hi kiwi thankyou for messaging me its so nice to meet you. hope your appointment goes well today.i was told too its not the right time to give up but im putting those filter thingy,s on the end so hope that helps.
ive always been terrified of anesthetic since a child and i guess i have more concerns now as the op is as certain as the sun in the sky.my consultant told me mine was lobular apparently common in 45 to 55 year olds, i was scared to read about it at first.i didnt find a specific lump i noticed changes with my nipple and the surrounding area harder… in fact now i cant remember how long ago its all a blur.what type was yours kiwi.how did you feel after the op when you woke up.i have my mri in two weeks and im so scared of that too. life feels so different now doesnt it.ive met some wonderful ladies here purple 42, revcat,lorna 45,supertrouper,nanny7,twinky68,debh tcr mollie thankyou all of you your my inspiration. im going to do some breakfast now as my eating habits are null and void some days love to you kiwi keep in touch xxx
Hi - thanks - I can’t deny I am nervous about the outcome today - either chemo or hormone drugs - I’ll post verdict when I can! Honestly I felt absolutely fine after the op - obviously a bit sleepy and sore and the drain is a pain in the neck - going to the loo etc but you soon get used to it! I only spent one night in hospital - I had the op at about 1pm, back on the ward by 4pm and fine a few hours later. It was itching to get home and my partner picked me up the next day at about lunchtime and was on the sofa with our two dogs not long after! Even managed a glass of red with dinner that night!! i know its easy to say “don’t worry” but truly, you will be fine! And don’t worry about your eating being up and down - thats normal with the stress you are feeling but try and keep yummy stuff in the frig that you can grab when you do feel hungry! And of course I’ll keep in touch - ask anything - we’re all here to help others in any way we can!
This is my second time - can’t believe how unlucky I’ve been. The first time I had a lumpectomy, 6 weeks of rads and 5 years on Tamoxifen and here I go again - 16 years later!
XX
Hi Janeypaney (and anyone else that this might be helpful to)
You are exactly where I was a year ago. I got dx with lobular cancer on 22nd Dec 2010, had to have an MRI to double check size etc (Common with lobular) and had an mx and immediate ld flap recon on 27th Jan 2011.
(Kiwijan - don’t worry too much about the smoking. I smoked, although not really heavily, I stopped two days before my op. I took the opportunity of a week stay in hosp and two weeks convalescing with my sister to break the habit - and I haven’t had a puff since. It was a habit, rathefr than an addiction and I didn’t even need any patches or gum.)
I ended up needing the ‘full monty’ of treatment - chemo, rads and I’m now on tamoxifen. It wasn’t pleasant, but I got through it - indeed I managed to keep on working through most of my chemo. I was back at work full time by the end of Oct and today I had my first one year check-up. Got examined, had a mammo, US and results all this morning and I’m happily in the land of NED (No Evidence of Disease). I’ll have a check up withh my plastic surgeon to talk nipples in the summer, but that’s me done with BC for a year.
You are in one of the worst times at the moment, but it does get easier and you will get through it.
Hugs and good luck to all starting on the journey.
Dx
nice to meet you dj thankyou for your comment it really helps, as soon as i wake i have to get out od bed as my mind goes into overdrive again.i was told i would need the full monty too and yet again i think how will i cope with feeling ill, how often to you have to go for chemo and what are worst side effects. do you have to take it for long and also how do you feel with the rads. im sorry its so many qestions.im so glad you are ned now dj
kiwi im so sorry you are back on this journey again but we are here for each other and if you would like my mobile so we can tex each other i,d like that. love to you both jane xxx
Janeypaney,
I am a fellow smoker - I know it is crazy to still smoke when you have cancer, but if it was that easy to kick the habit there wouldn’t be any smokers at all… So, try and not stress over it too much.
I have invasive ductal cancer, had two lumpectomies, the margin was not clear on the first one in October and November. Surgeon told me that you heal better if you don’t smoke but I had not problems either with the anaesthesia or healing afterwards.
My lymphnodes were clear, thank God, but I had a largish tumour (2.5 cm) and it is HER2+. Also, apparently, I am ‘young’ (48) so I am getting the full monty: chemo, radiation, Herceptin and hormone therapy for 5 years.
Just had my first chemo on the 9th of January and it was nowhere near as bad as I thought (if you look at any of the ‘Undergoing treatment: chemotherapy’ threads you will see this a lot!). I get 6 cycles of chemo - it is once every 3 weeks (the number of cycles can wary and sometimes it is administered every 2 weeks). Chemo is administered intravenously. I get two types. The nurse inserts a small tube into your vein and hooks you up to an IV thingie. First you get some saline solution, them one of the chemo drug followed by more saline, then the second one, followed by more saline. It does not hurt but it is a peculiar feeling, you feel the liquid in your veins (it is colder than your body temperature). Otherwise I felt OK. The whole thing took about an hour for me. I was OK after to drive home, but had my sister with me. The hospital gave me some anti sickness tablets and steroid to take before the treatment and anti sickness tablets to take home. I’ve not been sick once, and felt generally OK, if a bit fuzzy… This is now my second week and I feel more or less normal. Never even lost my appetite, probably eat more than usual! 
Can’t help with how you feel during radiation that is still in my future, but I try not to worry about things that are in the future and just concentrate on getting through today…
Hope this helps! I was bricking chemo, hence my handle but it is truly not as bad as you think it will be.
Julianna
hello juliana hugs sent to you. thankyou for posting me. i got my letter for my mri yesterday and its next thursday the 26th. do they do a full body as on the letter it says scan left breast right breast. i am so scared of this. i keep getting theses horrible pains in the centre of my chest had them on and off for a week now not sure if its indigestion or stress. i feel quite low again today.the info was great you gave me thanks so much for that.im still smoking too much cant seem to cut down, keep in touch julianna hugs xxx
hi all todays the day for my mx im terrified i dont want to go i just want to run. never felt so scared i just want to cry.
Hi Janeypaney
Huge, huge hugs to you! My mx is on 13 Feb and I know I will be absolutely terrified (I’m not great now). However this forum, as you well know, is full of people who have their mx and are going great guns, getting on with their treatment and soon you’ll be one of them.
xx
Hi JaneyPaney,
today it is exactly one year since my mastectomy… the waiting was far, far worse than the reality. Hope all goes well for you and in a year’s time you are every bit as well as I am, if not even more so.
(((hug)))
Hjaneypaney,
Don’t be scared today it will ve ok.I had my mx and anc a week ago today and I was scared just like you. the op is alot better than you think (the waiting is worse).As my bc nurse said just think that it is getting rid of the problem.I had one night in hospital then home to bed for a few days.i had a nerve block in my arm which has been brilliant no pain under the arm until today.I will be thinking of you today and if you need any questions asked let me know debbie xx
mollie revcat and historygirl hi its 2.30 in the morning ive had to get up as the pain is too much. i didnt have any drains put in as my con said she believes they only cause infection. i have so much fluid under my arm i cant move it properly. i feel really sick and can only lie on my back. my mobility isnt good when trying to get up in a standing position.goodness knows how long this is going to last. the op was really scary although when the needle goes in you know nothing but when i woke from the anesthetic i didnt feel too good but after about an hour i was better although really whoozy and jelly legs.i was kept in overnight as it was late afternoon when i had my mx but couldnt sleep as there was walking up and down and blood pressure pulse taken every few hours.does anyone know how long it takes before the fluid will start to disperse, the pain is mostly in my shoulder and under my arm although under my arm is really numb to the touch.thanks for listening lovely ladies. jane xxx
Hi Jane,
sorry to hear you are felling so rough 
Your experience sounds very different from mine, not least as I was kept in a full week and had FOUR drains!!! Did they give you pain meds to take home? If they did, make sure you keep taking them as it is easier to prevent pain starting than it is to stop it. Of course the pain meds have their own delightful (not) side effect of bunging up the ‘rear end’ so make sure you eat stuff that will ‘keep things moving’ and don’t be afraid to use sennacot or something stronger to help things along.
Numb-yet-burned is how my underarm skin felt after my surgery, and I also had lots of ‘electric shocks’ from nerves trying to mend themselves as well as some ‘phantom itching’. It does ease, honestly. Try to do the exercises they’ve given you as often as you can - ideally about three times a day - but make sure you take pain meds about 20 mins beforehand.
I used a v-pillow for a couple of weeks after my surgery, which was less uncomfortable than trying to lie flat. Like a lot of people on here, I don’t like sleeping on my back, and was sooo glad when I could lie on my side again. (I used to sleep on my front but a year on I still can’t bring myself to try it for fear of hurting my recon).
Most people seem to find the fluid (seroma) dissipates within a couple of weeks, but it can be drained with a needle by a nurse/doctor if needed. I was unlucky that mine didn’t dissipate, but after six weeks they injected a steroid into the site, which sorted it once and for all!
Hope you get some rest today and soon feel more like yourself again.
Gentle, one-sided hug.
day 3 after mx and fluid isnt dispersing at all i think i would feel so much better if it did. im not taking so many tabs now so thats a plus.they prescibed co codamol but i stuck to parecetamol as i didnt want to be having trouble going to the loo and the parecetamol did a good job.my under arm is till very numb but i guess i am expecting miracles. history girl you will be fine keep that chin up i send lots of hugs to you if you need to chat pm me.
im going to try and not sit around today just do a little bit of something im just not the sit around type.is there anyone else who didnt have drains put in after mx who can share there experience with me. love to all jane xxx
Hi Jane
Sorry to hear that the fluid isn’t dispersing and hope that there is soon someone on line with experience of having no drains who’ll be able to give advice/reassurance.
Thanks for the hugs - same to you too!
xx
hi janeypaney,
sorry your seroma is bothering you, mine has been drained twice and i have to go again today, will update you later.Don’t try to do to much.my sheet from the hospital says to take it really easy for 2 weeks so no cleaning cooking etc, you will heal better if you rest, hard i know.keep you chin up speak soon debbie x
Janeypaney, poor you. Have you contacted your Breast Care Nurse. If your seroma is so tight it is causing you great pain it might be better to have it drained. Quite often consultants who do not use drains take the fluid off with a syringe. It will It is a bit like having blood taken and often doesn’t hurt because the area is numb from the lymph node surgery. You could always consult your GP and he might ring your consultant on your behalf. if your BCN and Breast Team are not available you could try your ward or casualty.
I do hope you get some relief soon
Cackles
morning historygirl mollie and cackles still the same going to ring gp today to see if i can get some drained off, its feeling sore now.how long does the numbess last under the arm too, im a right baby arnt i.im feeling low in myself today and are worried about results too i know every step we do is further but im scared of results chemo and rads now wish it was going to be a bright sunny day outside today instead of dull and frosty and these horrible dark mornings.thankyou for your advice girls i will ring about it today. hugs jane xxx
Rose I suddenly remembered you started this thread, how did your results go? What stage are you at now?
Morning Janepaney.
When you say your fluid hasn’t dissipated is it tight and hard.? Thinking about it , if your consultant doesn’t believe in drains, she would leave it until it gets to that stage. You might want to ring your Breast Care Nurse and ask her.
I am still numb under both arms seven months after my surgery. They feel swollen and tight. I hated it at first and cringed with dislike at the sensation I got when washing my axilla. Now I fon’t notice it much. I had a soft “natural sponge” which I used and even now I wouldn’t wash the area with anything else. Some people find the numbness doesn’t last as long.
It will all get better - you have taken the first big step and we are all with you when you need us.
Take care
Cackles
Hello janeypaney how are you today? i had to go and have my seroma drained again yesterday another 400mls andit feels the same again today like a ball under my arm.My arm feels as if it is really badly sunburnt and sore, seems to be quite stiff as well.
Hope you are feeling more comfortable soon debbie x
day 8 after mx im just not comfortable at all fluid seems more again today went to see the doctor last night they changed my dressings and said i cant expect to keep this fluid for weeks.i cant do anything as its so uncomfortable i actually look like i have two breasts. the pain under my arms hurt when i move.mollie i also feel like i have a ball under my arm too.ive read up on seroma and theres nothing at all you can do to minimise the discomfort.i want to go out and walk about the shops but its just too uncomfortable. any tips ladies. love jane xxx