A few tips

There are a few things I wish I knew before I became a post op Breast Cancer patient.

Get a few large hooked in the front sport bras. The kind that have several little hooks in the front. Being a Flam Trap patient, the now newly placed stomach muscle with the blood supply that feeds my new boob to keep it alive runs exactly where the front hooking bra hooks, you have to be able to unhook the bottom of the bra to keep that area free flowing but keep the support (or pressure) on the top of the boobs.

Get one of those dorm style bed sitter uppers, you know the kind that looks like the back of a chair...you will need one in your bed to keep you at a 30 to 45 % angle during your healing time.

You will also need one of those bed trays for the times you don't feel like making it to the kitchen table for your meals.

You will need a lot of shirts that either button, snap or zipper in the front for awhile. It is painful to pull something on over your head with your post op arm ( If you had lymph nodes removed) that is the only area that I feel constant pain. The boob and the tummy are numb, I might get some sensation back, but that is a crap shoot.

Slip on shoes! Bending down to tie or put on shoes is a "YIKES" post op, even after 3 weeks which is what I am at.

What bothers me the most is that I can't sleep on my side which I am used to doing, I have to sleep on a slight incline, on my back..........I hate sleeping on my back! I normally sleep in the fetal position and flop back and forth several times a night. Now I wake up around 4ish every morning because I am stiff and uncomfortable. Again it's because of the lymph node removal, that arm is painful and the boob is still a little swollen under the arm area.

And I now have to worry the rest of my life about lymphoedema. Your lymph nodes help in the healing of illness or injury to your body. My left arm doesn't have them anymore. So right now I have to be careful (extremely) about injuring that arm, even a cut cuticle could be very dangerous to me right now. I can neverhave blood drawn from that arm now, I can never even have my blood pressure taken on that arm. To read more about it click on this link~~~> Lymphoedema

And the most important thing.....I bought a day planner/journal with large week by week pages to help keep track of everything related to my Breast Cancer diagnosis. I write down my appointments and leave plenty of space to write down what transpired at the appointment. Helps with the tests that are ordered, or the results of one (Which helps me keep track on all the testing too so I can remember what I already had done) There is going to come a time when most of this will be a blur to me, and I want to be able to have something that kept track of everything in case I ever have to look back on this time in my life.

Well, that about all I can think of right now.......I'm sure I'll learn plenty more things to add later.

I want to thank everyone who takes the time to read, send prayers or even thinks about me during their day. It really is very uplifting to know that people whom I may never meet care about me and my family at this time. The comments always arrive at the time I need a little boost to my day and you will never know how your kindness has touched my heart!

XOXOX

Kimberleigh