Hey ladies. Not rubbing salt in the wound for those who’ve had their mastectomy and it wasn’t, but hoping to reassure those that still have it to come that it can be a doddle. Had mine yesterday and it was. Hardly any pain, not needed any pain relief for 12 hours now and only needed paracetamol. Sat here in hospital now, face on, perfume squirted and looking lovely (except the surgical stockings!) laptop on. If anyone has any questions, I am happy to answer them. Fingers crossed for no complications and I’ll probably go home tomorrow! I am leaking less than normal, too, so hopefully drains will go soon and won’t be a problem like some have had.
So - am I lucky because I say I am? How much can possibly be down to mindset? I ain’t taking any risks and gonna keep smiling
Hiya - yep, lymph nodes too. Not too bad at all. Can’t say I’ll be conducting any time soon, but it is mildly uncomfortable as opposed to painful. Sounds like you not having such a good time. Hope you improve soon x
Glad you’re sounding chirpy! I take it you’re not on B5 with the wonderful views but in Wimborne? You seem to be doing a sort of pick & mix treatment with surgeons/consultants!? Let me know if it’s paying dividends as I’m now on locum cons. #4 though, with the MDT approach in Poole, it doesn’t appear to have caused any probs except for my own sense of continuity…
On your recommendation, am having a foot massage tomorrow in the Cancer Centre before rads!Tried for Indian Head Massage but no-go for ladies having chest-wall rads apparently…
Pash so pleased for you. I am at Poole harbour hospital tomorrow. Is that where you are ? I am hoping they can fit me in before Xmas like u I want it off now nodes n all despite yoevil now not able to say if they were affected as they did not test and too late to tell now after chemo just have to take their advice and have them out too just In case. Get well soon dee dee
Glad it all went well. The surgical socks are a laugh aren’t they. I was instructed to keep them on for 2 weeks after I left hospital. Thought the nurse was kidding, but no. Needless to say I ignored that particular piece of advice.
Keep doing the exercises or the mobility will deteriorate very quickly.
Hya,
Its a week tomorrow for me,getting better every day ihave a tissue expander implant in, no pain just discomfort at the moment,still awful pain and swelling where the nodes have gone tho,shud get better soon xxxx
Dear Pash, how on earth can you be so insensitive as to use the word doddle for loosing a breast? Okay, you may have been lucky and had a relatively pain free operation, but what about so many of the ladies here who have been really traumatized from their mx.
I feel you should have used your words a bit more carefully
Leadie
So many lovely posts, all of which I will reply to in a mo…but Leadie…get over yourself for goodness sake! How about if I suggested that all of the people who have had terrible pain and complications and are very upset about losing a breast choose their words more carefully??? What a ridiculous suggestion. As far as I am aware, this is a UK site where freedom of speech is still legal?
I am a 35 year old woman who has been very positive through this whole experience and my purpose is to share this good news with people to give them hope and inspiration that *maybe* it’s possible to have a lovely boyfriend, great friends and still run a business whilst dealing with IBC. I make no promises that everyone, or anyone can have this experience, I am simply sharing my own experiences. I have said before that I would NEVER RECOMMEND or ARGUE with someone else’s consultant’s views because everyone is different and every cancer is different.
I fail to see how me saying this has been a DODDLE for ME can be insensitive to others not so fortunate. My heart goes out to them and indeed, I said on my personal blog only yesterday that if I could bottle how I feel and give it to others less fortunate, I would.
You can probably tell that I feel YOU could be more sensitive with YOUR approach! Nevertheless, I wish you well with whatever your situation is - I don’t think I have ‘met’ you before and I hope you find someone else’s experiences more inspiring and useful. I will continue to post my experiences here as it would appear from other posts that some people do enjoy what I write.
Hi Pash, It is twenty years since I had my mastectomy and I was 39. I had chemotherapy first to try and reduce the tumour before surgery, which it did. The chemo I was on was called CHOP and I do not think it is now used for breast cancer patients. I do think they use it for other cancers now. It was an AWFUL chemo regime and I thought of giving up half-way through it…but didn’t. When I then went onto surgery with reconstruction ( L D Flap) I found it a much less stressful time and was relieved that the Cancer had been removed. I was on a high and remember feeling better than I had done for many months. So you are not alone. I wouldn’t say it was a “doddle” but it was not nearly so awful as I thought it would be. Good for you for getting through it and for giving hope to others. Love Val XX
Haxted - You’re right, I am in Wimborne. Drains out and going home tomorrow
I do feel a bit ‘pick n mix’ with the consultants and oncologists to be honest, and I am still not always 100% sure where everyone fits in to be honest. But I have to say, they seem to have their files in order and know what’s what, so I don’t worry about it. I have total confidence that they know what they are doing. I am fairly confident when putting my views across and seem to have the ability to get them to see where I am coming from and they just make it happen! However, I would say that if you feel nervous about the continuity, speak up! How you feel about your treatment is as much important to your wellbeing as the physical treatment, so they will want to hear if you are worried and I am sure, if they can, they will do something about it.
Dee Dee - how did you go at Poole Harbour? I haven’t been there - only NHS but I have to say Poole and particularly Wimborne have been ABSOLUTELY OUTSTANDING…I wouldn’t have expected such good care if I was private. I am happily staggered!
Hope you get the treatment when you want it, but remember, they WILL do what’s right for you xxx
Awww, JanB, my fellow giggler. If I’d have known about your love of stockings, I could have posted mine to you if you are missing yours!!! lol. Fortunately, as I was on the move the next day, I could loose them. I do get told off for crossing my legs though and in fact, have just uncrossed as I am typing that! Certainly no advice on keeping them on for 2 weeks - was it April 1st? Lol.
Smallstar, glad to hear you are still feeling positive. I wasn’t allowed any recon yet, so don’t know how I’ll cope with that when the time comes…a friend of mine said it hurt like hell. Sorry to hear your norty norty armpit is still hurting. Dumb question…you are having painkillers, aren’t you? The nurses here are freaked out and worried that I only had 2 paracetamol the eve of the op, cos I felt I should and haven’t had any since. They have made me assure them (and I will), that I’ll ask for them as soon as I need them.
