breast cancer: post surgery photos (2nd surgery - further WLE and axillary clearance / removal of lymph nodes)
This surgery was on 27/Feb/2009. They did the ANC and also went back for a wider "scoop" of the first one, as the tissue around the cancer didn't have a clear enough margin. Later I was told that any more surgery would mean a mastectomy. Apparently they can take up to 25% of the breast without too much change but after that they need to remove the whole thing. I stayed a night in hospital that night and was home on 28/Feb. This time my movement was a lot more restricted due to the deeper and more extensive surgery under my arm. The blue dye is from the first operation. Much sensation under my arm was lost, from armpit to elbow, and I also could barely lift my arm at all. This made sleeping, showering, and dressing particularly challenging. The drain was removed on 4/Mar. It was a very quick and easy procedure which only took a few seconds and I could barely feel a thing. I was surprised that the tube inside me was another 10cm at least! On 18/Mar I had my "egg pick-up", where I went in for day surgery for my eggs to be collected ready for fertilisation and storage. I think the drugs I had been on affected my R breast - you can see that it is rather shrunken at that stage. The L breast continued to be a little swollen, which I put down to recovery from the surgery. When I went for a check-up with the breast nurse, they told me that the redness and swelling indicated a possible infection as well as pooling of blood in a pocket in the breast tissue. You can see when I press my finger against the skin and take it away that a white mark remains. I had a fluid drain of approximately 60mls via a kind of suction needle from the top. I truly felt like a half a lemon being squeezed for the last few drips of juice! It was somewhat tender but it was more the thought of the procedure than the actual procedure which made me feel a bit yucky. Chemotherapy started on Friday 27/Mar/2009. I had 3 cycles of FEC: 1 session every 3 weeks. This was followed by 3 cycles of taxotere, again every 3 weeks. My final chemotherapy session was Friday 10/Jul/2009. 1. "FEC" is:
If you would like to share YOUR breast cancer photographs (anonymously), please email them to tish.kirkland@hatiheri.com and I will post them on a sharing page. My aim is to create a resource to demystify breast cancer and what it involves. NB: Nipples are blacked out to avoid having to register as"mature content" on google sites.
pre-surgery photos first surgery photos second surgery photos radiation therapy photos hair loss photos hair regrowth photos |
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4. 04/Mar/2009
6. 07/Mar/2009
7. 13/Mar/2009
10. 20/Mar/2009
11. 22/Mar/2009
13. --/Mar/2009
14. --/Mar/2009
