Hello everyone
Hope you all are doing well
My mum finished her chemo on 12 sep and next week on 23rd October she is scheduled for her single mastectomy with axillary lymph node removal. I am nervous and happy at the same time the fact that they finally getting rid of the cancer. Would love to hear your experiences, how long was the surgery, anesthetic experience, pre surgery preps, my mum she has type 2 diabetes as well, where you kept overnight or discharged on same day. I am anxious person as well any tips and advise for me to keep myself calm 
1 Like
Hi!
I had a left side mastectomy with a temporary implant fitted too. I was knocked out just before 9am and woke up in recovery around 1:30pm. However I’d did have the implant fitted too. I believe a mastectomy only is a short operation- around an hour maybe an hour and a half.
Anaesthetic was fine - she will feel groggy of course but that will fade hour by hour.
I was kept in for 5 days, however I believe for a straight forward mastectomy you can go home same day.
Make sure she is well Hydrated the day before - it makes such a difference.
I know every hospital is different, but just in case be aware that my best friend took me on the day and we planned for her to stay with me until they wheeled me down for surgery. However when we got there, you were not allowed anyone with you so she had to leave me at the front doors! No one told me about this and mentally that really affected me. So be prepared just in case! I wish someone had warned me about that as it really threw me.
I wish your mum the best of luck and a speedy recovery. Make sure she does her exercises when it’s safe to. Any specific questions please shout me back and I will try my best answer based on my experience
Xx
2 Likes
I forgot to say, when I woke up from anaesthetic I felt soooo different in a good way. The cancer was cut out of me and I physically felt so different. It was such a relief that I cried instantly but they were tears of joy. I really felt so different it was such a good feeling x
3 Likes
Hi I had a single mastectomy with expander implant last week 7/10 stayed in overnight I went theatre at 9am was on the ward by 2pm and discharged the following day at 2pm with two drains, recovery has been much easier than I expected, top tip is pain relief every 4 hours even if you feel ok, nurses explained it’s easier to keep on top of pain rather than let it get bad and start to control it again. I had the drains out after 5 days and doing daily exercises which is important, arm and armpit are still stiff and tender but more uncomfortable than painful xxx
2 Likes
Thank you @rose205 for sharing your experience 
ok I will make sure she drinks a lot. I am glad you felt that relieve once cancer was removed for good 
I can’t wait for mum to have that feeling too. Yes yesterday so the physio and showed us all the exercises she has to do. Thank you, I am so nervous which I shouldn’t be, cant wait for the surgery to be done
Thank you @emilyxxx also for sharing your experience I hope you recovered well. Ok I stocked some paracetamol, unfortunately she can’t have stronger pain killers due to mum having type 2 diabetes. As far as I know she most likely will have to stay for overnight but yesterday the nurse asked if she feels ok the be discharged the same day. Me and dad already took annual leave so that we can look after her. I will however go whatever doctor decides to do
1 Like
Hi @sshini93
Good luck to your mum! I hope surgery goes well and she recovers quickly.
On the day she should be told approx what time her surgery will be. Just make sure they will call you or your dad once she’s out of theatre so you know if she’s ok and you should be able to go see her straight away.
My surgery straight after chemo didn’t go to plan, I won’t go into too many details as it was very health specific to me, but she may need extra care because she’s already had so much treatment wise. I had extra follow up appointments because of this. My second surgery 18 months post chemo went really well, it was a mastectomy no recon- I was at hospital for 10am, surgery around 2pm, and home and in bed by 7pm
Staff are absolutely wonderful, they held my hand when I was terrified and I’m sure they’ll do the same for your mum too 