It's amazing how quickly a body can heal in just a weeks time. I read my last post and realized how much progress has been made in my recovery. Six weeks after surgery is the time that my doctor said I would have fewer to no restrictions on how much I use my arms and that six weeks is when I would feel more normal. I didn't believe him at the time because of the constant pain and discomfort I was experiencing, but he was right. I feel like I can use my arms like normal...almost. I test the limits and realize certain things are still difficult. The day of an expansion and the next day, I revert back to very limited use.
Oh, update...you will be happy to know that I finally was able to stretch my arms far enough to shave my arm pits. :) Gotta celebrate the progress...big and small!
I had my fifth expansion on Tuesday, January 22nd. The previous four, I had 60 mL added to each expander. This time I had 120 mL added to each since I am coming up on my radiation treatments. Wow, was that uncomfortable for a few days.
The same day, I met with my radiation oncologist. As I was hoping, I received some good news from him based on the pathology report. I will not have to do the 30 treatments like initially thought. I will be doing 25; so 5 weeks instead of 6. I'll take it!!
I have one more expansion scheduled for Tuesday, January 29th and that will be the last time I see the plastic surgeon for at least six months. Then the next day, Wednesday, January 30th, is the planning session for radiation. My understanding of this is that they line my body up to the machine for the area that is being radiated. Then they tattoo little dots to be markers for the following treatments. I'm not sure if I will have a treatment that day or not.
I've learned a little more about the side effects of radiation treatments. The main two are tiredness and sunburn-like skin. The tiredness was described as a slow decline where it would get worse as the weeks go on and then would be a gradual incline to normalcy after the last treatment. The constant exposure to radiation will irritate my skin to the point that it will be like a bad sunburn and blistering around the scars. Just when I'm close to normal, I have to start another awful process.
Prayers are welcome as I begin on this new path of my journey.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Week 5 Post-Op
It is now 5 weeks after surgery. I have made some progress with recovery. I can't say I am 100% and quite irritated that I'm not. I can do more things around the house but have to be careful with the amount of weight I lift and how far I stretch. I tire easy. I will be Gung Ho about doing something and then in a short period of time I get cranky because the soreness and pain is too much. I hate it!! I want to be done with this by now. The weekly expansions are prolonging my recovery and the sides of my chest are still swollen and painful. I still have difficulty reaching too far over my head (if I don't get to shave my armpits soon, you can call me Amazon woman); any flexing of my pectoral muscles is painful and awkward feeling. I didn't realize how much we use our pectoral muscles for everyday activities. It is difficult to open jars/bottles; to reach out, grab and hold something; even to cut my food. It all sucks.
I wrote that paragraph two days ago and if you can't tell, I was not feeling too good about life. I was afraid I was slipping into a depression, but today was a good day. A friend picked me up to have lunch. I so needed to get out of the house. I can't drive yet because of the pain it causes and the limited range of motion. I took a drive last week to see how I would do and it was PAINFUL. The amount of use of the pecs to turn the wheel was more than I anticipated. I made a lot of slow, wide turns. :) Couldn't wait to get back home.
I have had a total of 4 expansions so far (the check-in women called it "inflations"...I got a chuckle out of that). That is 240 mL in each expander. I was told that I will need about 4 or 5 more expansions to get to a size D. That is about 600 mL in each breast. I will not be able to get all of the expansions done before radiation, but I think I can get at least 2 more in. I questioned why I was in pain all the time and if I should be. Basically, I wanted to maker sure I wasn't being a wimp. The doctor told me that because I am having rapid expansions, I will feel discomfort consistently. Normally, if they were expanding someone without a time constraint, then they would allow for 2 or 3 weeks between expansions. I felt justified that I wasn't being a baby about the pain.
The doctors neglected to show me what the tissue expanders look like before surgery, but I also forgot to ask. I mentioned it at my last visit and I got to see what was actually inside my body. The expanders look and feel like a thick soft plastic with a hard circle port for the injection site. It has three tabs on it so that it can be secured into place. You ask what is it secured to? That was my question. They are being held into place by securing the tabs to my ribs. CRAZY!! It did help explain a lot about some of my pains.
Some people have asked what the expansion process is like. I go into a room and wait to see which resident doctor will see me this day. My plastic surgeon has 10 residents under his watch. I haven't seen all of them but I'm getting close. The doctor uses a magnetic device to find the port for inserting the needle. Most of the time there is a nurse and doctor or two doctors that fill them both at the same time. They have to poke these large needles through my skin and muscle to reach the port site and push saline out of these very large syringes. Each time I have gotten 60 mL in each breast. I don't watch but my sister has gone with me for most of them and she can see them expanding. I feel very tight in the chest afterward and lose some range of motion. I'm not on any painkillers; just ibuprofen when it is too much to handle.
Sadly, I am still sleeping in the recliner. A few times I have started out in my bed but 4 hours later, I wake up and am hurting so I go back to the recliner.
I started taking the estrogen-blocking pill, Tamoxifen, last week and will be on that pill for 10 years. It used to be 5 years but there have been recent talk in the medical world that 10 years would yield a better prognosis. My doctor emphasized how important it is to take this pill every day; just as important as chemotherapy. This pill will decrease my chances for reoccurrence, however, there are side effects...weight gain, mood swings, hot flashes...basically early menopause. Yay!! :( Oh, and an increased chance of ovarian cancer. All drugs have side effects, so I try not to let it worry me but knowing what they are is important. This drug has been around for over 25 years so I feel the pros outweigh the cons.
I wrote that paragraph two days ago and if you can't tell, I was not feeling too good about life. I was afraid I was slipping into a depression, but today was a good day. A friend picked me up to have lunch. I so needed to get out of the house. I can't drive yet because of the pain it causes and the limited range of motion. I took a drive last week to see how I would do and it was PAINFUL. The amount of use of the pecs to turn the wheel was more than I anticipated. I made a lot of slow, wide turns. :) Couldn't wait to get back home.
I have had a total of 4 expansions so far (the check-in women called it "inflations"...I got a chuckle out of that). That is 240 mL in each expander. I was told that I will need about 4 or 5 more expansions to get to a size D. That is about 600 mL in each breast. I will not be able to get all of the expansions done before radiation, but I think I can get at least 2 more in. I questioned why I was in pain all the time and if I should be. Basically, I wanted to maker sure I wasn't being a wimp. The doctor told me that because I am having rapid expansions, I will feel discomfort consistently. Normally, if they were expanding someone without a time constraint, then they would allow for 2 or 3 weeks between expansions. I felt justified that I wasn't being a baby about the pain.
The doctors neglected to show me what the tissue expanders look like before surgery, but I also forgot to ask. I mentioned it at my last visit and I got to see what was actually inside my body. The expanders look and feel like a thick soft plastic with a hard circle port for the injection site. It has three tabs on it so that it can be secured into place. You ask what is it secured to? That was my question. They are being held into place by securing the tabs to my ribs. CRAZY!! It did help explain a lot about some of my pains.
Some people have asked what the expansion process is like. I go into a room and wait to see which resident doctor will see me this day. My plastic surgeon has 10 residents under his watch. I haven't seen all of them but I'm getting close. The doctor uses a magnetic device to find the port for inserting the needle. Most of the time there is a nurse and doctor or two doctors that fill them both at the same time. They have to poke these large needles through my skin and muscle to reach the port site and push saline out of these very large syringes. Each time I have gotten 60 mL in each breast. I don't watch but my sister has gone with me for most of them and she can see them expanding. I feel very tight in the chest afterward and lose some range of motion. I'm not on any painkillers; just ibuprofen when it is too much to handle.
Sadly, I am still sleeping in the recliner. A few times I have started out in my bed but 4 hours later, I wake up and am hurting so I go back to the recliner.
I started taking the estrogen-blocking pill, Tamoxifen, last week and will be on that pill for 10 years. It used to be 5 years but there have been recent talk in the medical world that 10 years would yield a better prognosis. My doctor emphasized how important it is to take this pill every day; just as important as chemotherapy. This pill will decrease my chances for reoccurrence, however, there are side effects...weight gain, mood swings, hot flashes...basically early menopause. Yay!! :( Oh, and an increased chance of ovarian cancer. All drugs have side effects, so I try not to let it worry me but knowing what they are is important. This drug has been around for over 25 years so I feel the pros outweigh the cons.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Post-surgery Pathology Report (Double Mastectomy)
I forgot to share with you the pathology report after surgery. Actually, my surgeon forgot to call me and explain the results so I called her today to find out the official results.
No cancer cells were found in the lymph nodes, no cancer in the right breast, and the initial diagnosis of Invasive Ductal Carcinoma (IDC) in my left breast turned to Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (DCIS), which was all great news. What that all means is that:
I'M CANER FREE!!!
My doctor said this was an excellent result. The chemotherapy killed the cancer that was on the outside of the duct which made the cancer invasive and aggressive (IDC) and the mastectomy removed the rest of the cancer that was isolated inside the duct (DCIS).
These results still do not keep me from having radiation. I'm not sure exactly why but I will get that information from my radiation oncologist next Tuesday, January 22nd. I met with him right before surgery and his initial recommendation was 30 treatments, which is 5 days a week for 6 weeks. That treatment plan may or may not change based on these results.
I will be posting more updates shortly.
No cancer cells were found in the lymph nodes, no cancer in the right breast, and the initial diagnosis of Invasive Ductal Carcinoma (IDC) in my left breast turned to Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (DCIS), which was all great news. What that all means is that:
I'M CANER FREE!!!
My doctor said this was an excellent result. The chemotherapy killed the cancer that was on the outside of the duct which made the cancer invasive and aggressive (IDC) and the mastectomy removed the rest of the cancer that was isolated inside the duct (DCIS).
These results still do not keep me from having radiation. I'm not sure exactly why but I will get that information from my radiation oncologist next Tuesday, January 22nd. I met with him right before surgery and his initial recommendation was 30 treatments, which is 5 days a week for 6 weeks. That treatment plan may or may not change based on these results.
I will be posting more updates shortly.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)