I chased the physio via the nurse and she’s come round. I had already had a look at the exercise on bcn but wanted to make sure I do them right and the right amount etc… I am private and do realise am privileged and lucky. Am very well looked after NHS I know would would a complete different story. Am going to miss this when my cover expires in April.
Surgeon will come round later, again thanks to nurse who chased for me. Am sure she’ll find a way to belittle me as usual but I am ready to stand my ground is needs be! The nurse allocated to me has been excellent and taken really good care of me. I’ve taken some dulco ease and laxido this morning to get on top of constipation. I haven’t washed yet w cannula in left hand still and op on right I think I’ll wash tonight once cannula is out, and will take my time making sure, I don’t get boob op-ed wet. Struggling to wear the bra as swelling is all around the bra strap and I feel it straps the swelling liquid in.
Co codamol makes me sick. Diclofenac works for me or ibuprofen. Paracetamol in IV is great.
There is another horse rider on the ward as well apparently but he is going home and all he talked about as well to the physio was when he’ll be able to get back on
yourself hold of a little heart plush on cancer care pal website. Helped me rest my arm on it last night and it’s perfect to rest ice pack without straining your shoulders. Picture attached. Delivered under a week.
Thank you so much for all your well wishes all of you. It’s so nice to feel part of such a lovely community
Ps: no he never came back from Dominican Republic apparently they had no food delivery due to no driver but would have nice to know that I couldn’t have a banana as snack cause they had no fruits delivered
Am on Dua lipa latest song
I e just had the most frustrating conversation w my breast consultant. She’s an amazing surgeon but god her bed side manner stinks. She only wants to tell you what’s happening in the present which I get but since I told her because of the language she might need to explain things differently to me, she keeps throwing it back in my face. She’s such a bully, honestly she annoys me so much!! She never wants to develop potential scenarios under the pretext I might worry. She still hasn’t understood how my brain works, that I will worry and go in overdrive if you don’t tell me stuff she’s like rest and go have fun now wtf honestly she nearly had me in tears of frustration as I felt so humiliated in front of the nurse and physio. They felt so uncomfortable that they left the room.
I reminded her that she needs to explain things slowly for me, even it means she has to explain it 15 times, which she said she did, and obviously it wasn’t clear.
anyway am back here for a wound check Wednesday before she goes on holiday. I warn my mum that she might not like her. She doesn’t speak much English but she understands and she’ll get her tone!
Anyway I finally found out what she did. One incision -excellent-cancer or what’s left of it removed plus clear margins and 1 node out instead of two, so that all very good and positive .All there is now is to wait for results under microscope of what they took. There is 10 /15% chance of 2nd op but that all means there is an 85% of no more so going to focus on that. RT may well take Care of what, if any, is left. What I asked her is what happens after RT do they do another MRI to check or if they find something under the microscope what happens then but she’s not answered any of those questions for me so tomorrow I may ring the nurse at BCN who will be hopefully able to answer those questions for me and will be a LOT more caring than she is!
Can’t wait to go home now and rest and put all this behind me and have a shower. A bit tricky w cannula in left hand and right boob operated! Xxx
Sorry to hear you have experienced frustration with the surgeon. I would have thought the nurse would have listened in and either after the surgeon left or come back later to go over it again with you.
I had surgery first with clear margins and sentinel node biopsy which was clear, then chemotherapy with Herceptin followed by radiotherapy. My cancer was gone after the surgery but I don’t feel cancer free. There is no follow up after radiotherapy for me. Just the annual check in July (anniversary of the surgery). I still don’t feel cancer free as I continue receiving Herceptin 3 weekly until September, which to me feels like I’m still in treatment. They say it’s just preventative! Funny how we feel different. I tried to explain this to the breast care nurse attached to the surgeon, she tried to reassure me, even suggested the Moving Forward course but I’m not ready for that yet.
I understand you wanting to know the what ifs, I’m the same but found many HCWs don’t do what ifs!
Not sure what you mean by HCW?
I think i will feel cancer free when they tell me the biopsy results are ok. Am also awaiting to hear from genetic testing. I also will receive immunotherapy till September/ October every three weeks but i see it more as a bonus (altho am getting it cause cancer was severe/aggressive) but will have to be transferred to nhs after april so more change. I need to look into the moving forward course and i good job you reminded me. Will look next week xxx
Sorry your surgeon is a bit off hand that’s not what you need after operation try patting yourself with a sponge or flannel rather than full on shower or use baby wipes to freshen up so you don’t risk your wound repair Shi xx
congratulations @pinklilli3s on having the op. good plan on staying in hospital , getting some R&R until your mum arrives . Fingers crossed for good pathology results. We have a similar taste in music! - I love The Last Dinner Party
@daffodil1 hope your arm gets better soon, you are on the final stretch now! Is everything else ok? I’m still itchy a couple of weeks after finishing but cream is helping.
@annemanc glad the seroma is better. I had mine drained about three times , managed to get it down eventually with massage
@frazzledmcsazza good luck for your upcoming op, be thinking of you
@naughty_boob i know what you mean about being cancer free or not. I had a conversation with my Onco nurse and she said I was as cancer free as i have been for some time! I think its because there is no test after treatment that can say - yes its gone! She compared it to taking antibiotics, we have to have faith it works! I’m not convinced ha, also do we still say we have breast cancer, or that we had breast cancer? Maybe when I have had a couple of annual checks and there is no recurrence I will feel it really has gone. Looking in the mirror and seeing a bald head every day doesn’t help
Your reasoning is the same as mine. After the annual check in July I may feel more at ease. I’m having counselling and this is something I want to deal with. Lately I seem to be saying I’m having treatment for cancer rather than I have it because I am still having Herceptin injections to stop any HER2+ cells and Letrozole to prevent oestrogen to stop ER+ cells from growing.
Thank you for not making me feel like I’m being irrational😀 it’s good to know it’s not just me.
Had an echo booked today, thought Sunday would be a good day with less people at the hospitals easier parking. It was at 11am and I only remembered at 11:36am so had to ring and apologise. I’ve rebooked for Friday. This is the first appointment I’ve ever forgotten and felt so guilty. Still have a fuzzy brain, got up today and just thought about cleaning the car, the appointment didn’t even register!
Hi @pinklilli3s I’m so pleased everything went well yesterday, and hope you’ll be back to some home comforts soon this evening! I am sorry your surgeon is an arse though, although maybe being annoyed distracts you a bit from the worrying?
(I know what you mean about chatting away, I’m sure the District Nurses draw short straws to who gets me, as I don’t shut up from the moment they arrive to when they leave. Anything to distract from the fact that they are getting a proper eyeful- they also get my life story )
I was so high as a kite yesterday! I paid a high price for it, cause I was the last one on the ward leaving. My friend waited 45 min when she came to the hospital. Everyone else who had family or friends left for home a lot earlier but because I was on my own they didn’t release me. This hospital experience was kinda mixed I got to say!!
Anyway got to try to put all this behind me and focus on the recovery. I was given some diclofenac to take so that will help w swelling
@Shi I actually think am too tired for a shower! I’ll be stinky for another day! @naughty_boob I would see missing your appointment as not such a bad thing. Probably that means that despite you thinking that you not quite yet cancer free, I think your brain is moving on. I would not worry about forgetting the appointment. It’s annoying but not a big deal hopefully you remember the next one Fri
@pinklilli3s sorry to hear your surgeon has been unsympathetic. We do seem to keep coming across these people that don’t explain things well and cannot understand that we are worried. Hopefully the BCN will give you some answers. Being home might help you feel a bit better.
@naughty_boob like you I am not sure that if I am told I after surgery I am cancer free I will believe it. I think only time (and possibly some counselling) might help. I still have so many side effects the hardest being fatigue and sore muscles (like having flu all the time) it feels like until some of them have receeded I won’t feel well and like @copperycat the reminder of being bald after having long hair will keep me feeling like things have changed for a long time yet.
@daffodil1 I hope the sore shoulder doesn’t last too long. You are nearly through the big stuff.
@annemanc I hope the seroma is on the mend/gone and the exercises are getting easier.
@plum hope you continue to make progress with your recovery. I am sure the nurses like it when they get to have a chat. Surely that must be one of the nice bits of the job…i.e meeting people from all walks of life and hearing all about them.
Love to you all and hope we all continue knocking off the stages towards being medically better but equally important feeling physically and mentally better.
If so how are you feeling about it? I had mine before chemotherapy and if I had to compare, chemotherapy was worse. Just have to remember it takes time to heal, the scar may look healed within a few weeks but the inside takes a while longer. Just be kind to yourself, do your exercises as much as you can, don’t fret over them.
Hi @naughty_boob yes it is on Thursday, so tomorrow is all about wires, and nipple injections! I am quite scared but not really letting myself think about it. I went to the Look Good Feel Better workshop today, so that took my mind off it for a while. It was very small. Only three of us so we got lots of attention.
@pinklilli3s how are you doing. Hopefully on the mend and being looked after.
Hi @frazzledmcsazza please please please don’t worry about the injection. Not sure if you read my previous comment. It’s not in the niple at all. It’s above the nipple, it’s above, at least it was for me. It’s a very tiny needle, it will feel like a tiny scratch and the product injected isn’t much…
The wire inserted again you’ll be under local and won’t feel a thing then you’ll go for your surgery.
I had the injection Friday and Saturday morning the wire and the operation.
I hope this helps. The drugs were good Saturday. I kept telling the nurses about my horses and doggies adventures and started speaking Spanish
It did constipate me and messed up w my tongue again but minor set back I guess. Seeing the “evil surgeon” for a wound check tomorrow lol wish me luck then fingers crossed for the test results
All the very best for your operation. We are stronger than we think
@frazzledmcsazza I agree with @pinklilli3s about the nipple injection, they add local anaesthetic to numb it if I remember, so you don’t feel much apart from initial pricking of the skin.
I had my wires the day before, I’m not going to lie and say it was a walk in the park. They numb you but you could feel then pushing it in. I had a consultant the most awkward one ( further back nearer chest wall) and a registrar ( fully qualified doctor but I was extra practice, they’ll never become a consultant without it, she took her time and it was more uncomfortable for me) did the easier one! I was happy to be her Guinea pig as she will help others in our situation in the future. Then a mammogram to check positioning. Nipple injection followed. Being bilateral (two naughty boobs) I had wire and injections done twice so I knew what was happening second time around.
At the end of the day the staff will try to make you as comfortable as possible and it’s for the greater good so they can locate the tumour site to remove that area with margins. Please tell the staff you are scared, you won’t be the only one that has said that. At least if you tell them how you feel, they can try to allay your fears, I’m sure they will have many techniques to distract you as well.
Hi Plum1, annemanc, pinklili hope you are all continuing to recover well from your ops too
Naughtyboob and camiradika, how are you both doing now you’re further on from radiotherapy? It’s week 3 for me now. Quite achy but paracetamol help. Having a 24 hour heart monitor put on next week as heart continues to race, was 135 walking to the village the day before yesterday xx
I’m now 5 weeks post radio and still very achy. My back and ribs really hurt so managing with mix of paracetamol and ibuprofen gel. I had radio on both sides so double whammy. Breast care nurse said it’s normal. You think after chemotherapy you’re done with the pain and side effects but no, radiotherapy is the ‘gift that keeps on giving’ ( a quote from an online chat with a cancer charity).
I hope your heart monitor picks up what is happening to you. During end of 2020 a GP managed to catch my tachycardia and the cardiologist was able to diagnose supra ventricular tachycardia ( fast heart beat above the ventricles). I’ve been on medication since, tweaked dose a few times and now mainly controlled. I had the 24 hour Holter monitor and moved my daughter from one flat to another, went to the gym and no abnormalities were picked up. I kept a diary of the heart rate and what I was doing when it happened to build up a picture. Unfortunately mine seems very random, and electrophysiologist saw me last year before cancer diagnosis and offered to do exploration and possible ablation to zap to iffy part, but mine is so random they don’t think it would be very successful. I saw my cardiologist a few weeks ago and she agreed it wasn’t worth bothering as the tablets are controlling it. You are in the best hands by being monitored and I hope they find out what is going on soon.
I have officially booked my lumpectomy- March 9, here I come! So pleased to have it booked. I probably have about 4 weeks until the is fully healed but the surgeon from that said he’s happy for me to have the boob sorted when it’s almost there, so sorted it at todays appt with the boob surgeon.
I’ll have to go in on March 6 for the wires and the injection etc. Only niggle is that the oncologist said I shouldn’t have my port taken out just yet, in case I need it again. That brought me back down to earth with a bit of a bump, but I do understand really, would just be nice to have it all sorted in one go.
Wondering how long I should anticipate having off work. I can’t bear sitting around with nothing to do, but am sure I’ll be a bit wiped from the op and not too confident in my one-handed typing skills!
@pinklilli3s How are you feeling a few days on? @frazzledmcsazza, hope you are feeling ok before your op, is it tomorrow?
The nurse allocated to me has been excellent and taken really good care of me. I’ve taken some dulco ease and laxido this morning to get on top of constipation. I haven’t washed yet 
w cannula in left hand still and op on right I think I’ll wash tonight once cannula is out, and will take my time making sure, I don’t get boob op-ed wet. Struggling to wear the bra as swelling is all around the bra strap and I feel it straps the swelling liquid in.
pinklilli so todays tune kylies put you hand on my heart then 
she’s like rest and go have fun now wtf 
honestly she nearly had me in tears of frustration as I felt so humiliated in front of the nurse and physio. They felt so uncomfortable that they left the room.
)
hopefully you remember the next one Fri 
is fully healed but the surgeon from that said he’s happy for me to have the boob sorted when it’s almost there, so sorted it at todays appt with the boob surgeon.