I had Lumpectomy surgery on 11 May for a 31mm breast lump and 3 lymph nodes removed out of 15. The wound has healed nicely and apart from tingling, and stiffness in my arm I'm feeling really good. Each day I see and feel the positive changes, from initially struggling with buttons and washing my hair, my other half did that, he wasn't so good! I'm now almost back to the old me. 

I'm due to start Chemo shortly and have my first call with the oncologist next Wednesday. I too have my concerns about Chemo and will be discussing these.Good luck with your op and if you need any support I'm here

Jane

Hi Jane 

Thankyou for your reply, I'm so glad to hear you are doing well, it's really encouraging to hear, the hard part is yet to come for both of us yet with the chemo, I hope your first round isn't too bad for you and likewise I'm here too if you need some support, good luck 

Louise xx

Hi Louise, I had my mastectomy back in December, with reconstruction, and am now on exemestane as luckily chemo not needed. I had one sentinel lymph node removed, and am healed but scarred because they had to remove an ancient implant I had from being a teenager with a rare skeletal deformity. My scars irritate me as I ended up with something they jokingly refer to as a dogear- sort of a hump of skin at the end of one scar, and Ive been massaging it with bio-oil, Spoke to physio again today on the phone as I got so sick of scars feeling tight and tender that Breast nurse advised me to contact them. Thjeyve been brilliant, sending me links to professional videos to see the exercises, got one from the hospital today on "the child pose" to help me with stretches, which is awkward because of my disabilities.  The physio was great though, he says theres a lot of rubbish on youtube, so he wanted to ensure i got proper professional medical guidance, and gave me the best he could find, so very happy, thats my top advice for post op, manage the exercises, they help with shifting post op stiffness and any build up of seroma (fluid in the wound).The other tip Id suggest is to get a cushion to wear under your seatbelt if in the car, I was given one from Jens friends, you can find them on facebook, and some hospitals have teams of people who sew cushions for other patients to feel comfy post op. they are heart shaped, I made batches of them for Jens friends so guess they may have some in stock, think they are free plus postage for patients. Hope it goes well for you, and that you can take it one step at a time.  Get plenty of rest, and keep smiling/posting. theres some lovely people on here. they helped me enormously, and the nurses are briliant too. 

Hi Louise.

Don't be frightened of the chemo. It isn't as bad as people make it out to be as long as there are no complications obviously. It will knock you for six and make you feel like you have THE worst hang over EVER but it's manageable. Certainly manageable if you have a good support system like you said.

My question is why a mastectomy???? I had a 3.7 tumour and still had a lumpectomy. I'm confused by this.

Take care

Hi thankyou for your kind message, I don't do well as a patient,  I'm usually the one doing for everyone else but I know I need to take whatever it throws at me and deal with it the best I can.

I want a mastectomy as i had a lumpectomy 4 years ago and so I just want to get rid of it, if I could I'd have the other one taken off too, I suffer quite badly with anxiety and I know I'll be constantly worried about it coming back on the other side

Xx

Thankyou for your message, I'm so glad you're doing well and you're getting the help you need, I just really want to get on with things now, you're right about this site too, everybody is lovely and really supportive,  hearing other peoples stories is really helpful right now, thankyou for your advice too, I need all I can get at the moment 

Take care

Louise xx

Hi Rose

Your experience sounds really positive and thank you for sharing this with me.  I am hoping that I too will sort of breeze through it.  I'm reasonably fit and eat a healthy diet which I hope will put me in good stead for the coming weeks.  Have a super weekend

Hi there,

In October 2019 I was where you are. I had a masectomy in December for Invasive Ductal Carcimona (IDC), with Lymph modes removed. Cancer cells were in 2 of my Lymph nodes underarm. The breast nurses look after you and I was surprised how quickly I recovered from the surgery.  I was supposed to have 6 rounds of chemo but only completed 3 as I was unwell but the Doctors will monitor you carefully and manage any side effects you may have, there is support for you always at the Hospital. Some people manage it better than others, just hold onto the fact that it is to remove any cancer cells you may have remaining in your body. I have just finished 15 sessions of radiotherapy to my chest to mop up any cancer that may be in my chest wall.. Apart from a bit of sore skin, hardly any side effects. When you get to my stage and the treatment is over, life seems rosy, Im coming to terms with the masectomy and the hair loss which is now begininng to grow back. You will get there and there is lots of support on this site if you feel like a rant someone will always reply.

Best wishes

Silver

Thankyou for your message,  I'm so glad you're doing well and on the road to recovery,  it's very encouraging to hear stories like yours it's what keeps me going.  I have spoken with my breast nurse a couple of times and she is so lovely,  this is a really good site too, it's good that there's always someone to listen and support you

Take care 

Louise xx