need advice reg mastectomy what toexpect ...

Hi EuRui,
Welcome! This is definitely a great site. You will get lots of answers here and meet a lot of great people. I spent one night in the hospital after my left breast mastectomy. I also started my reconstruction at the same time, plus had a reduction of my right breast.

When I came home, I believe I took the pain medicine that they gave me for one or two days. After that, just Tylenol, except at night I would take the pain medicine to help me sleep better.

Since I came home with a drain, I was more comfortable sleeping in our recliner in our family room. I slept there for 10 nights, until my drain was removed. So I kept a table there with my books, etc., plus had my blanket & pillows close by.

Make sure that you have shirts or tops (and pajamas) that either zipper up the front, or button up the front. This will be a lot easier for you than trying to get them over your head.

The main thing is to rest and take it easy as much as possible! Don't try to do too much. Hopefully, you will have help. Don't be afraid to ask for it either. If someone offers to clean or cook you dinner, take them up on it. It was so great to have people bringing dinners.

Hope all goes well. Keep us posted. Hugs, Jean

My mastectomy
Good Morning! I am new on this site as well and I am SO HAPPY to have finally found it;
I found part of my frustration was the lack of knowledge I had going in.

My mastectomy experience was different than what I have seen described here so far, so I thought I'd share the other side...

I had a bi-lateral, with tissue expanders placed the day of surgey and was in the hospital for three days. The pain was intense to say the least and I could not move may arms for the first two days. After going home, I was on meds for about a week and no way would Tylenol have been enough! The drains can be awkward indeed. I had mine for 3 weeks and found that the mastectomy camisol the hospital gave me was great; super soft cotton and pockets in front to place the drains.

You may be surprised at the lack of use regarding your arms, simple pleasures such as brushing your teeth and hair can be just a couple things you might need assistance with for a while.

Regardless if you go home the next day as some have, or have the long road as I did, I believe you will find that even during your recovery phase, it is tolerable and if you keep your eye on the the ring as you ride this Merry-Go-Round you will be surprised at how fast it goes!

I am a little over a week out of my exchange surgery and have saline implants; I've had tissue expanders in since March. The reconstruction phase varies as well. Are you getting implants or a flap procedure, or do you even know yet

Good luck to you. You will be looking back on this before you know it!!!

Hi there! We're similar it
Hi there! We're similar it looks like - I had IDC 2.5 cm, no nodes involved. I had cancer in my right breast & chose to have a bilateral mastectomy. I was fairly active before my surgery, I dont know if that makes a difference as far as my recovery, but the pain & recovery were much less than I had anticipated. I stayed 2 nights in the hospital. I also had tissue expanders put in at the time of my surgery. They had me on a morphine pump at the hospital that i used the first day, by day 2 it was giving me a terrible headache so they switched me to norco pills, which made me feel much better -no headache & less "out of it". They also had to switch my anti nausea meds, the first ones they gave me weren't working - i never got sick but had dry heaves almost every time I sat or stood up. Don't be afraid to tell your nurses or docs that your meds aren't working for you if they aren't - everyone is different & what works for some may not work for others. I had 3 drain tubes after my surgery, and they removed 1 of them before i left the hospital. The first few days in the hosp were painful, mainly because they had me wrapped SO TIGHT with the ace bandages that it hurt to breathe - finally the nurses loosened it for me a bit for some relief. Sleeping wasnt easy - getting comfortable that is. I have an "L" shaped pillow that I just propped myself up in the little corner & that helped alot. I had full range of motion throughout my arms & shoulders ever since my surgery so that has never been an issue for me. Dr removed 3 lymph nodes in the sentinal node biopsy -thankfully they were neg. Taking care of the drains wasn't too hard, it was kind of a pain to have them in there but I just had them in for about a week, they didn't give me any pain & were easy to drain the fluid out of. Reconstruction with tissue expanders isn't fun -but it's not that bad. Up until my last fill I ws getting 100ccs of saline put in mine every 2 weeks. Once I got up to around 600 cc's though it was extremely painful to have anothe 100ccs put in, so we cut it back to 50ccs at a time. I have 2, maybe 3 fills left before my exchange surgery.
The hardest part for me post mastectomy was for about 2 weeks I was really limited as to what i could pick up & carry, i think there was like a 5 lb weight limit-kind of hard to do when you have a 2 yr old!!
I hope I helped answer some of your questions - please feel free to contact me if you have any other questions that I can help you with!
*hugs*
Heather

CypressCynthia said:

I have had many surgeries
I have had many surgeries and, for some reason, the mastectomy was not as painful as others and my recovery was faster. As far as pain goes, as a nurse practitioner, I can tell you that pain meds are prescribed not just to ease your pain, but to help you heal faster. Study after study shows that pain meds get you out of bed, moving more, healing faster and having less complications. So take your pain meds when you need them. Also, know that pain meds work best on mild to moderate pain, so do not let the pain get severe before taking them or you will end up taking more with poorer results.

Do switch to tylenol or advil as you are able, because the side effects from the narcotics can be difficult (constipation especially).

Cynthia-
I just love your new pic -lovely background & looks like you're enjoying yourself!
*hugs*
Heather

It will be ok
I am so sorry you have to go through this, but wanted to share that I was equally nervous of what to expect. I got myself so worked up and then I actually found that I felt a sense of peace once I got to the hospital, and especially after the surgery was over, knowing that I was doing all I could, and honestly, though it was tough...I didn't have alot of pain afterward, and it wasn't nearly as horrible as I conjured up in my mind. Try to relax and talk to your doctor, and take comfort in knowing that those of us here who have gone through it will be keeping you in our thoughts and prayers. I held off on my reconstruction and just did it last year, but am very happy with it...definitely helps to make your feel like yourself again, and just try to stay positive. Everyone's experience is different, so hesitatnt to share specifics, just know that in all likelyhood, it won't be as bad as you expect. Any problems you have after, I'm sure we all will be happy to help with, in any way we can...take care and we'll be thinking about you.