Hello there,

A quick update in case someone is interested... I underwent surgery
for my carcinoma on the 14th. I had been undergoing a morning of
pre-surgical examinations one week before: ECG, chest X-rays, blood
sampling.
On the day before surgery I had lymphoscintigraphy with a technetium
colloid. This was in order to localize the sentinel lymph nodes (I had
their location marked out with a felt tip pencil, and was told not to
wash away the spots).

Surgery itself has been quite short and straightforward - I believe I
was back in my room and fully conscious two hours later. A
quadrantectomy was planned and albeit the tumor was larger than
expected (2.5 cm instead of 1.6-1.8) the surgeon 'succeeded' in
operating as planned. Two sentinel lymph nodes were taken out and did
not show signs of metastases(sp?) during the intraoperative detection.

I was given very little anaesthesia IIRC - I remember being waken on
the surgery table, with a doctor telling me everything was okay. I
requested and was given a painkiller shot for the first and second
night, but they weren't really necessary. The feeling is worse NOW,
actually.

The main problems came from an undetected allergy to the adhesive
bandages - blisters and a nasty smell from under the gauze. Plus, I
wanted to reassure my family about my condition, so when the nurse
asked me whether I needed assistance to the bathroom (four or five
hours after surgery ended), I promptly said 'no'. And I promptly
passed out and took a face-first spill from the commode. Note to self:
take it easier, gal.

I'm recovering nicely, although it sees that my muscles have been
switched for bungee cords - everything 'pulls back' when I exercise
and I'm scared of overachieving and pulling a muscle. On the 25th all
the stitches bar two were removed.

The tumor and the sentinel nodes are still being examined more
closely. I'm keeping my finger crossed and worrying a little (another
woman who was operated on the same day already has her response,
although hers was an axillary dissection following a first round of
quadrantectomy + node biopsy). I still haven't got a definitive
staging or grading, and do not know what further therapies are
planned. I'll keep posting, especially if anyone is interested in
comparing experiences from different countries.

All the best,
Chiara