On February 20, 2018 I had a double mastectomy to treat invasive lobular breast cancer. My surgery involved immediate reconstruction, so it was an involved procedure. I spent one night in the hospital.
Right now, I am almost 4 weeks out from surgery & I’m doing SO well! This is a BIG week for me, however, and you can read about that right here.
What Led To My Breast Cancer Surgery
Most women who have breast cancer have ductal carcinoma. This is the traditional “I found a lump” or “they found something in my mammogram” breast cancer. It is aggressive and serious, but it is easier to diagnosis than its counterpart…lobular carcinoma.
Only 10-15% of breast cancer patients have lobular carcinoma.
This cancer is not clearly evident in mammograms OR ultrasounds…it does not form a lump. It hides and weaves itself inside dense breast tissue. Women like me may be at an advanced stage before they even know something might be wrong.
I had 2 mammograms and 1 ultrasound…none of them could identify a contained tumor. They just revealed dense tissue. I was also at zero risk for breast cancer!
The biopsy revealed borderline Stage 2 invasive lobular breast cancer.
My Mastectomy Surgery and Recovery: What it is really like
I was so nervous the night before surgery! Luckily, we had to report to the hospital that night for the Lymphoscintigraphy. This was uncomfortable, but waaay easier than the core needle biopsy!
If you told me three months ago that having needles placed in my nipple to shoot radioactive die into my armpit would not phase me, I wouldn’t have believed you.
But yes, yes I had shots in and on my left nipple. Good grief it hurt, but I’m getting used to needles in my breast.
We got home from this procedure around midnight, and immediately went to sleep. I must say, the activity kept us busy, wore us out, and helped us sleep!
The next morning we reported to the hospital at 7:30AM. I was in the operating room for approximately 4 hours, followed by recovery for about 45 minutes.
My breast cancer surgeon removed all of my breast tissue (including nipples) and performed a lymph node biopsy. Once she was finished, the plastic surgeon began Phase 1 of my reconstruction: placement of the expanders.
(If you are wondering what expanders are, click here & scroll to the bottom of the post. Expanders are not traditional implants!) I have a love/hate relationship with my expanders at the moment.
Back to the surgery……
My anesthesiologist was top notch.
In addition to general anesthesia, I was a candidate for a nerve block in my chest wall. This was called an ON-Q pump that dispensed localized pain medicine into my chest via 2 catheters in my back.
The medicine was located in the ball-like plastic pouch. The dial allowed me to control the level of medication I received. The On-Q pump was designed to last for approximately 3 days. The little charmer went home with me. 🙂
Mastectomy Recovery in the Hospital
I woke up from surgery and was very clear headed. As a matter of fact, I did not feel loopy at all! My plastic surgeon stopped by to check on me in the recovery room, as did my anesthesiologist and nurse practitioner.
They were amazed that not only was I alert, I was asking questions already! I REALLY wanted to know how many drains they ended up needing….ugh…they used 4!
All of the hospital rooms at Celebration Health are private, which was so nice. After recovery, I was moved to my room. Copa was waiting for me there. 🙂
It took two nurses to assist me to the restroom that first time, mainly because of all of the devices and tubes coming in and out of my body. I had 4 Jackson-Pratt drains, plus the On-Q pump. I was a mess!
However, I did it and was able to eat a full dinner around 8pm that night!
The next day, I had a full pancake & fruit breakfast and was discharged around 2:00PM.
Mastectomy Recovery at Home
The car ride home was bearable due to the Chest Buddy my sister in law gave me. (You can read about that here.)
And, hind sight….I wish I had purchased a post-mastectomy bra in addition to the post-surgical bra I bought. I didn’t, which led to our frenzied but sweet run to Target.
Once we were home, I immediately settled into the recliner.
That plastic bag-o- medicine, a.k.a. the On-Q pump was like a big ball that went with me EVERYWHERE. When I slept in the recliner, the ball rested in my lap.
I loved the pump, mainly because the medication did not make me loopy. It simply deadened the chest wall area.
The medicine ran out on Friday; Copa was instructed to remove the catheters at that time. We took a class together prior to the mastectomy that outlined home care and specifically the On-Q pump catheter removal.
The picture above was taken three days after my surgery. Copa took all of this apart and removed the two catheters.
Speaking of pain medication, I was only on round-the-clock Percocet for 3 1/2 days after my surgery! On the fourth day, I took one about 10PM, but relied on Tylenol during the daytime. Starting the 5th night, I took Tylenol PM and did not take another Percocet.
During the day, I was up all the time and very coherent, even those 3 days I took Percocet. I was not drowsy at all!
Copa washed my hair in the sink on Saturday, the day after he removed the On-Q catheters. It felt glorious!
I was able to take a full shower and use deodorant after 12 days.
Jackson-Pratt Drains
I’d heard that drains are horrible….yet, I was somewhat clueless. Let me just say, I would not want my worst enemy to endure a double mastectomy with drains!!!
I had a total of four drains; two on each side.
In the hospital, they simply clipped the tag of the drains to my surgical bra using an old fashioned safety pin. I continued with this method once I was home.
EACH drain must be emptied and the contents cataloged three times a day. My surgeon wanted to see how the output varied from day to day. Once I was under 30 cc’s for a few days in a row, the drains could come out.
Copa diligently emptied and cleaned all of the drains….he needs an honorary medical degree! I’m guessing he wishes HE could have the equivalent to “chemo brain” to forget about all of this!
Pro Tip: If you are queasy, this is a good place to run over and read about our summer vacay in China rather than look at drain output substances!
That cup on the bottom right came from a collection we did on the Saturday night following my surgery. We were told that if I began passing bright red blood to call our doctor or go to the emergency room.
Copa called our doctor ASAP.
It turns out, I had passed a blood clot, which was normal for my case. We monitored it for a few days, and all was fine.
Mastectomy Surgery & Recovery: Drain Removal
Lawd have MERCY.
I’m going to lay it on the line: Jackson-Pratt drain removal
was more painful than childbirth.
That’s right.
I’d read online where some women stated it didn’t hurt at all. Guess what?!? Those ladies were STILL IN THE HOSPITAL and were receiving intravenous pain medications.
Me…not so much.
My drains were thankfully removed after one week post surgery!
Here is what mine looked like after removal:
Loose your lunch yet?!?
The drains were sutured into my side. First, the nurse removed the sutures. Then, she methodically pulled out that looooong white aspirator rod from the small hole in my side. She was as gentle as possible but very quick to try to minimize the pain.
But let me be frank, when you have something THAT LONG & WIDE being pulled out of a hole in your side, it hurts!
Pro Tip: Take a pain pill first if you can, or at least Tylenol!
Mastectomy Recovery Tips
- Use straws! Due to limited arm mobility, getting a cup to your mouth is tricky!
- Enlist the help of a friend or family member for at least the first 96 hours you are home. You will not be able to shower for up to two weeks after this surgery.
- Strip the drain tubes each time you empty the drain viles. This helps get sludge out of the tube for better overall drainage. Copa will do a post on this soon!
- Sleeping in a recliner was helpful – it took pressure off my chest.
- Get another bra if the surgical one you are sent home with does not work!
What’s next for me? Read all about it right here!
Do you have recovery tips to share? Leave a comment!
Hugs, Heather
Post Mastectomy Update
The breast tissue was sent out for a pathology report. The results were not what we expected. I am actually Stage 3A and it is in a lymph node. Had it not gone into my lymph nodes OR had the mass been more in the 5cm range as thought, I would have been Stage 2 and would not have needed chemo. Once my surgeon was in the tissue, she saw the affected areas were actually 8cm with lymph node involvement. Hence, we are moving forward with chemo next week. LET’S DO THIS: BEAT CANCER.
xoxo,
Heather
PS- I’m not a medical doctor, nor do I play one on tv. 🙂 All information on this blog is my personal experience with breast cancer and is not to be construed as medical advice or opinion. Some links to Totally Tailgates contain affiliate links as I am an Amazon Affiliate blogger. This means that I make a few cents to keep the blogs going if you click the links. This is at no cost to you at all.
