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Bilateral Mastectomy without Reconstruction Recovery Timeline
Breast Cancer | Last Active: May 27, 2023 | Replies (78)Comment receiving replies
I am really surprised to hear of your arm difficulty. I never had a bit of trouble following my simple mastectomy, and only had trouble with that arm after I fell and broke the head of the shoulder joint in three places. I now have an artificle shoulder replacement. The only time I seem to have any edema is when I have blood draws. They have to use this arm, because the left mastectomy is off limits. When I had the Valve replacement they also had to use this arm, but very little after event even though they had to enter an artery in my wrist. Much easier then the groin. Interesting you have a nerve disorder. After all these years, I have Trigeminal Neuralgia. That is how they found the MGus. Routine testing. I have pretty much quit driving. My son has moved in to my home, and he takes me to all my appointments. I have gotten very lazy. I can still drive and have a license (eye sight is quite good), but I think it is smart not to drive unless I really, really need to. I do take high blood pressure medication which has a diuretic. My ankle swells considerably since I had the cancer removed from my leg, but I also have the hip and knee surgery and you cannot have that much surgery all on one side without some disruption of the circulatory system. The diuretic keeps the swelling down considerably. Have they tried any diuretics for your edema? Your kind words and good thoughts will brighten my day, and I look forward to my next "New Part".
Gind5009
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Thank you for the response @gina5009. Very nice that your son moved in with you. You raised him right. Relax and enjoy his help and company. At 92, you deserve to be spoiled!
Ouch with the shoulder. It must be a right of passage. I fell and broke my right wrist while I was recovering from the mastectomy and ovary/tube removal double whammy surgery. My 20 pound schnauzer totally fought off that 45 pound dog attacking in the dark. I should have stayed out of it cause I'm the only one that got hurt. With my right hand/arm now in a cast, that's when I learned my left hand and arm are just for looks and balance. Haha
My lymphedema isn't bad anymore, just the tightness and ROM issues. They never suggested diuretics. It mostly flares up if I do heavy house cleaning and overuse that arm. I'm supposed to do the daily lymphedema massage at home myself. But do I? Guess. It all flared up again when I had recurrent breast cancer removed my from chest wall and another lymph node.
I had to look up your TN and MGus. Neither sounds fun! I have HNPP (hereditary neuropathy and pressure palsies) and am one of the more extreme cases. Like you, I have a substantial collection of varied disorders. My brother once told me I should just get a body transplant. Sign me up!!! I hope you don't need any more new parts and just have lots of new joys!
When my great aunt hit 90, she was featured in Woman's Day magazine along with others in their 90s. It was one of those articles asking what they did to live a long, healthy life. I think a positive attitude, helping others and staying active for her. They should be honoring you too for powering through! You're like my little schnauzer who never let the big dogs take her down. It was all about attitude. She survived hemorrhaging at 3, mammary cancer at 10 and lived to be 16! She loved life and had a will to live. She was the love of my life! Keep enjoying those bright days!