Breast Cancer Now Forum

Hey Lisa, Really sorry to hear your news. It's a minefield isn't it - you get through your surgery and then there's another assault to tackle!  I'm already wondering if I should have asked for a bilateral mastectomy to include my apparently healthy (but packed with cysts/glandular tissue) breast, rather than losing and rebuilding just one.  It's so hard to take in all the new information and to feel like we are making the 'right' decision...good luck with your meeting on Monday, hopefully you have time between now and then to prepare all the questions that you have so that things feel less uncertain. Good luck! ... View more

Hey Lou, thanks for sharing. That all sounds really tough. 😞 I really hope the clinic were able to help today. I can understand how you must be feeling down after things going so well, but remember that it will pass and you'll be back making forward progress soon  🙂 I left the house today for the first time since coming home on Saturday - what an adventure it felt to go drop off my returns for the bras I didn't need from M&S! I ended up walking a bit further than I had planned and it felt good to be out: I won't say 'stretch my legs' because my thighs are so tight after the fat transfer from them to reconstruct my breast, but at least I feel I have small improvements in my mobility each day...  Hope you're feeling better soon. ... View more

Hey Lisa, thanks for your post. Surgery went well on Weds, though was 10 hours instead of 6 due to issues getting my catheter to work (thank you giant fibroids...) Tough night in ICU being checked every half hour, so no sleep, but so glad to have the close care. Next day moved to ward for rest of stay and came home Saturday. It's been an emotional rollercoaster - having the TMG flap done using both of my legs has meant my mobility is limited, but now that I feel it improving everyday I feel better able to accept my present incapacitation and raw looking wounds. Hardest thing is sleep - like you I am not so good sleeping on my back (and my legs tend to get very 'fizzy' and electric-like sensations at nightime....) so I'm just going with the flow of the days. Nice to have the sun shining today though - makes it easier to potter on little shut eye. I ended up buying the front fastening bra and this proved invaluable for my surgery where they needed to check the blood flow to the donor sites in my newly constructed breast every hour for the first 24 hours and then every 4 hours... So it does show how because our surgeries are all so different little things can make a big difference! My most valued item that a friend who had BC a few years ago advised I take in with me was a travel pillow - OMG, it saved me! I would have had such terrible neck pain from my head lolling from sleeping partly sitting up at times.... Anyhow, how are you doing @Lisa65 and @louby_lou69  ... View more

Thanks @Lemonsqueezy  😊 I think my husband’s starting to get really anxious now so I’m now reassuring him which also distracts from my anxiety! It’s funny how this journey is so different for us and our nearest and dearest….. We’re going through the same challenge but our fears are very different 😢 ... View more

Hey @louby_lou69 - saw your message that your surgery’s been brought forward. Wishing you all the best for Monday 🤗 Let us know of it goes. It’s been crazy hectic for me the past few days fielding I don’t know how many phone calls from the hospital as they suddenly got in to a tizz about the fact I had COVID a month ago. I now have to get tested today and Monday to confirm I’m clear, and it was doubly confusing because my surgery is being done in a private hospital but with the NHS team and neither hospital seemed to know each other’s policy on this! So after ten weeks of waiting for my full diagnoses and finally getting to surgery it’s turned into a very hectic and chaotic run up! Oh well, I suppose it’s distracted me from my surgery phobia! 🙂 ... View more

Thanks so much Lisa - that looks super comfortable and the reviews seem to back it up too. Great tip about being able to do it up and swizz it round - I really don't like the look of the 'official' post surgery one and fiddling with all those hooks... I am going with that one. Thank you so much 🙂 ... View more

Hey Lou - thanks for getting back to me. I was advised to check out M&S for a front fastening sports bra and in fact they have a post surgery bra which seems suitable (though the reviews do say the way it fastens with hooks like a corset is a little fiddly....) https://www.marksandspencer.com/post-surgery-flexifit-full-cup-bra-a-h/p/clp60451105?color=ROSEQUARTZ&prevPage=srp#intid=prodColourId-60451105 so I think I'll order that in a couple of sizes and hope that works. Haven't even thought about nightwear! I normally just wear a t-shirt, but I have a front buttoning pyjama top so that should work 🙂   ... View more

Thanks Lisa for pointing me to the ask a nurse section 🙂 Really hope you get a good night's sleep tonight! And yes, it's been a long road to just getting a diagnosis for me (one year with a bleeding nipple and one breast unit refusing to follow it up so I had to go elsewhere once additional symptoms kicked in....) so it's been a long drawn out anxious time, with the past couple of months suddenly a lot to deal with and process.... We are all Queens for just dealing with this! So yes, I agree that you can only deal with it moment to moment, procedure to procedure. And today it's all about the cycling pants for next week for me! 😉 Thanks again, and take care. ... View more

So glad you are feeling better Robyn, and thanks for posting. I too was freaking out about the surgery when I was first diagnosed, but I have done some hypnotherapy sessions and I really think they have helped... Saying that, I am starting to get anxious now that surgery is just a week away, but it does feel good to feel I have made some progress on what has been a lifelong phobia (i.e. surgery). Still, I think those looking after me next week will be similarly earning their wages when I rock up, hopefully in not too  much  of a tizz...  🤞 ... View more

Hi Lou and Lisa - really happy to see your posts and to be able to join this thread. Firstly, Lisa I hope you are starting to recover from your surgery yesterday and are feeling ok. Lou: it looks like I'm next in the queue here 😉 as I am going in on August 4th for a mastectomy for non-invasive DCIS. I am having reconstruction via thigh fat - they seem to refer to it as PAP...? I am still not up to speed on all the terminology. Anyhow, I have been advised to get some cycling shorts for post surgery but I am now struggling to work out how tight they should be to provide support...!?  if either of you are undergoing similar surgery, do let me know! Otherwise I'll start a new thread... Anyhow, hope we can help each other through this a bit - it's starting to get a bit scary.... Wendy ... View more