MUCH less pain than before. I never even needed any Vicodin, and have been taking Tylenol and ibuprofen. He drained my seroma (a fluid buildup around the lymph node biopsy area) but unfortunately, it’s come back although it’s nowhere near as big as it was before. I had been putting heat on it even before Tuesday, and that helped a lot. I did put a cold pack on my breast until I removed the bandages, but I don’t need that anymore either.
Excellent. I didn’t take anything after surgery but lorazepam (a benzo that helps with jumpy muscles, which I had). Sorry about the seroma. I escaped that, but did have an undissolved suture abscess (more of a nuisance than anything else). Do resist the urge to start stretches and exercise until you’re released to do this–even then, you may want to see a physical therapist to get a set of progressive exercises to restore range of motion gradually.
Before I had my first surgery, an occupational therapist came in and did some baseline measurements, and then gave me exercises to do, but told me not to do them until my surgeon approved me for them. I will be seeing him again at the end of the month.
Still don’t have the results, but I wasn’t expecting that for a few days anyway.
Great that you got baselines. I didn’t, because I didn’t know to ask and probably because my surgeon assumed that none of his patients ever get lymphedema.
The surgeon’s office called a few minutes ago, and when I heard a female voice on the other end, I figured it would be good news.
AND IT WAS! 
The margins were clear this time.
YEEEEEEE-HAAAAAAA!
Yaay!!! That’s wonderful. Early Thanksgiving.
Great news! Very happy to hear this. 
Excellent news! Cancer-free boobies are the best kind of boobies.
Fantastic!
I met with the oncologist this morning. He’s going to do Oncotype DX and determine further treatment from there.
http://www.oncotypeiq.com/en-US
To be honest, unless the score is extremely high, which is unlikely, I’ll probably refuse chemotherapy. Of course, I’ll make that decision if and when I get there. Most likely, I’ll simply go raw vegan.
j/k
No, seriously, he prescribed tamoxifen, which is an estrogen blocker; I stopped by the pharmacy this afternoon and they had to get prior authorization first. :rolleyes: It won’t hurt me to wait a few days. Most likely, I’ll be on it or a similar drug for the next 5 years.
It was worth the wait for the prior auth, because a month’s supply cost me $5.
Heads up, according to my doctor, current medical studies show that you may be on Tamoxifen for life. Same with Letrozole, which my doctor switched me to.
I was on Tamoxifen for about eight years. About six years in, I suddenly started vaginal bleeding, which was worrying. My chemo doc sent me over to a lovely gyno, who scraped out benign cysts and thick endometrium linings for two years before she said “we’re yanking the whole works.” Turns out Tamoxifen is good for keeping cancer out of the girls but not so much the lady parts.
I don’t tell you this to scare you. Your doctor is most likely aware of this and you will need to stay vigilant. If you have any sudden vaginal bleeding after being on the Tamoxifen get to your chemo doctor rather soon. Tamoxifen is the drug of choice for pre-menopausal women.
I’ve been following this thread and am so glad things are going well for you after diagnosis, nearwildheaven. Sounds like you have good docs who are on top of things!
Looks like I’m just starting the process myself. Back on the 12th I had my first mammogram in seven years (I know, I know, this is all my stupid fault–my then-doc said after that turned out normal I could wait until I was 50 as that was one of the newer recommendations and she preferred that protocol, and because I’m a chicken who prefers to procrastinate I decided I’d go with her recommendation).
Anyway, the next day after this new mammogram (a Saturday!) my GP called me and said the radiologist found a “queried mass” and wanted me to come back for a diagnostic mamm. and sonogram. She insisted I shouldn’t be scared that she was calling me so fast, she was only following up that day because she was in the office and that’s her day to do administrative stuff. Yeah right!
My breasts are incredibly lumpy so I’ve never been able to figure out what’s a normal lump and what’s not (or what’s new).
I called the radiologist on Monday and the asst. said that actually, they wanted to see the previous mamm. results from 7 years ago if I could get them. (It was at a different hospital.) She added that if the thing is stable I wouldn’t need the follow-up after all. So they contacted the other radiologists who were sending them in the mail.
Well, a little over a week later–the day before Thanksgiving–they still hadn’t arrived, so I was like, fuck this, I’ll make the follow-up appt. now anyway. So the mamm/sonogram appointment is on this Wednesday. When I spoke w/the radiologist’s asst. again to let her know, she said that was fine, though she was expecting the old films (or whatever they call 'em) to arrive on Monday so it still might not be necessary.
Meanwhile I’m probably metastasizing away while I wait. I know supposedly “most” callbacks/follow-ups are benign, but obviously they’re not considering how many women are in this thread here. Plus my sister was just diagnosed in April with breast cancer (treated w/lumpectomy, radiation & now hormone therapy) so I’m feeling pretty fatalistic. She said that the doctors would’ve had me come in right away rather than waiting for the old mamm. films if they were really worried, but I think she’s just trying to make me calmer.
Supposedly this is a good practice (it’s part of NY Weill/Cornell hospital) but I feel like the process should have gone faster, so maybe it’s not? Ugh, if you can’t tell, I’m a wreck.
All this is to say that I wish I could be as brave as you guys. I am pretty sure I’ll collapse in on myself like a dying star when I get the dx once and for all. I’m not really a fighter. Plus I’m just so angry with myself for putting it off this long. I’m like the perfect bad example poster child for “This Is What Happens When You Don’t Get Mammograms Regularly.”
The oncologist did tell me that tamoxifen causes, or at least precipitates, endometrial cancer in 1 woman in 300, over baseline. That’s a risk I’m willing to take. The aromatase inhibitors, used by postmenopausal women, can cause very severe osteoporosis, which leads to its own set of issues.
I’m also on Paxil, an SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) and have been for about 20 years, for mild OCD. He wanted to switch me to Effexor but I put the ixnay on that. I have heard way too many horror stories about Effexor to want to touch that poison (I realize a lot of people hate Paxil too) but I decided to halve my Paxil dose and we’ll see how that works. The reason is because Paxil inhibits the liver’s conversion of tamoxifen into a more active form.
And keep us posted, Choie! You won’t know for sure until you have the biopsy.
Choie, most lumps are benign so I wouldn’t assume anything. But let me just say that since your first mammogram on the 12th, you should have gotten an answer by now. If this is an example of how slowly they operate, I’d switch to a different mammographer next time.
Keep breathing, Choie!
Waiting is excruciating, but take some cold comfort in knowing that cancer doesn’t grow that quickly. You might want to look at the “Not Diagnosed But Worried” forum at breastcancer.org for support while you wait.
I think you’ll find that you’re as brave as you need to be.
Maybe, but I had my mammograms right on time and still turned out to have a tumor that didn’t show up on mammograms. Fortunately, I had DCIS show up on mammogram, and when it was followed with a contralateral MRI, the worse tumor was detected.
Thank you so much for responding, nearwildheaven, PunditLisa and susan.
nearwildheaven–my sister had a similar issue with having to change from Paxil. She chose to switch to Celexa, which is also an SSRI. Thus far it’s working well for her. Of course everyone’s different. (I tried Effexor a couple of decades ago and my depression actually worsened on it; meanwhile, my other sister (I’ve got two) was on Effexor for fifteen years and it worked quite well. In her case, she only had bad side effects when she’d forget to take it or if she ran out for a day or two; eventually her doc moved her to Pristiq, which is a similar formulation to Effexor but had waaaay less of a bad “footprint.”)
Anyway, I hope your own switchover goes well. God knows there are a lot of antidepressants and anti-anxiety meds to choose from, so you should find something that’ll work!
PunditLisa, I agree re: the timing issue. It’s been a rough couple of weeks. I’m sorta blaming the other hospital for taking forever to get the dang images sent. But maybe my current radiologist should’ve just told me to make the follow-up appt. right away rather than wait on the old images.
And susan, thank you for the “Not diagnosed but worried” resource! BTW I didn’t mean to imply that only irresponsible twits like me would get The Diagnosis. I know that sadly, people can do everything right and cancer can still pop up its ugly head.
Sorry to piggyback on your thread, nearwildheaven. I really appreciate the support and this felt like a safe place.
No, Choie, you’re very welcome here even if, and especially if, everything turns out OK.
The waiting followed by the sudden rush to do a bunch of stuff *right now *followed by waiting for weeks or months for the other (next?) shoe is a common, and miserable, part of the diagnosis and treatment process.
Know you’re not alone.
Definitely. At the cancer treatment center where I go, after the mammogram, you sit there in your hospital gown and they come out within 10 minutes to tell you the results.
When I had the fateful one three-ish years ago, the radiologist came in and said, “We recommend you have a biopsy,” which I did three weeks later. After the biopsy, I was asked to wait, and about 20 minutes later the doc came in and said, “I’m going to give you the news you don’t want to hear.” I had the lumpectomy two weeks after that. Very little time to sit around and fret.
I’ve had five mammograms since then and all have been handled speedily (and all have been clear, thank God). Not every place is the same. Don’t be afraid to shop around, ask people, go to healthgrades.com and vitals.com and read up on your doctor(s).