chest and your normal bras will be way too tight for a few weeks.
I have been using 2 bra extenders to wear my loosest old bra - still just barely managed to be comfy - it did work though
- get them to give you some nice thick large gauze pads at the hospital to use inside your bra over the stitch lines as it will stop the bar from anoying you. The lovely breast care nurse who saw me also suggested when the ones she gave me got dirty and I chucked them to use sanitary pads - good old ultrathin pads folded in half are great.
- if staying the night in the hospital do not bother taking a nighty. They will wipe you down with desinfecting solutions after the surgery and the one used on me was bright pink and then it took days to completely clean it iff so at least the only stained items were hospital gowns :)
Also you will sweat a lot in the initial 24 hours so using the hospitals ones allows you to change easily and worry about having nice clean ones when you get home.
- good old baby wet wipes are great so take a largish packet with you. You may have compression bandages on you the initial 24 or 48 hours so no showers bit you will sweat so those large luxurious Huggies wet wipes were a God sent.
- do not be affraid to ask for pain killers if you feel you need them and drink a lot of water.
- I also found walking arround on the ward a great distraction as I stayed away from painkillers due to a liver condition so nice soft comfy slippers are great to have
- if you are having a procedure at the public hospital there is a good chance they will have a breast care nurse so make sure to ask that you get to see her before you leave. Ask in advance so if they do not have them you can contact breast screen guys and ask how you can get in touch with one before the surgery. Advice given to me by that angel of a woman was invaluable and has saved me a lot of pain and complications post surgery.
That gorgeous lady has told me to make sure to use my affected arm as much as possible to ensure I had full range of motion as if not using it I would risk a locked shoulder. All internet advice was to not lift it but thank God for her as she said to raise it every day and keep on stretching it and all I can say is had she not told me I would have been stuffed.
2nd piece of advice given to me was to take a really good look at my wounds and understand how my skin looks - the bruises and yellow and black and weird coloured bits and to pay attention to the size of all red areas. She said to examine it twice daily every day. Thank God for her as by day 3 I thought redness on 1 cut looked different and went to local GP who diagnosed it as early stages of infection, called the surgeon and they had me on antibiotics staight away so it was managed beautifully. Now it is day 9 and all is looking great.
- unless you are anti-vaccination get the whole family to take fluvax so that in comming months you are not dealing with flu and chemo and or radiation while trying to recover...
- make an appointment to see your GP asap after the surgery so they have a copy of your discharge paper asap plus it is good that they see the areas operated on as going back to see them during recovery will help in case you have any infection. My GP emphasised that mastitis (if that is how it is spelled) could go from 0 to fully inflamed breast in 12 hours so paying them a visit every now and then will not hurt. My pocking it up when just 1cm wide stopped it as I acted straight away
- have a nice soft small pillow to take with you everywhere you go. I received one the day after surgery from the breast care nurse and that pillow (shaped as a neck support you may use during air travel) was fabulous in the car (protected me from the seatbealt) plus it is a great barier between your arm and node surgery site which you will appreciate the first few days.
- have nice cottony soft nighties with very wide sleeves. I have oversized ones with sleves twice as wide as they should be so I coupd easily get my arm in and out and it was not irritating the stitches on the side of my chest
- You will be tempted to keep on holding your arm away from the node incision area so as not to irritate it and it will cause you pain and potentially locked shoulder so DO NOT DO IT. Remember to make yourself relax your shoulder and affected arm as often as you can (that is where that small pillow comes in handy)
- if you are as bad as me and let your pets climb in bed with you that pillow is brilliant at keeping them at bay as they will not know that they are not allowed to climb on you ;)
- If you have a plush mattress with a removable pillowtop get rid of the pillowtop the initial fist nights. We had memoryfoam that had me wedges like a cocoroach on its back thenmoment I got i to bed and not having 1 arm to help me move and position was horrid and painfull so we got rid of the foam immediately.
By day 4 or 5 you will be mobile enough but initial few nights it helps to have a firm mattress and nice tall firm.pillows which keep you almost sitting up.
The nurse told me to keep the bra on 24x7 and it was great advice as it stops your boob from moving and lack of movement means less pain and longer sleep :)
Also - it helps if you sleep on the side of the bed opposite from the one you had operation on as you want to use the arm that is next to the edge of the bed to help yourself get up, to grab a glass of water etc.
- make sure you go shopping and stock up on foods you like and lots of fruit and veg.
I had hubby chop up fruit and veg and leave it for me to nibble on during the day in the fridge in airtight containers. When one side is sore the last thing you want to do is chop...
And most of all - do not be anxious and do not fret and as long as you remeber it is OK to be nervous and scared and to have an ocassoonal meltdown. You need not be 'the rock' or 'the hero' or whatever. It is OK to be you and to feel whatever you are feeling. We all go through the whole range of emotions. I found the pre-surgery days, the day off and the week since to be a bit of a rollercoaster. Some days I was sooking, others enraged and others happy as can be. I stopped trying to make sense of it and decided to simply take it as it comes and since I have decided that all is "OK" and there is no such thing as "normal" in the world of BC I have been doing well. Yes hubby copped a bit but I guess it is an extraordinary circumstance so he is taking a few for the team ;)
We have a good medical system and there is a lot of support out there and you will be fine :)
All the best for your surgery and as long as you remeber to keep your health and recovery top priority you will be fine and so will your family, pets and friends :)
