Hi Polly, what surgery are you having? I had a lumpectomy with mammoplasty and sentinel node biopsy. The not knowing what to expect was far worse than the reality! The day of the surgery went like clockwork and I was back on the ward before I knew it.  Painwise it wasn't too bad at all, I had to stay in overnight as I had a bit of a bleed, but I didn't need to ask for pain relief until the following morning. I managed at home with a few days of codeine and paracetamol and was pottering about pretty much straight away. I had to have second surgery to clear the margins three weeks ago but I am pretty much back to my normal self now :)

Best of luck for your surgery ️

Hi SharLou,  thanx so much for your reply. Plan is just a lumpectomy, but as jts high grade the surgeon said he can't guarantee he won't find some invasive cancer (so that might mean node biopsy too I guess). Just have to take the rest as it comes. I'm sorry your margins wernt clear the first time but very glad to hear you are now recovering from surgery. Do you need radiotherapy? I've been told I will need it but no idea how many sessions yet. 

Polly x

I will be having radiotherapy in due course, I'm having 8 cycles of chemotherapy first as I had positive lymph nodes.  Pretty nervous about it but we've just got to grit our teeth and get on with it haven't we! Hope tomorrow goes smoothly for you, are you listed for morning or afternoon? I was afternoon the first time and morning the second time, hated the afternoon one cos not eating doesn't agree with me haha! Xx

Hi Polly I was diagnosed with DCIS 5 years ago. Had lumpectomy with no problems, a bit sore. When I saw the consultant post op they decided I needed sentinel node biopsies doing so had 2 general anaesthetics in one month which knocked me out a bit. Then after about 3 months had 15 sessions of radiotherapy which went well. It was just the every day round trip of about 40 miles for 3 weeks which was very tiring. Also had to take Anastrazole/Letrozole for 5 years.

Hope everything goes will with your procedure and you do well. Don’t forget to do the arm exercises they give you to do, it really helps with movement and flexibility.

All the best

Mary

I'm so worried about the travel for radiotherapy, I don't know how I'm going to manage. It's 140 mile round trip for me, three hours travel per day. I'll have to do most of the driving myself as no one can get that much time off work to chauffeur me about. Is the tiredness from radiotherapy really bad? I keep telling myself I will manage the drive but obviously I don't want to be a danger to myself or others on the road if I'm too tired to drive. It's still a way off for me yet but I'm so worried about it :(

That’s a long journey for you to do, 140 miles is not good. It might be possible for you to get hospital transport but will be an even longer day. I would ask about that as my friend had it for her radiotherapy. I didn’t have to drive as my husband took me but think I would have been ok but your journey is much longer than mine was. 
My husband has to undergo 23 sessions of radiotherapy in the next month, will take around 5 weeks and will be gruelling for us both. Luckily I can drive him this time around.

Do you know if you will definitely need radiotherapy? Keep in touch and if you want to private message me I am happy to chat at any time.

Love Mary

Hi Polly,

A very warm welcome to our forum.

I am sorry to hear about your diagnosis, but glad to hear that your surgery has arrived at last. The "unknown" is not a comfortable place to be, but by the time you see you surgeon post-surgery, s/he should have some answers from your biopsy. You will find that it gets easier, once you know exactly what you have to go through.

It is only natural to get more nervous as your surgery approaches. I have had 2 bouts of breast cancer and have had a lumpectomy, followed by a double mastectomy, the following year. I was a bag of nerves before the operation, as I have previously stopped breathing on the operating table. As it turned out, both went like clockwork and I has little discomfort with both procedures. I hope that all goes well for you. Do please keep in touch and let us know how you get on. We are always here for you.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Thank you so much everyone, its so nice to feel free to talk to people who understand the anxieties. I was first on hmtge list and home by 3.30 pm a little more discomfort today but nothing regular OTC painkillers can't handle. I didn't see surgeon post op but the discharge papers stated the basis lumpectomy agreed. Now its time to wait for results.  X

Hi Polly,

I'm glad to hear that you were first on the list and that it's all behind you now. It's good to hear that you don't have too much post-surgical discomfort and that OTC medication can cope with this. I'm sure that you were relieved to discover that it was a basic lumpectomy and nothing more.

The wait for the biopsy results is always a testing time and seems to last forever.  Just take things day by day and you'll get there. Please keep in touch and let us know when you get your results and remember, that we are always here for you.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Sorry Mary, I missed this! Oh 23 sessions sounds a lot, I can't believe you are both having to go through it, seems so unfair. I will definitely be having radiotherapy after the chemo, I need 15 sessions as I didn't have a node clearance despite the positive node. I may be able to stay over but I really don't want to... I think I'm going to have to see how bad the tiredness is.

Thanks so much and I hope you and your husband are both doing ok xx