After the double mastectomy, mom went through at least three months of recovery. The process was slow, but mom was doing well – the doctors were very pleased with the progress. Thankfully, my sister had flown to P.R. during this time, so having her around during the recovery period gave me some peace of mind while I was working.
Mom had difficulty moving during the first several weeks after the surgery, so even just getting up from bed or from the couch was a complete task. She had a drainage system in place to help drain out the blood from the surgery, so my sister and I had to regularly watch when it got full, take note of how much she had drained during the day (we had a log to keep for the doctor) and had to discharge it. We also had to help bathe mom because in addition to the double mastectomy, doctors had removed a combined total of about 12 lymph nodes from her arms. This made it difficult for mom to raise her arms up and move them as well. Despite having undergone the double mastectomy, mom didn’t leave the operating room (OR) flat-chested because she opted for the immediate breast reconstruction. Essentially what happens is that the surgeon places a tissue expander underneath the chest muscle. They’re pretty much an implant which expands the skin when the patient receives saline injections with the sole purpose of preparing the space for the actual breast implant itself.
After the surgery, mom had to see her surgeon on a scheduled basis to receive her saline injections until the tissue expanders reached the cup size that mom wanted to have. This was another process mom went through before undergoing several sessions of radiation therapy. Her radiation therapy was for a one month period on a daily basis, so she had to go EVERYDAY no matter how tired she felt. In general, cancer treatments are physically exhausting. Everyone reacts to it differently, so there is no right or wrong remedy – you have to find what works right for yourself. Many people opt for natural treatments as alternatives, but the key is finding what works well for your body and talking to your doctor about it as well. My mother’s oncologist and surgeon were wonderful and helped her a lot through out the process. Make sure you feel comfortable with your doctor and have confidence in speaking with them because it helps a lot during treatment and it also makes the difference in helping you maintain self-confidence.
The reconstruction surgery was scheduled some time after mom had finished radiation therapy, but not immediately because doctors wanted her to recover from the therapy first. the radiation process was easier for mom than chemo, but her body was still physically affected because her skin got darker and sometimes even burned from the radiation. Mom always had aloe vera handy during the radiation therapy because it helped keep her skin soft and also healed her burns. After reconstruction, the recovery process was MUCH better than the first time around post-mastectomy. It was less exhaustive from the initial one and easier to care for mom because she was able to move better on her own.
My mother has been through so much during her treatment, but thankfully she has been cancer free since then and looks greater than ever. A large part of mom’s successful treatment has to do with her own self. The amount of strength, faith and self-confidence in her throughout the entire process has helped get through it all.
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