why is there a smell

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praiseJesus
praiseJesus Member Posts: 33
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
i'm just a few hours out of my 2nd surgery,2nd margins done and port put in. but my question is .....whenever i get cut open..there is a smell...like sickness that comes out of those areas cut open until they heal....why is that......i'm typing with one hand and holding ice-packs with other.....so i couldn't put a question mark to that.the doctor said that was it for margins, that she could not take anymore out....so i'm praying these are clean.plus i smoke cigs and plan to quit when chemo time starts 3-4 weeks from now...will smoking affect my port. thanks ya'll...boy....this incision site hurts alot...but the smell drifts out of my shirt i have on.could ya'll help me on that one......thanks,shannon

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  • zahalene
    zahalene Member Posts: 670
    #2
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    Not surprising
    Shannon, I do not think the smell you mention is surprising. Any time our body undergoes a trauma it reacts in different ways, and our chemical balance changes. Consider also the drugs and medications that have been used on and in your body for this procedure. And those dern hospitals don't exactly smell like roses either. And if you are continuing with pain medications that is going to be another chemical altering issue. All these factors are bound to change your 'you' smell for awhile. I do not know what they told you about bathing your surgery site, but when you can at least take a sponge bath with the products you are used to and then let your body relax for awhile, I bet you will begin to feel (and smell) a lot more like 'yourself'. Hugs.
  • praiseJesus
    praiseJesus Member Posts: 33
    #3
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    zahalene said:

    Not surprising
    Shannon, I do not think the smell you mention is surprising. Any time our body undergoes a trauma it reacts in different ways, and our chemical balance changes. Consider also the drugs and medications that have been used on and in your body for this procedure. And those dern hospitals don't exactly smell like roses either. And if you are continuing with pain medications that is going to be another chemical altering issue. All these factors are bound to change your 'you' smell for awhile. I do not know what they told you about bathing your surgery site, but when you can at least take a sponge bath with the products you are used to and then let your body relax for awhile, I bet you will begin to feel (and smell) a lot more like 'yourself'. Hugs.

    i don't know
    i don't know about that.....there was the same sick smell after my 1st surgery which was sept.1st. i am stage 2a or 2b....grade 3 tumor,1 lymph node mastasized..the other 24 were clean.i had a lumpectomy done, left breast.i'm thinking i proberly should have had the whole breast out.but i have got to get started on chemo...i can't keep waiting..you know...and as for that goes..i'm suppose to do the tac treatment...but i'm seriously thinking about not doing the middle drug..because of the damage it does do to the heart.......thanks......ouch
  • mmontero38
    mmontero38 Member Posts: 1,510
    #4
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    I also had a distinctive
    I also had a distinctive odor after I had my surgery. It did start to go away about a week later. Or maybe I just got used to it? LOL. Don't know but didn't smell it after a while. I hope your margins come back clean, and you do need to stop smoking. You don't want to risk fighting lung cancer on top of all this. The incision site where the port is will be sore for over a week. The way mine was it was a top of my muscle so it actually was uncomfortable the whole time I had it in. Hugs, Lili
  • Ginger7286
    Ginger7286 Member Posts: 13
    #5
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    smell
    shannon,

    I experienced that a little while but not for long. I think the smell comes from the the drugs they put into our systems for the surgery combined with the iodine, alcohol, bandadges and of course our body fluids. Do us all a favor though PLEASE try to quit the smokes as soon as possible. That bad habit only compounds the other problems you are having. HUGS

    Ginger
  • cabbott
    cabbott Member Posts: 1,039 Member
    #6
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    On quitting the smoking
    I know it is hard to quit smoking. It is a tough habit to knock, but your body will heal much faster if you quit. You will not get as many infections. You will find walking easier.You can probably come up with lots of other good reasons to quit. Good luck!

    C. Abbott
  • phoenixrising
    phoenixrising Member Posts: 1,508
    #7
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    praiseJesus said:

    i don't know
    i don't know about that.....there was the same sick smell after my 1st surgery which was sept.1st. i am stage 2a or 2b....grade 3 tumor,1 lymph node mastasized..the other 24 were clean.i had a lumpectomy done, left breast.i'm thinking i proberly should have had the whole breast out.but i have got to get started on chemo...i can't keep waiting..you know...and as for that goes..i'm suppose to do the tac treatment...but i'm seriously thinking about not doing the middle drug..because of the damage it does do to the heart.......thanks......ouch

    Hi Shannon
    Please consider doing the Adriamycin as it's a powerful drug. You might ask your onc about monitoring the heart by way of a mugo?? test. Here we call it an ejection fraction test.
    I had it done and it's painless. I also was very concerned about this family of drugs and took CoQ10 to protect the heart as heart problems are on my Dad's side. Another thing you might look into is asking them for epirubicin instead of Adriamycin as the side effects are supposed to be easier without losing efficacy. Antioxidants are not usually advised with chemo.

    About the smell, well I don't remember anything abnormal after surgery, but I work in a hospital. I did have a terrific bad smell about me when I did chemo. It seemed like it was coming from my head and I kept asking my husband to sniff my head but he said it was fine.
    Weird! And it did go away.

    I know this is all scary stuff and let me tell you that there is no one who is more of a wimp than me. Although I work in a hospital it was my motto to never have to take THEIR drugs.
    I whined and complained throughout the whole thing but we do get through it. I hope you have family and friends to look after you, if not you do have us.

    This is a hard time to try and quit smoking however patches may help you to cut down.

    With love
    jan

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