Can anyone tell me about their Mastectomy and Immediate reconstruction...

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cinnamonsmile
cinnamonsmile Member Posts: 1,187 Member
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
Can anyone tell me what their mastectomy was like? No need to sugar coat. I haven't recovered as fast as the surgeon said from my lumpectomy. I am having a mastectomy and reconstruction Jan 13. I had a lumpectomy Nov. 27, 2010 and she coudn't find the place where cancer and precancer stopped because although an early stage cancer,it seems to be spreading out the milk ducts pretty good. so rather than have one or two more lumpectomies (the surgeon already took out a pretty good chunck of breast,I decided to have the mastectomy. I am not having implants put in. They are using some of my belly fat to make a new breast. I see the plastic surgeon, Dec. 20, 2010.

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  • DebbyM
    DebbyM Member Posts: 3,289 Member
    #2
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    I had a lumpectomy, but,
    I had a lumpectomy, but, many here have had a mastectomy and I know will post information for you. Good luck to you with your surgery.


    Hugs, Debby
  • Heatherbelle
    Heatherbelle Member Posts: 1,226 Member
    #3
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    Hi there :)
    In July after my
    Hi there :)
    In July after my cancer diagnosis in my right breast I decided on a bi-lateral mastectomy with immediate reconstruction - which is a misnomer since the complete reconstruction isn't done at once, just the placement of the expanders. In all truthfullness, my surgery wasn't as bad as I had expected. My recovery was quicker, I had full range of motion in my arms right away, and no complications. I had c-sections with the births of my daughters and those were WAY worse.
    Had to be at the hospital a few hrs before surgery, they let my husband be with me up until they wheeled me into the O.R. Took vitals, etc, I had the dye injected for the sentinal node biopsy which was VERY painful -the upside was that it only hurt for a few seconds but it stung really really bad. They hooked up my IV, my plastic surgeon came in & made his marks on my chest, the nurse gave me something to relax me before they took me back. During the surgery they removed both breasts, put in tissue expanders, and my plastic surgeon did my initial fill of 150cc's. I stayed 2 nights in the hospital. The most painful part while I was in there was the wrappings they had around my chest - it was so tight that it hurt to breathe & I had to have the nurses loosen them up twice. I had to have them switch my anti-nausea meds that they had me on, also, as the initial one wasn't working so well. After the 1st day I had them remove the morphine drip - it was making me sick & giving me a terrible headache - once I could drink & eat a little they gave me Norco pills (heavy duty vicodin basically) instead of the drip - no more nausea & no more headache. I needed someone with me all the time for the first few days home after my surgery. Pushing myself up out of bed was really difficult & painful, I ended up on the couch propped up with lots of pillows.
    I had 3 drains put in initially, 1 removed before I left the hospital, so I went home with a drain tube in each side. Although they were kinda gross and in the way, they didn't hurt & were easy to drain & keep track of the fluid, and both were out within 10 days or so of the surgery. I was given a mastectomy bag (i can't remember the exact name, but I'll look it up for you) by my cancer center that had these great little u-shaped soft pillows in it that you can place in your underarm area for comfort post surgery, along with surgical dresings, a water bottle, tissue, etc. It really came in handy.
    I'm glad I chose this surgical option, but I realize it's a bit radical for some - stage 2, 2 cm tumor in right breast, no lymph or vascular involvement. But I was 34 at the time of diagnosis - I wanted to do all that I possibly could to prevent having to go through all this again. I'd much rather look back on all of this and think that I did too much to prevent it, rather than realize I hadn't done enough to prevent it.
    I hope that gave you an idea, please feel free to ask me any questions regarding surgery/reconstruction (i just had my implant exchange surgery a month ago) - on here or you can send me a private message if you'd prefer. I'm also on facebook if you are - under Heather Kaylor Grontkowski.
    *hugs*
    Heather
  • survivorbc09
    survivorbc09 Member Posts: 4,374 Member
    #4
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    Heatherbelle said:

    Hi there :)
    In July after my
    Hi there :)
    In July after my cancer diagnosis in my right breast I decided on a bi-lateral mastectomy with immediate reconstruction - which is a misnomer since the complete reconstruction isn't done at once, just the placement of the expanders. In all truthfullness, my surgery wasn't as bad as I had expected. My recovery was quicker, I had full range of motion in my arms right away, and no complications. I had c-sections with the births of my daughters and those were WAY worse.
    Had to be at the hospital a few hrs before surgery, they let my husband be with me up until they wheeled me into the O.R. Took vitals, etc, I had the dye injected for the sentinal node biopsy which was VERY painful -the upside was that it only hurt for a few seconds but it stung really really bad. They hooked up my IV, my plastic surgeon came in & made his marks on my chest, the nurse gave me something to relax me before they took me back. During the surgery they removed both breasts, put in tissue expanders, and my plastic surgeon did my initial fill of 150cc's. I stayed 2 nights in the hospital. The most painful part while I was in there was the wrappings they had around my chest - it was so tight that it hurt to breathe & I had to have the nurses loosen them up twice. I had to have them switch my anti-nausea meds that they had me on, also, as the initial one wasn't working so well. After the 1st day I had them remove the morphine drip - it was making me sick & giving me a terrible headache - once I could drink & eat a little they gave me Norco pills (heavy duty vicodin basically) instead of the drip - no more nausea & no more headache. I needed someone with me all the time for the first few days home after my surgery. Pushing myself up out of bed was really difficult & painful, I ended up on the couch propped up with lots of pillows.
    I had 3 drains put in initially, 1 removed before I left the hospital, so I went home with a drain tube in each side. Although they were kinda gross and in the way, they didn't hurt & were easy to drain & keep track of the fluid, and both were out within 10 days or so of the surgery. I was given a mastectomy bag (i can't remember the exact name, but I'll look it up for you) by my cancer center that had these great little u-shaped soft pillows in it that you can place in your underarm area for comfort post surgery, along with surgical dresings, a water bottle, tissue, etc. It really came in handy.
    I'm glad I chose this surgical option, but I realize it's a bit radical for some - stage 2, 2 cm tumor in right breast, no lymph or vascular involvement. But I was 34 at the time of diagnosis - I wanted to do all that I possibly could to prevent having to go through all this again. I'd much rather look back on all of this and think that I did too much to prevent it, rather than realize I hadn't done enough to prevent it.
    I hope that gave you an idea, please feel free to ask me any questions regarding surgery/reconstruction (i just had my implant exchange surgery a month ago) - on here or you can send me a private message if you'd prefer. I'm also on facebook if you are - under Heather Kaylor Grontkowski.
    *hugs*
    Heather

    Heather wrote a great post.
    Heather wrote a great post. I didn't have a mastectomy, I had a lumpectomy. Wishing you good luck with your upcoming surgery.

    Jan
  • Dawne.Hope
    Dawne.Hope Member Posts: 823
    #5
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    Heather did do a great job
    Heather did do a great job of explaining. I'll add some things from my own experience.

    When I woke up in recovery, I felt like an elephant was standing on my chest. When they put in the tissue expanders, they're expanding not only your skin but your pec muscle as well and wow, it was hard to breathe for a few days. I was only in the hospital for one night.

    The drains are a pain! I had four drains and they all were in over a week. They're uncomfortable to say the least. Getting out of bed was hard for a few days too. You'll need a wedge pillow, or some sleep in a chair for awhile. I was surprised how much I hurt ... I couldn't even open a pill bottle because it required use of the pec. muscles. Once you get the drains out ... and it all depends on your body ... some women it is just days ... others it is weeks ... you'll feel soooooo much better! I found that the muscle relaxer, Flexeril, eased my discomfort far more than narcotics they prescribed for pain. I took four weeks off of work and I should have taken a couple of more. I went back too soon. Take care, cinnamonsmile. We're here for you. You can do this!

    [Just a sidenote ... what kind of reconstruction are you going to have? Heather and I have both described 'immediate' reconstruction with tissue expanders and implants. The other types of reconstruction with the flap procedures are way different. Much longer time in the hospital and longer recovery.]
  • KathyLQ
    KathyLQ Member Posts: 100
    #6
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    Perhaps see more than one plastic surgeon before you decide?
    Sounds like you're getting one of the tissue flap transfers. Could be a TRAM (transverse rectus abdominis muscle) flap, or a DIEP (deep inferior epigastric artery perforator) flap. Actually, there is quite a difference between these two, although they both take tissue from the belly. Some plastic surgeons can't do the DIEP.

    The DIEP will require more recover time in the hospital, although it is becoming the preferred method. I'm having mine in March. One plastic surgeon told me he had quit doing DIEPs because he had no assistant in his clinic to help him at his clinic and it is a full day of surgery.

    I'm having mine done at a large University teaching hospital where there are half a dozen surgeons who all do this procedure all the time. You will want a surgeon who has done this repeatedly.

    I've talked with half a dozen women who have had DIEPs, and they all say they are glad they went that route. It is likely 2 days in ICU and up to a week in the hospital. They all said to plan to have someone at home afterwards for 1-2 weeks to help you get out of bed, and hold the drains while showering.

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