Drains out! Bring on the celebrating!

TraciInLA
TraciInLA Member Posts: 1,994 Member

Hello, all -- Traci here!

I'm thrilled to share that I had my first followup with my surgeon today, and he removed the drains!  Hallelujah!

I'm still in a good bit of pain, but at least don't feel like I'm carrying around 2 alien parasites everywhere I go, and have a better chance of finding a comfortable position to sleep.  

I know how truly lucky I am to have the drains removed only 6 days after surgery -- I know many of you had them in for 2 weeks or even longer.  Because my bilateral was prophylactic, the lymph nodes weren't involved at all, so that's a big part of why I was able to get them out so soon.

So, for now, I'm forcing myself to take a walk every day, sleeping a lot, taking my pain meds, and starting my arm exercises.  And Trace is on her way home now with a celebratory froufrou iced coffee drink the size of my head!  

Thank you all for all the support you've given to Trace and me this past week -- it's meant so much to both of us.

Traci

 

Comments

  • coco2008
    coco2008 Member Posts: 418
    I am so jealous.

    My first drain came out at 3 weeks.  My second didn't come out for 7 long weeks.  I thought I was going to have it for life.  The day the last one came out I called my friend and told her I was now cordless.  What a sense of freedom.

    Congrats.  Enjoy that wonderful feeling.

    Sandy

  • VickiSam
    VickiSam Member Posts: 9,079 Member
    Is Trace driving her new Harley???

    Good news about your drains -- alien parasites or as I like to think of them as 2 kittens holding on for dear life - claws digging into my new incisions - 

    continued good health, strength I ippe and pray for you..

    Vicki Sam

  • carkris
    carkris Member Posts: 4,553 Member
    VickiSam said:

    Is Trace driving her new Harley???

    Good news about your drains -- alien parasites or as I like to think of them as 2 kittens holding on for dear life - claws digging into my new incisions - 

    continued good health, strength I ippe and pray for you..

    Vicki Sam

    awesome Traci glad everything

    awesome Traci glad everything went well

  • Jean 0609
    Jean 0609 Member Posts: 2,462
    Yay for no drains!

    Isn't it a good feeling?  Hope you have a speedy recovery.

     

    xoxo,

    Jean

     

     

  • lintx
    lintx Member Posts: 697
    Jean 0609 said:

    Yay for no drains!

    Isn't it a good feeling?  Hope you have a speedy recovery.

     

    xoxo,

    Jean

     

     

    Congrats on drains

    Glad to hear you are up and about! Trace is an excellent reporter, by the way!   Very glad you have her by your side.  Go drink your coffee!  Linda

  • fauxma
    fauxma Member Posts: 3,577 Member
    lintx said:

    Congrats on drains

    Glad to hear you are up and about! Trace is an excellent reporter, by the way!   Very glad you have her by your side.  Go drink your coffee!  Linda

    may the rest of your recovery

    may the rest of your recovery go as smoothly as this.  Enjoy the frou frou. 

    Stef

  • alabama_survivor
    alabama_survivor Member Posts: 85
    Congratulations! !  And I am

    Congratulations! !  And I am so jealous. Tomorrow will be three weeks since my double mastectomy. Left side was stage 3c, and 3 nodes were removed. Only one was positive. Other side was non invasive.  Two nodes were taken and they were both negative. I had 4 biweekly dd A/C treatments followed by 12 weekly Taxol treatments.  On day of surgery, tumor was 4.2 cm, and he got clear margins. Yesterday I went to have my drains and staples removed.  Staples came out but he wants drains lert in for another week. Next comes 28 radiation treatments.Traci, I am still having pain and still taking hydrocodone. I'm looking forward to getting my life back to normal, or at least whatever the new normal will be.

  • rutzetta
    rutzetta Member Posts: 174
    Congrats Girl

    So happy and thrilled with your progress. You Rock!

    Constance

  • Puffin2014
    Puffin2014 Member Posts: 531 Member
    congrats

    Congrats! You're making excellent progress.

  • jennytwist
    jennytwist Member Posts: 896

    congrats

    Congrats! You're making excellent progress.

    YAY!!!! for you!

    So glad to hear you are doing so well! 

    Keep resting and walking and taking good care!

    -Jenny

  • morgamed
    morgamed Member Posts: 75

    YAY!!!! for you!

    So glad to hear you are doing so well! 

    Keep resting and walking and taking good care!

    -Jenny

    You are so lucky!

    I had mine in for a total of 4 weeks.  I had to have a second surgery two weeks after the bilateral due to the right side opened up.  Those things are the most god awful looking things and sting like a buggers butt coming out.  You hit the lottery only having to deal with them for only a week.   Get some rest.. love life and you'll be back to feeling really good soon.

  • Clementine_P
    Clementine_P Member Posts: 518 Member
    Hurrah!

    Glad to hear that you are progressing so well, Traci!  We were all pulling for you and continue to do so.  Now, another frou frou coffee sounds pretty good right around now...

    Clem

  • Josie21
    Josie21 Member Posts: 382 Member
    Great news!

    So happy you are doing so well!  Once the drains came out I know how much better I felt. Now do those exercises and continue healing.

    Hugs,

    Ginny

  • New Flower
    New Flower Member Posts: 4,294
    Josie21 said:

    Great news!

    So happy you are doing so well!  Once the drains came out I know how much better I felt. Now do those exercises and continue healing.

    Hugs,

    Ginny

    Good news

    I am glad that everything is going well. 

    Sendong positive thoughts for your full recovery and healing

  • Christmas Girl
    Christmas Girl Member Posts: 3,682 Member
    Wow!

    I'm impressed! Hope everything else to follow goes as splendidly for you. :-)

    Kind regards, Susan