Thanks for the encouragement welsh girl.
sue I am the same as you, lumpectomy with DCIS in margins. having MX with recon plus reduction of other boob in jan. Haven’t got a date yet as waiting for last chemo (keep getting delayed due to low white cells)I’ll let you know when I get my date and we can compare notes.
Jane
Hi Ladies. Date confirmed 14th Jan for mx and recon so not too long to wait, will be recovered after SNB this week.
Best wishes to all for the holidays xxx
Hi all and Merry Christmas!
Thanks Welsh girl for sharing your experiences - we will all get through it I guess. I’m hoping that after the simple mx I will only be a couple of weeks and then back to work… But everyone seems to get seroma afterwards so maybe it won’t be as simple as that.
I think we’re all in hospital at about the same time - most of us are saying mid Jan - mine is 11th. So we can all make the most of Christmas and have a few drinks to fortify ourselves for the surgery ahead!
I’m cheating ladies - we are away to Spain for a week from 30th Dec. Can’t wait. We booked it to celebrate finishing the chemo. So I will just be back from holiday and then into hospital.
Lots of love to all and Christmas wishes.
Lin
Hope you don’t mind me butting in at this late stage in the thread, especially as I am in a slightly different position to you ladies but I am (all being well) having a mx towards the end of Jan at my request.
I was originally diagnosed July 07 with primary and secondaries in bones. Had chemo first, then mx and full anc, rads and hormone therapy. I didn’t have recon as I didn’t want it and they never offered !! My scar is 9 inches long but healed really quickly as the surgeon was fab with his needlework. I had the op on the Weds night and was discharged on Sat lunchtime after drains were removed. Only needed a couple of paracetamol while I was in hospital. Make sure you do any exercises they give you - it’s important, especially if you are having lymph nodes out. I developed lymphoedema quite soon afterwards and still have it now, although thanks to a great massage lady and wearing my sleeve, it’s nowhere near as bad.
Anyway, why am I posting after all this?? Having felt lopsided for so long and my posture dropping to my right side partly due to the bone secondaries in my spine, I eventually got round to making an appt to see the surgeon to ask if he would do a mx on my ‘good’ side to balance me up. He has agreed to do it and can see my fuzzy logic and I have a pre-op appt for 16th Jan with surgery a week or so later. I will then have the choice of having a cleavage or not and get on with planning holidays etc!!! The surgeon says I will be able to fly again 4 weeks after the op - yippee!!
So to those of you on the verge of surgery, good luck and don’t be afraid. It’s another positive step on your way to recovery.
Liz
Hi my MX will be the second week in Jan I think. Can anyone tell me about recovery times? Whilst they say it’s a simple MX ( no recon) I was wondering how long I will need to take it easy. When will I be able to drive again (it’s my left side)
Twinky68 x
i ha. xd mine march the 3rd 2011, but i did have reconsruction the same time, i did take longer to heal but i di have complications though, but i do know mx only within two weeks you should be fine, but everyone is different, all the best
Thanks lollypop. Got a meeting with my consultant next Friday do hopefully I can ask some questions then. Feeling quite bothered about losing the reconstruction and being left with nothing. Find looking at clothes a bit upsetting as I won’t have a cleavage to flash any more. Just starting to worry about holidays & swimming etc too, not that I have any planned! Part of me is happy to have all the tissue removed and hopefully knock this on the head once and for all (was six years clear before my re-occurrence ) but I think I’m more upset than I admit to friends/family about being butchered!
Twinky68
Hi ladies,
Hope you all managed to have a nice christmas? I finally got my date for MX/ Recon - 10th January - eek!! I’m a bit nervous but also glad it’s soon so there’s not a lot of time to worry about things.
I’ve changed plans slightly and now I’m only getting surgery on one side and am also getting the LD flap instead of the DIEP. I’m really confident in my surgeon, I think I’ve landed on my feet getting the one I have 
a few weeks and it’ll all be done!!
How’s everyone else feeling about their surgery?
Caroline x
Hello lovely ladies, hope you all had a good Christmas - isn’t it great to see the chemo behind you (though I had a bad bout of mouth ulcers, a visit from Tax past I think!). For those of you still undergoing chemo, it does end and you get through it. Looking back I am proud that I managed to do it though I felt really rough with the last one on 2nd Dec. Each day gets better though.
My MX date was 10th Jan but I got a call this morning asking if they can do it on 3rd Jan. It’s a simple MX I’ve opted for and will see about a recon a year or so from now. Just felt I’d be glad to get the tumour out (the nodes come out too but it’s only the one side) and deal with that and the rads. Want to get it over with but a tad daunted by the thought of surgery. Had an op in 2005 for fibroids and that took years to overcome. Plus I’ve developed a hatred of needles and canulas! Oh well, another hurdle before the finish line! I’ve started doing the exercises already to prepare the muscles for the workout - thanks for the tips on doing them religiously - I will make sure I don’t slack. Probably easier said than done though. Hope you all have a happier and healthier 2012. Bella xx
Hi bella! Good luck for tomorrow, I hope it all goes well for you… Lots of positive thoughts and keep up your exercises and I’m sure you’ll be grand xx
Wishing you good healing and pain free recovery Bella.
Not an easy time but we’re all behind you wishing you well.
Wx
Hi all
I hope you don’t mind me butting into this forum. I was dignosed beginning of Dec, and had lumpectomy - one margin not clear, and have now made the extremely difficult decision to have a mastectomy rather than WLE again. My operation was scheduled for 13th, but as of yesterday they offered me a slot for tomorrow. Aaagh… so will try to let you know how it goes. Really hope yours went OK Bella.
xx
Hi Nels, really hoping you can make this momentous decision in the short time allowed…
I had two lumpectomies before my mx but I had no choice because margins were not clear at 14cms! However when someone suggested at the end of the process that I should have just moved to mx after first WLE I stated quite strongly that it was imperative that I went through all the options before the final loss! It was a hideous time but I never ever regret that second WLE despite the final outcome which I now live with sadly…
Hello again lovely ladies!
Thank you so much for your good vibes and kind thoughts, they must have made it through because the MX was a dawdle - went in at 7 am in the morning, got prepped and was in the theatre by lunchtime (3rd on the surgeon’s list that day). Suddenly I was in recovery and then the ward and hey presto, next day I was on the way home! In London, they only keep you in for 24 hours. I did have a bit of a problem with sickness post op, I think the anasthetic didn’t agree with me, but I got an anti emetic injection for that and got back on my feet an hour later. Ladies, really, I have not had any pain. The only pain I had was from that bleedin canula. I hope it is the last in a long time…! Even today, 2 days later, I have no pain, and even stopped taking the painkillers (only needed 2 yesterday as a precaution). I’ve done housework, my exercises and walked the dog - twice - i feel like wonderwoman!
The drain is a bit of a pain in that I keep forgetting I have one. However, I found one of my across the body little mini handbag things that I used for work and the drain fits in nicely and I can go about my business with my hands free. It will most likely come out tomorrow as the fluid is much less today and less bloody too. Prior to the op, I was, quite honestly, terrified. Especially of the drain but again, no pain whatsoever just a bit of a nuisance. Yesterday we even popped into the pub on our walk - I had a peppermint tea though,too soon after being sick I argued - and I was a bit self conscious about the tubes but nobody seemed to notice. So, another day or two and I’ll be free - yipee! Then, I will be off to the pub for a nice lunch and a big glass of red wine. Girls, there is an end to this - okay it might be temporary, but it feels pretty good to be thinking of normal things again…nail polish, getting rid of the excess weight I’ve gained, shoes with heels, salads,cheeses and seafood! Ah!
Oh and another thing, the bra and comfy are the bees knees,I have forgot I’ve had a boob off…until I take the bra off and see the scar and bruising. Yes it was a bit of a shock at first sight but I don’t mind now and even if one boob is a bit higher than the other sometimes, I don’t care!
So, do not worry, the anasthetic is amazing and you will be over the op in no time.
Big huge hugs and kisses to you all. Bella xxx
Hi there
I’m in Ireland and going in for masectomy Monday morning. Am s***ing myself if truth be told but it’s great to read all your experiences. I was diangosed nearly a year ago, put on hormone tablets and chemo first to reduce large tumour and have had two WLEs and an auxillary node clearance in the past couple of months. Sadly no clear margins. Am getting my head around masectomy but it’s difficult, people keep asking how I feel about it and I feel like shouting at them!! I worry about body image and sex and stuff like that, I can’t get reconstruction for several months as will need radiotherapy and my surgeon says it’s best to wait. I am told the prosethesis are good these days though and no one (apart from me and husband) will be able to tell the difference. It’s a rollercoaster, this site is good even though you are all in a different country and procedures are obviously a bit different.
What a very reassuring post Bella.
Well done you!
Really feeling for you Kazoo with your waiting. It’s not easy but after my mx (similar to you with 2 lumpectomies before) I felt emotionally so much calmer and I was scared s***less beforehand!!!
However, body wasn’t too calm…
Best wishes to all posters on this thread.
Thinking of you loads as this is my anniversary time…
Welsh girl x
Hi all
I had my mx on Friday, and stayed in overnight, although could have come home the same day. My experiences at this very early stage are similar to Bella’s although I haven’t had a drain - the surgeon told me he doesn’t use them, which is a bit worrying as it seems quite puffy now. I haven’t really looked down too much yet, but generally I have found it do-able so far. Unfortunately there were no breast care nurses at the hospital over the weekend, which was difficult as i just wanted advice from them about looking after the wound etc… Hopefully they will contact me tomorrow.
Lots of hugs to everyone!
Nels
hi nels,
hope you are feeling not too bad after your op on friday.
i have just read your earlier comment on this thread saying you chose mx instead of further wle, do you mind if i pm you about this.
many thanks TTM xxx
Bumping for sandy45.
I see surgeon on 16th to sign consent forms so am hoping for op very soon after that! Then I’ll be even, yippee!!
Liz
Hi TTM
Certainly don’t mind if you PM - it was a difficult decision, but done now!
Lots of love
Nels