I last sent a message just after Christmas when I was still waiting for my mastectomy.
I had my mastectomy two weeks ago now and I’m fully mobile now but a bit sore. I’m sure you will feel better once it is over. I am lucky that it hasn’t spread anywhere else. I don’t think they know this for sure until they have analsyed the lymph nodes so I didn’t hear until a week after the op. To be honest it did hurt more than I expected and the drains are painful as they seem to drag. My nurses suggested putting them in a pillowcase which makes them much more portable. One thing which I took in with me which was a godsend to while away the hours was a portable DVD player - if you haven’t got one they cost about £50. I am now fully up to date with all my Christmas DVDs.
I know that the waiting is awful but just be kind to yourself and remember that the odd cry is therapeutic and normal.
Thank you for writing, you are mobile very quickly - just two weeks!! I am absolutely thrilled for you that it had not spread anywhere else - mind though I expect that the week you had to wait to hear was probably the longest week ever! I was told by a nurse today that they put the drains into small shoulder bags - just to make it easier to move about - handy if that is the case. I had not thought of a DVD but I have got a CD player - which I will probably take in with me - I can listen to some soothing music if things get a bit hectic - so to speak. Anyhow today I had most of the pre-op assessment done, I have to go back tomorrow to have the abdominal scan done, but everything else was done today, I will be told the chest xray results on monday, but my heart, pulse and blood pressure are fine, and the nurse had a good listen to my lungs and abdomin area and said that they were fine - so all in all so far so good!!
Anyhow good that you are mobile now, but in the words of my mum - you’ve got to take it easy!! - she has been a real trooper bless her.
I am sorry that I have not replied before, but I was so tired last night and in all honesty all I did was to read up on messages and emails and then went to bed with a view of trying to sleep - I didnot sleep at all well - not surprising though really.
Pre-op went fine, my vitals seem to be okay, but I have to wait until Monday for result of chest xray, and I have to go back to the hospital tomorrow to have the abdominal scan - I have to be at hospital for 08.30 but once it is done it will be ready and waiting for monday morning.
Interseting to read about all your pre op stuff. All I had was a blood test beforehand! What amazes me about reading other peoples comments is the disparity in the level of care and information provided that exists.
I have my post op appointment with my consultant tomorrow which will hopefully go well.
Good luck for Monday - will be thinking of you - just remember not to be brave when it comes to pain releif - there is absolutely no point. Also do the exercises which the physio will recommend as they really do help you regain use of your arm and shoulder.
Hi all, Renee is my sister and I told her about this site after my c scare, fortunately my lump was benign, but I want u all to know how proud I am of my wee sister and her fighting spirit.
Thanks for your message - I have to say that I cannot understand why there is such a difference in treatment given in various parts of the country, but even for me it has been a whole lot better this time round than last time. I had very little information given to me last time, and there was no pre-op assessment but this time I feel as though I have been treated marvellously (maybe it is because it is a different hospital!!) Anyhow all the pre-op stuff has been done now, and the only results that I don’t know are the Chest Xray, blood samples and the urine test, other than that it would seem that the cancer has not spread into other areas - well as far as I am able to understand - hope chest xray results indicate the same as well.
Hope that your post op appointment goes well, and that you get good positive feed back - you deserve to.
Thanks for the info regarding pain relief and the exercises and for all the encourgement you have given through out.
Thank you for your message and for wishing me good luck - it seems to have come round very quickly, but I will spoil myself later today - I will have a real long soak in some nice smellies etc, because monday morning I am only allowed a water only shower.
I have to be up at about 4.30 on monday morning so that I can have the necessary shower and set off at about 6.00 so that I am at hospital in time - have to be on the ward at 7.00.
Anyhow many thanks for all your encouragement, I will write again once I am home.
Many thanks for your message - wishing me all the best for next week. I have only a day to go and I’ll be at the Hospital, it does seem to have gone quickly.
Anyhow I really hope that you are still doing okay, and that things are not getting too much for you. I will write again once I am home from hospital.
It sounds as though you have a wonderful sister in Rosie2, I am sure that she is a tower of strength.
Hope you’ll be home soon (if not already) and that it all went as expected.
Three weeks on from my surgery I’m feeling pretty good most days. I’ve now been taking tamoxifen for a week and my only side effect so far is a bad headache which i’ve had for the last 2 days. Has anybody else found this? Does it settle down?
I found some good mastectomy bras on the internet - try ContureBelle - if you haven’t found anything yet.
Thanks for your message, I now home, although I had to stay in hospital longer than was originally thought, I had too much fluids draining out and they were not happy for me to leave until it started to settle down - it was somewhere in the region of 180mls on a daily basis (from each wound) and they only wanted to see about 30mls - a bit of a difference I am sure that you’ll agree.
Thanks for the advise regarding bras - having a bit of fun over that because my bcn says I need a mastectomy bra so that she can fit the prosthesis, and the shop says I need the prosthesis so that she can fit the mastectomy bra - so I’ll have to let the bcn know - makes sense though because I don’t have anything to measure by.
Got to say that I am really hurting at the moment, but I am back at the hospital tomorrow to have the seroma drained and then again thursday to find out the results of everything and to find out what future treatment I will need.
Glad to hear that you’re home. I think I did mention before that it hurt more than I expected but it does get better and I have now stopped the painkillers (most of the time anyway). The thing that surprised me most is how tight it all feels but apparently that is fairly common. Today is the first day that I feel a bit more like myself which has really cheered me up although I think some of the feeling down probably relates to the tamoxifen party which is taking place with my hormones.
I see my consultant tomorrow to get the reuslts of my bone scan and CT scan which were precautionary rather than expecting to find anything so fingers crossed. If that is the case, other than the tamoxifen, I don’t think anything further will be required. There seems to be a bit of discrepancy about whether people are given chemo if the cancer hasn’t spread to the lymph nodes but nothing has been mentioned to me. I have to say that I feel quite lucky when I look at some of the things other people have ahd to deal with.
On the bra point I only had a single mastectomy so I just ordered my usual size. I should get my prosthesis tomorrow so will fidn out then if its wrong.
Sorry that I have not written for a while, only I have had some problems with the wound - it became infected, so there was a return to hospital, I have also had a great deal of fluids removed since being out of hospital, and it looks as though I will have to have another seroma drain (so far I have had three, and there has been 830mls removed) but that aside I am not too bad considering.
I will have to have chemotherapy (which, at the moment, scares me daft), I may also have to have radiotherapy, but this does depend on whether the previous radiotherapy paths cross into this new area, and this will be followed with five years of tamoxifen.
I have been for my prosthesis fitting and I will be getting my prosthesis on 22nd February. The prosthesis really does look great, but feels a bit strange, but I guess I will get used to have two “falsies”.
Still get very tearful, and I am still very tired, but hopefully these will become less in time to come.
Hope you are all doing as well as you can in the circumstances.
Good to see that you’re home and doing OK. Sorry you’re got a seroma. I remember very well how uncomfortable that was. Mine was drained 4 times altogether before it settled down.
Don’t worry about being tearful. It’s hardly surprising considering what you’ve been through. Have a cry whenever you feel like it - I’m sure crying is therapeutic and helps you to feel better.
Take very good care.
Love Anthi x
I am sorry to have taken so long to get back to you, but I have had to go back and forth to the hospital (now have had five seroma drains 1330mls taken out all together) and also to get my prosthesis - they look mighty fine, but can’t wear them for too long, because my dog ears are still very large and sore and the bra plays them up - but once they settle down then all will be a whole lot better.
Hope you are keeping well - or as well as can be expected in the circumstances.
How are you keeping? It has been a while since I last wrote, but to be honest things have not been too easy, I have had to go back to hospital more times than I had originally thought (now have had five seroma drains - 1330mls so far removed) and with the infection, and of course the first of the clinics (post op) I have spent some considerable time at the hospital. I still have a great deal of pain - which I have told the nurses and doctors about, and my underarms feel as though they have been belted with a sledge hammer - so I keep on with the pain killers.
I have to go to another hospital on Monday to have extensive tests on my one and only kidney, and I also have to see my oncologist, and it looks as though I will be there for best part of the day from about 10.00 in the morning. The results of the test on my kidney will dictate the medication that they will be able to give me - although I know that it will be chemotherapy (but not which type of chemo yet) and that will be followed with tamoxifen (or something similar), and I may still have to have radiotherapy - I have to wait and see whether the paths cross with the previous radiotherapy. Anyhow I have got my prosthesis and they look mighty fine, and those that don’t know what has happened will not be able to tell from my “falsies”.
It surprising that you are still in so much pain - is this due to the seroma? What does the doctor say? I stopped taking painkillers after about 3 weeks or so, its occasionally a bit uncomfortable but no more than that
The more I read on this website the more I realise just how lucky I have been as I only needed tamoxifen after the mastectomy rather than having to undergo chemo. So far the tamoxifen doesn’t seem to have had any particular side effects so again I have been lucky. I am now back at work full time and feeling fairly back to normal and more able to move on from this. My chest and arm are still fairly tight and numb but they are improving - albeit slowly.
Take care