Prepping for Surgery

@healedme

You may want to do following search and see other discussions on breast reductions:
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/breast-cancer/?search=reduction#discussion-listview
Remember, everyone's experience is different.

The key is to plan ahead. Yours is under week away, but do any shopping and prep this weekend so everything need in next few weeks is already in house. You do not have to be strong, you can ask for help. Also, take advantage of delivery services that are now available for grocery and meals.

Is there any one able to stay with you for few days after surgery to help?

You are VERY kind. Thank you so much. I'm in Philadelphia. I will have help my first three days post-op and from the sound of things, I should be okay to manage after that. If not, I will call-in the calvary! I appreciate your prayers. That's the MOST you can do.

I had this exact procedure - lumpectomy to remove tumors, reduction on other breast and bilateral lift.
Surgery took about 4 hours (yours may be shorter, I had 3 tumors removed) and it’s fuzzy, but I remember being wheeled out of the OR & taken to recovery. The nurse asked me to rate my pain on a scale of 1 - 10. I think I mumbled that I didn’t really have pain, but my shoulder muscles felt tight. She gave me a muscle relaxant, which helped.
I’m not sure how long I was in recovery, I was pretty groggy. Next they took me to a private area where my family was waiting & the nurse there checked in every few minutes, and said I should stay there until I felt ready to get up, get dressed & walk. I got some water & crackers, and I was there for about an hour - I was ready to leave sooner, but had to wait to get the pain med prescription filled. They gave me a pain pill before I left since it was about an hour’s drive to get home. It was about 6 hours from the start of surgery till I left the hospital.

I slept in a recliner the first 2 nights to help with swelling & be sure I wouldn’t roll to my side while sleeping.

I had a little to no pain, but a lot of discomfort, sweating under the dressings, itching, soreness. they did axillary nerve blocks in the OR and I think that made a big difference. I took the pain meds for 36 hours, then switched to Tylenol.

The day after surgery I started to get back into my normal walking routine. My first walk was only 1/2 mile so I could see how I felt, and it felt good to move! After that I was back to 2-3 miles a day, to be on the safe side I had someone with me the first week, and my pace was certainly slower.

I took 2 weeks off work (desk job), probably would have been fine at 10 days.

No shower for 48 hours after surgery, and for 2 weeks I tried to not lift my arms above shoulder height. For 6 weeks, no lifting over 5 pounds, and no vacuuming or anything that required repetitive arm movements.

A couple of things that surprised me …
How tight my breasts felt - just didn’t feel like mine! Took about 6 months till they loosened up.
Honestly, the incisions looked Frankenstein ish at first, after healing they’re fine, I just wasn’t prepared for how they would look right after surgery. My plastic surgeon recommended biodermis silicone scar sheets, which helped a lot.
https://www.biodermis.com/collections/epi-derm
This YouTube plastic surgery nurse video has a lot of good info.

You have so much going on, please take a breath.
I’m like you, I don’t like to burden others, and I have learned that there are times when letting someone else in on my struggles actually strengthens our relationship.