Sorry to hear this.
My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013 and had a double macectamy.
First thing that I tell anyone is diagnosed with Cancer is to please do yourself a favor and go to MD Anderson in Houston!
Even if you just go get a second opinion once you walk in you will realize that they are on an entirely different level than other hospitals when it comes to cancer!
In Lafayette the wanted to do a single mecectamy and chemo therapy to my mom. MD Anderson recommended a double macectamy with no chemo or radiation after.
Also, and I know this is your mom's decision, but she may think about removing both breasts. The percentage of women who remove just one breast then get cancer in the other a few years later is higher than you would think.
To answer your questions:
My mom only stayed 2-3 days in hospital after her macectamy. They get you out of there pretty quickly but she was no where near ready to stay by herself. Recovery is pretty lengthy. I do not remember exactly but she was out of work for 4-6 weeks.
6-8 months later she did the reconstruction surgery. This surgery was VERY ROUGH one her! The Dr. did not warn her how brutal the recovery would be and honestly we were not prepared as a family for what she went through after the reconstructive surgery.
In my mother's case the Dr. had remove quite a bit of skin due to the cancer so this may have made this surgery worse. Just giving you my family's experience.
In the last 3 years my mother has had two brain surgeries to remove tumors, a double macectamy, and two surgeris for reconstruction. The first reconstructive surgery was by far the most painful and longest recovery out of all of them.
Another common problem after reconstruction is infection. My mother got a very bad infection due to them placing the silicon implants in her body and had to have a cathador installed in her artery in her neck and we had to give her antibiotics intraveiniously for several weeksto fight the infection. The Dr. was very close to having another surgery to remove the implants if the infection would have gotten worse.
I tell you this because after all was said and done my mother stated that if she knew how serious the reconstructive surgery was she may not have even chosen to have it.
After the surgery they will talk about the "margins" a lot which is how they determine if the cancer has had a chance to spread.
Also, I see you live in Lake Arthur but if you can get your mom to Miles Perret I recommend it. They are wonderful people and REALLY helped my Mom out when she was very depressed. They gave her all types of things to help her like bras with fake boobs. They also offer counceling and exercise programs. They even would give her gas cards to help pay for the gas when we were driving back and forth to MD Anderson in Houston.
The coolest thing was that they sent her and 5 other breast cancer survivors to a 3 day weekend at a camp in Cypremort Point. They picked them up in a Limo and fed them, let them fish off of the pier, had group counceling sessions, and treated them like Queens the entire weeknd. My mom made friends on that trip with other survivors that she still talks to.
I will say a prayer for your mom and your family.
Keep her spirits up and stay positive.
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