Just back from my scan. Didn't wet myself during it with the contrast, but nearly did by the time I got through my door!
Bonus is I was due my annual mammo a week tomorrow, but they called me in to do it before my CT to save going back next week. whoop woop, It was a question I was going to ask next week to see if I still needed to go for it if had just had a CT scan. Joined up thinking for once!
I am going in for my mastectomy next Thursday 22nd and am starting to get the collywobbles. I have been really positive until today when I got the letter from the hospital confirming surgery date and I felt like burying my head in the sand. I had to give myself a really good talking to
Do any of you know if I am going to be well enough to shop for Christmas presents and to go to some Christmas dinners that we have planned? I really don’t know how I am going to be feeling and how quickly I will recover. I don’t yet know whether I will need chemo and Herceptin but the surgeon and the Macmillan nurses seem to think that I will. I have decided not to have a reconstruction after speaking to several women at a support group. I think I can cope with a prosthesis and I have eliminated any risk for further surgery if the implant fails (I still am not sure I have made the right decision but I am 90% sure so that will have to be good enough)
All your posts have been really helpful so a big heartfelt thanks to you all
A warm and huggable hello to the site we never knew existed . But I can assure you ... it’s a great place to share the crappity crap crap that is BC. There are lots of lovely people on this thread and others who can reach out and say ‘ yes that’s ok to feel that way’
Can I suggest very gently, take your head out of the sand and post here instead
This is going to sound unkind but sent with a good heart and experience of being here, supporting and living it. We can’t say how the next few weeks will affect you. I was up one moment galloping around the local shops ( my op was a lumpectomy exactly one year today). The next I was WTF was that and sleeping as an Olympic sport.
So practically I mean god bless the internet and next Friday is Black Friday
But above all learn to say YES. To help; to driving you to appointments; to cleaning your loo; to anything; to wrapping your parcels for Xmas
We are here
It is poop but doable
Tap on our names to read our stories and you’ll find no one path the same but we were all here for one another
I had a mastectomy a year ago this week with no recon. You might not feel up to the shopping, carrying bags will be out, a dinner may be doable though, but it will just depend on how quickly you recover as everyone does at a different rate. For me i had 4 weeks off work, 5 would have in hindsight been better, but i have a desk job so was ok, just be prepared for being more tired than usual. Even accompanying my oh to do the weekly shop the first couple of times in the run up to xmas i was a bit tired with it and that was without pushing trollies etc. Internet shopping however was a god send for the presents!
Just take each day as it comes, and do the exercises you are given religiously, they do help you get back into the normal swing of things quicker. I did manage to travela few hundred miles to visit family over xmas too, so hopefully you'll be ok.
Thank you Leo Lady and Jolly G for your support. I got a bit confused with all the various groups so was not sure where to post but I am glad you found me so to speak.
i have already had 2 lumpectomies so this is my 3rd op and hopefully my last. Can I just ask Jolly G if you have ever regretted not having a recon and have you coped with using a prosthesis. I hope that you are now cancer free and you also Leo Lady
Bugger and I thought I was Mrs 3 ops. But mine were all lumpectomies. For the coming year I am cancer free in my breasts. And I’ve now learnt that is all I can ever say having visited BC twice since 2015
BTW put @ then type our names with no spaces A list will come up but I tend to type untili get the exact name . Then click on the box. Our names highlight in pale blue. Hope this helps from a 62 yr old techy virgin
Nope no regrets at all, didn't fancy the repeated surgeries that came with recon. I don't often wear my real prothesis as i prefer my knitted knocker that i got from the lovely knitters at knitted knockers uk. I play hockey a couple of times a week and have recently been on holiday and went swimming with no trouble at all with my chosen choice of foob. (Fake boob) admittedly some of the post surgery bras and swimwear can be a bit pricey, but they certainly do the job of keeping a prothesis in place and giving me a good shape
Hi lovely, we are all different, all I can tell you is from my own experience. The day of my op a monday I went in as a day patient at 8am, I was home at 9pm. I had two drains in, they were removed on Wednesday. I was shopping in town on Saturday but still very mindful of getting knocked and not staying out for too long as it did make me tired. I did get a Seroma and this made it uncomfortable to be in the car for too long. Try to do your excersises and keep hydrated and don't do too much all at once. I was told by my breast care nurse that the reason I healed quickly and well was because I did not smoke or drink alcohol.
Ask anything you want on here, and yes have the collywobbles, I had mine on the Saturday night, just broke down and was a mess. Still have to fight the tears when I think about it now. Get someone who loves you to give you a great big hug x
Wow Alison that sounds amazing. Well done for recovering so quickly. Fortunately I don’t smoke and just have the occasional glass of wine with my dinner so I hope that I recover as well. I will look forward to hopefully enjoying a couple of my Christmas lunches but might pass on the evening do’s.
As I have had 2 lumpectomies and this is my 3rd op I feel that here I go again and this is the big one this time. I have bought some lovely mastectomy bras and once the vat is taken off they are not so expensive. I have also bought a couple of front fastening ones
