Tomorrow’s the day I get made into a smurf… don’t know what to expect. All I’ve been told is to go to the nuclear medicine department (sounds rather freaky!) and expect to be there for around an hour and a half.
I know they’re going to be injecting my breast with blue dye but do they numb it first? Does it hurt? How long does the procedure take? How much do they put in? Is it likely to leak out so do I need to wear an old bra? I’m a complete baby with needles and the such so it would be helpful to know what to expect!
I’m also having the blood tests etc for my pre op at the same time then a meeting with my BCN to discuss reconstructions… what a lovely day out I have in store… there’s a rather nice cafe at this particular hospital too, might even ‘do lunch’ while I’m at it! :smileyfrustrated:
Hope all goes well for tomorrow (or today, just noticed the time). I had the blue dye experience last November. The injection didn’t really hurt anymore than any other injection would and the dye didn’t stain my bra. After the dye was injected I had to have a series of images taken of my breast which took about 15 to 20 minutes. I also had a wire inserted by the doctor, under local anaesthetic, in order to pinpoint where the tumour was for the surgeons. I don’t know if everyone has the wire though as I had a lumpectomy.
I had the blue dye last Wednesday; it didn’t hurt and nothing went on my clothes; the department name sounds very daunting, doesn’t it! I was rather disappointed that I didn’t turn bluey-grey over the next day or so like others had mentioned, just the rather fetching blue turning to eau de Nile colours in my urine! I arrived at the department at 11.40 and was upstairs ready for my next appointment at 12.00, so took only 20 minutes, but I didn’t have any waiting time as I’d popped in earlier before I went to give a blood sample to warn them that I had 2 appointments at the same time - really good organisation by our hospital!
I then saw the surgeon for the results of my MRI etc and was told I could have a mx, which I had decided I really wanted, although he said we could get away with a WLE - I had to have 3 of those on the other side and really didn’t want all that again! Then saw the bresat cancer nurse, who talked me through things about a mx - but no photos of mx scars which I would have liked to see, not that anything would have put me off a mx!
No good café at our hospital, but we went into town and had a lovely lunch at a restaurant by the canal and sat in the sunshine. You have to get as much good out of situations as you can I believe, plus no cooking etc later in the day for either of us!
The mastectomy the following day went really well, although I didn’t go down to theatre until 13.30, which meant I’d not eaten since 21.30 the night before and had my last drink at 06.30. I was very pleasantly surprised how well I felt, though shaky on my feet when I needed to go to the toilet, and no pain at all.
I wish you all the very best for today and afterwards Mel. Do come back on when you can and let us know how it went - and if your skin goes blue, I’ll be really jealous!
I had the radioactive injections before my op last March and my surgeon told me that he does the blue dye while you are being operated on. I think it does vary from hospital to hospital. If you aren’t weeing blue then he will be putting it in while you are under