High five, placenta! It's incredible that our bodies can simultaneous deal with chemo and grow a little munchkin. It's nice to hear that you have a plan in place and it seems really thorough. I'll be thinking about you in the coming days and thank you for the update!!
I got my port in yesterday and it wasn't bad at all. I'm sore but haven't needed any painkillers since the anesthesia wore off. However, the experience of getting surgery in a non-hospital setting while pregnant was fairly humorous, as I'm pretty sure no one knew what to do with me. Apologies for the long post - the tl;dr is that if you ever have to get non-OB-related surgery in a non-hospital setting, be prepared to confuse everyone (and advocate!).
So because this was such a minor procedure they did it in a surgical office/ambulatory care office rather than a hospital. Based on my experience yesterday, I am pretty sure I am one of very few pregnant women to ever get surgery there. It started with the anesthesiologist (who was suuuuuuuper nerdy and awkward) coming up to where I was getting prepped for surgery with this black box in his hand. He glanced at me and then turned to the nurse who was standing there and handed her the box and said "this is all I could find to check for fetal heart rate. I'm not sure it's big enough but I figure we should at least make the effort." Then he walked away. The nurse pulled out what looked like a small Doppler and called another nurse over. They spent about 10 minutes just trying to figure out how to put it the monitor while talking about how it was probably too small to pick up the baby's heart rate anyway. Finally one of the nurses got it together. She turned to me and said "I usually work in the ER and we have the belt to monitor the fetus during surgery. But they don't have anything like that here I guess we'll have to try and see if this works." She found the heart beat after looking for a few minutes, told me it was a good thing the monitor worked because the baby would probably be sluggish and not moving much after surgery and then left. I had planned on asking about fetal monitoring during surgery but that made it pretty clear there would be none.
Surgery went fine. They put me under with propofil (the drug that killed Michael Jackson) and I woke up as soon as I got to recovery. I felt the baby kicking almost immediately after surgery and they were able to find the heartbeat again quickly which was a relief. Then, they took me over to the imaging department to get a chest x-ray to be sure they got the port in the right spot. They wheeled me into the x-ray room and the tech started to get everything ready and as she was doing that I said "and you know I'm pregnant, right?" She stopped what she was doing and was like "no...I didn't know that..." Luckily I had asked before she did anything with the actual x-ray machine so she was able to cover me with all the lead and it wasn't a problem. But damn, what if I was super groggy and hadn't thought to check? Or what if I just didn't know that x-rays were bad for fetuses and hadn't thought to check? I was covered in blankets because the OR had been cold so there's a good chance she wouldn't have realized at all.
They wheeled me back over to recovery and about 5 minutes later someone from the imaging department showed up with a form for me to sign consenting to an x-ray while pregnant. The woman who brought it over said something like "we should have had you sign this before but..." and then trailed off. I signed it because I didn't really see the point in arguing about the legality of the whole thing. And then 5 minutes later the nurse came to explain my post-opp care and restrictions and said "and we're going to have your mom sign off on this because you're not competent to sign anything right now due to the anesthesia."
So anyway, that was my experience with surgery while pregnant. The point of all of this is not to complain or bash the medical staff at that office, I get that people make mistakes or are unprepared and no harm was done in any of it. But I am definitely relieved that I'll be having my next surgery in an actual hospital.
I can't imagine how you feel @RainyDays86 but I'm glad that you remain positive! I love your "make the best of the worst situation" attitude!
I will keep you in my thoughts. For now, think of your family who looks to you for comfort and try your best to smile for them. Things always work out one way or another. You'll see!
I'm glad you were with it enough to remind her that you are pregnant! That doesn't sound like a fun situation, but it sounds like you made the best of it. Hopefully you won't run into that sort of thing again!
May Siggy Challenge: Labor Memes
Me:31 DH:32 Married 11/06/10 DD: Born 8/23/13 (clomid+ovidrel+IUI) BFP 9/9/16 EDD 5/19/17
Insanity! Your positive attitude is particularly inspiring today because I am being a grouch and it's totally uncalled for. I'm so glad to hear it all turned out ok and that you will be in different hands for future treatments!
@RainyDays86 I'm glad everything turned out ok for you and babe. It's an little crazy how scattered they seemed by you being pregnant. Like you said, at least your next procedure will be at the hospital. And as usual, your positivity is so inspiring. Big hugs
@RainyDays86 omg that sounds awful. Your retelling of the story is hilarious though. I'm glad you advocated for yourself. It is good that the next one will be at hospital...hopefully one with an OB unit. I love your positive attitude!
@RainyDays86 that's hilarious and scary!! Telling as a nurse, that doesn't surprise me AT ALL. I work in a hospital, but we rarely see pregnant patients - and when we do, mom is so sick we typically make efforts to keep baby safe but unless baby is big enough for a c-section, mom wins. So we are typically equally unprepared when one does show up!! Good for you being educated and advocating for yourself
That's crazy! Seems like the fact that you're pregnant should have had everyone on their best behavior. The consent for the X-ray not only after the fact but also after you had had anesthesia is a big no-no. I'm glad you're feeling good, though, and that baby is providing some reassuring kicks!
I wonder if you can contact a doula who can advocate for you during procedures? It's really scary they didn't know how to handle you. It's understandable if it's a rare occurrence but not acceptable.
@RainyDays86 that's hilarious and scary!! Telling as a nurse, that doesn't surprise me AT ALL. I work in a hospital, but we rarely see pregnant patients - and when we do, mom is so sick we typically make efforts to keep baby safe but unless baby is big enough for a c-section, mom wins. So we are typically equally unprepared when one does show up!! Good for you being educated and advocating for yourself
@RainyDays86 You would be one of my all-time favorite patients . I'm glad you now have your port and will be having your procedures by experienced medical staff... although you still are your best advocate!
I had my first chemo treatment yesterday. It was honestly fine. I basically sat in a comfy chair and read for three hours which, as any mom of a toddler can attest to, was quite a nice break. I've had a bit of heartburn and I feel kind of out of it today, but I was able to walk two miles this morning which helped. The most annoying thing has been the fact that I need to drink a ton of water to flush everything out of my system so I am peeing constantly (as if I wasn't already doing that before). But I really do have no complaints at the moment. My understanding is that the next two to three days should be the worst but we will see.
@RainyDays86 As a nurse, all I can think through your port placement story is "Oy!" I was cringing the whole time. But, I'm glad you can find humor and don't fault the staff. Think of it this way: they'll be far more prepared if another pregnant woman should need their services. And I'm glad it went well. Personally, I think a good port is a lifesaver for the patient. It makes everything easier. Glad to hear the first chemo went well, and the silver lining is you got a reading break. I hope you continue to feel well. Thank you for sharing your story with us. I know I speak for more than myself when I say we're thinking of you!
Thank you so much for keeping us updated! I can't even imagine what you're going though and I'm giving you mad props for being so positive, especially with that first surgery.
@RainyDays86 thanks for keeping us updated!! I hope you continue to feel alright. I can't believe you had chemo and walked 2 more miles than me!! Your positive attitude is so inspiring.
@RainyDays86 Just saw this update! I hope these past couple of days have been in your favor with little to no chemo symptoms. And ditto to what PP have said, you walked 2 miles more than me!
Thanks everyone! Side effects have been totally mild/nonexistent so far. They told me the symptoms should be the worst 3-5 days after, and it will be 3 days this evening so I am still bracing myself, but I have been pleasantly surprised at how good I've felt. I've had a bit of heartburn and my brain feels a little foggy, but honestly the worst side effect has been constipation from the zofran (I so feel for you ladies who had to be on that for long periods of time during the first trimester).
Thanks everyone! Side effects have been totally mild/nonexistent so far. They told me the symptoms should be the worst 3-5 days after, and it will be 3 days this evening so I am still bracing myself, but I have been pleasantly surprised at how good I've felt. I've had a bit of heartburn and my brain feels a little foggy, but honestly the worst side effect has been constipation from the zofran (I so feel for you ladies who had to be on that for long periods of time during the first trimester).
Maybe they were right that pregnant ladies do better than everyone else! But either way it also seems like it's your amazing attitude. You are going to beat this thing so hard.
Hi guys, I haven't done a cancer post in a while and thought I would do an update here.
I had my last chemo while pregnant today!! I'm so glad to be over this hurdle and that the baby doesn't have to deal with any more chemo. Prior to chemo I had my first appointment with my oncologist since starting chemo (usually I see the NP). Her reaction when she felt for the tumor was "wow." She said she would be hard-pressed to say she felt it at all. She also couldn't feel my affected lymph node, which means it's likely back to normal.
Obviously there could still be cancer in the breast/lymph node/rest of my body and we won't know the full extent until they do the mastectomy (and for the rest of my body until the baby is born and they can do a full-body scan) but the fact that the cancer is responding so well is really a great sign for long-term disease-free survival. The next step is to schedule my mastectomy, likely for the week of April 24th. Then I wait, have a baby, and then start on a different type of chemo about four weeks after he/she is born. The doctor also said that if the lymph node comes back negative for live cancer we may be able skip radiation which is awesome!
Anyway I was probably feeling a little too celebratory. Chemo went fine. The only difference is they didn't give me the steroids this time. I mentioned last night I've been having really bad pregnancy heartburn and each time I've had chemo I get terrible heartburn from the steroids so I was worried about the combo. My doctor said not doing steroids might cause nausea but since I get IV zofran with chemo anyway and haven't had any nausea so far I said let's do it. Well about 20 minutes into our hour drive home I started getting terrible chills. Like, shaking so hard I could hardly hold anything, teeth chattering so hard I couldn't talk. H called the oncologist on call but while we were waiting for his call back we decided to just go to the ER. Long story short I'm fine and so is baby. They ran some tests and were able to talk to the oncologist on call who said it's a normal reaction to one of the chemos. Now we're hanging out in a room waiting for an IV to finish and watching tv. I should be able to leave in an hour or so. Luckily I won't have to choose between terrible heartburn or the chills again because I'm done with this chemo, but given the choice I would probably choose this.
Anyway, happy to have a three month chemo break and glad baby is done!
@RainyDays86 congrats on your last round of chemo for the next little while! I'm sorry you had that reaction but it sounds like everything is well taken care of. You and your baby are rockstars for getting through everything you've done so far. I'm so glad you've been responding well to treatment. Big hugs!
Re: *TW* Diagnosis (updated again)
1/7/2015 Twins born @ 34 weeks
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So because this was such a minor procedure they did it in a surgical office/ambulatory care office rather than a hospital. Based on my experience yesterday, I am pretty sure I am one of very few pregnant women to ever get surgery there. It started with the anesthesiologist (who was suuuuuuuper nerdy and awkward) coming up to where I was getting prepped for surgery with this black box in his hand. He glanced at me and then turned to the nurse who was standing there and handed her the box and said "this is all I could find to check for fetal heart rate. I'm not sure it's big enough but I figure we should at least make the effort." Then he walked away. The nurse pulled out what looked like a small Doppler and called another nurse over. They spent about 10 minutes just trying to figure out how to put it the monitor while talking about how it was probably too small to pick up the baby's heart rate anyway. Finally one of the nurses got it together. She turned to me and said "I usually work in the ER and we have the belt to monitor the fetus during surgery. But they don't have anything like that here I guess we'll have to try and see if this works." She found the heart beat after looking for a few minutes, told me it was a good thing the monitor worked because the baby would probably be sluggish and not moving much after surgery and then left. I had planned on asking about fetal monitoring during surgery but that made it pretty clear there would be none.
Surgery went fine. They put me under with propofil (the drug that killed Michael Jackson) and I woke up as soon as I got to recovery. I felt the baby kicking almost immediately after surgery and they were able to find the heartbeat again quickly which was a relief. Then, they took me over to the imaging department to get a chest x-ray to be sure they got the port in the right spot. They wheeled me into the x-ray room and the tech started to get everything ready and as she was doing that I said "and you know I'm pregnant, right?" She stopped what she was doing and was like "no...I didn't know that..." Luckily I had asked before she did anything with the actual x-ray machine so she was able to cover me with all the lead and it wasn't a problem. But damn, what if I was super groggy and hadn't thought to check? Or what if I just didn't know that x-rays were bad for fetuses and hadn't thought to check? I was covered in blankets because the OR had been cold so there's a good chance she wouldn't have realized at all.
They wheeled me back over to recovery and about 5 minutes later someone from the imaging department showed up with a form for me to sign consenting to an x-ray while pregnant. The woman who brought it over said something like "we should have had you sign this before but..." and then trailed off. I signed it because I didn't really see the point in arguing about the legality of the whole thing. And then 5 minutes later the nurse came to explain my post-opp care and restrictions and said "and we're going to have your mom sign off on this because you're not competent to sign anything right now due to the anesthesia."
So anyway, that was my experience with surgery while pregnant. The point of all of this is not to complain or bash the medical staff at that office, I get that people make mistakes or are unprepared and no harm was done in any of it. But I am definitely relieved that I'll be having my next surgery in an actual hospital.
I can't imagine how you feel @RainyDays86 but I'm glad that you remain positive! I love your "make the best of the worst situation" attitude!
I will keep you in my thoughts. For now, think of your family who looks to you for comfort and try your best to smile for them. Things always work out one way or another. You'll see!
Sending you positive vibes and much love
please keep us updated!
You have truly inspired me today!
23 y/o;
[05/06/17]
First time mommy
90% of the way there
Me:31 DH:32 Married 11/06/10
DD: Born 8/23/13 (clomid+ovidrel+IUI)
BFP 9/9/16 EDD 5/19/17
It's a good thing to look forward to, that the next location should service your procedures more smoothly. That's a great attitude to have!
@RainyDays86 You would be one of my all-time favorite patients
DS1 7/24/15
DS2 5/7/17
DS2 5/17
#3 Due 9/20
DS1 7/24/15
DS2 5/7/17
I had my last chemo while pregnant today!! I'm so glad to be over this hurdle and that the baby doesn't have to deal with any more chemo. Prior to chemo I had my first appointment with my oncologist since starting chemo (usually I see the NP). Her reaction when she felt for the tumor was "wow." She said she would be hard-pressed to say she felt it at all. She also couldn't feel my affected lymph node, which means it's likely back to normal.
Obviously there could still be cancer in the breast/lymph node/rest of my body and we won't know the full extent until they do the mastectomy (and for the rest of my body until the baby is born and they can do a full-body scan) but the fact that the cancer is responding so well is really a great sign for long-term disease-free survival. The next step is to schedule my mastectomy, likely for the week of April 24th. Then I wait, have a baby, and then start on a different type of chemo about four weeks after he/she is born. The doctor also said that if the lymph node comes back negative for live cancer we may be able skip radiation which is awesome!
Anyway I was probably feeling a little too celebratory. Chemo went fine. The only difference is they didn't give me the steroids this time. I mentioned last night I've been having really bad pregnancy heartburn and each time I've had chemo I get terrible heartburn from the steroids so I was worried about the combo. My doctor said not doing steroids might cause nausea but since I get IV zofran with chemo anyway and haven't had any nausea so far I said let's do it. Well about 20 minutes into our hour drive home I started getting terrible chills. Like, shaking so hard I could hardly hold anything, teeth chattering so hard I couldn't talk. H called the oncologist on call but while we were waiting for his call back we decided to just go to the ER. Long story short I'm fine and so is baby. They ran some tests and were able to talk to the oncologist on call who said it's a normal reaction to one of the chemos. Now we're hanging out in a room waiting for an IV to finish and watching tv. I should be able to leave in an hour or so. Luckily I won't have to choose between terrible heartburn or the chills again because I'm done with this chemo, but given the choice I would probably choose this.
Anyway, happy to have a three month chemo break and glad baby is done!
DS2 5/17
#3 Due 9/20