RedWeasel

Oh, and by the way, how long should the no-lifting thing be in effect?  I really don't have a good idea of how much my activity should be limited, for how long.  Again, the surgery was about two and a half weeks ago now.

I feel like I ought to start with the disclaimer that I do not have bc. Rather, I've been treated for granulomatous mastitis. I just had a lumpectomy two weeks back from this past Tuesday to remove the rather large mass (6.0cm x 3.5cm x 3.2cm on the last ultrasound, although the actual chunks removed, according to the pathology report, were bigger).

This morning, while at work, the seroma in my breast burst. I work as a caregiver for elderly clients, and the lady I was working with, an alzheimer's patient, became very panicked. Mostly, it was disgusting - my shirt and bra were drenched, and as I tried to wipe the disgusting fluid off her floor, more spilled down my belly. Yuck! I paged my dr, and he had me come up to the ambulatory surgery clinic, where he stapled the tiny gaps in my incision closed, put me on another dose of antibiotics, and sent me home, with instructions to rest for the weekend.

Anyhow, has anyone else had a seroma burst like this? I'm a little afraid now of it happening again! I thought I was being gentle and careful and taking good care of myself...

Likewise, I have a very large lump (I believe the last measurement was 5cm x 3.5cm), although unlike you, I have not had pain or swelling with it.  I'm having my lump (it still feels strange calling something that honkin' big a 'lump' - it's more like a 'chunk') removed this coming Tuesday, after a very, very long diagnostic process.

Although the pain and swelling makes your case quite a bit different than mine, I still wanted to suggest you look into one of the possible diagnoses for my lump - "Idiopathic granulomatous mastitis" (IGM for short).  IGM, as I understand it, often causes pain, redness, and swelling, as well as a hard lump, and tends to mimic cancer on diagnostic imaging.  It is technically an infection, but does not respond to antibiotics.  In my particular cases, on the ultrasounds and MRI images, my mass looks for all the world like cancer, but two separate biopsies have come back benign.  IGM is not common to say the least, but it may be something you want to "google".

Good luck!!!

i would say it's probably "doable" without medication, but from reading different womens' experiences, i think everyone's experience is different.  Personally, my first breast MRI was very bad, but then, it took an hour, my arms were tucked at my sides, and there was no padding at my sternum, where a lot of weight pressed into the bar.  i am also rather large-chested, so i'm not sure if this might have something to do with how comfortable the procedure is.  My second was my MRI-guided biopsy, and this time, my arms were above my head, and the technician/nurse made sure there was a foam pad between my breasts.  Because the first one was so difficult, my doctor did give me something like ativan for the biopsy, but i think it still would have been much better even without the medication.  i drove myself to the first MRI, but even without any drugs in my system, i came out shaking and in tears, and probably wasn't in very good shape to drive.  Granted, most women, as you've seen here, don't have that bad a time, but i would still really try to find someone to drive you.  i don't mean to scare you, and i thought quite a bit before even posting this.  But i think i would have had a much easier time if i had been better prepared that first time.

i tried to find the article i'd been referring to here, but haven't come up with it yet.

However, i did find this study, which is probably more dependable anyhow, and will tell you more than you ever wanted to know about the connection between fibroadenoma and cancer risk:  http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/331/1/10

The whole article is very long, but the information you're most interested in is summed up in the "Discussion" section at the end.

As i understand it from my reading, the increased risk is due to the idea that a very tiny carcinoma (too small to detect) can irritate nearby breast tissue, and this irritation can cause a fibroadenoma.  In this case, it's possible for the fibroadenoma to be visible and removed, while the carcinoma itself remains miniscule and hidden (and, i should add, rather harmless).  Of course, this isn't the only cause, or even the most common cause of fibroadenomas, but it is one possibility.  This is why women with a history of fibroadenoma should be monitored more carefully and regularly for potentially developing b/c. 

For the record, i am not a doctor or a nurse or any sort of medical professional.  But i was just diagnosed with a very rare breast condition, and i'm sort of a hyper-researcher by nature (i'm an information hound), so i've been sifting through tons of writings lately on benign breast abnormalities.

i actually need to leave for the breast surgeon soon, but if you like, i can look up an actual reference for the fibroadenoma-carcinoma link i described above for you, so you can read more yourself (written by actual trained professionals).

To give y'all some background, I started a few weeks ago with discovering a lump in my left breast, and going to see my PCP (primary care physician) for it.  Upon examining both breasts, he agreed that the lump needed to be checked out, and sent me for a mammogram.  From there, an ultrasound of both breasts was conducted, and that radiologist (we will call her R1) said that the mass appeared to be a cluster of "dirty cysts," and that she would forward the results to my PCP.  The message from my PCP, however, was that based on these imaging results, he wanted to order a breast MRI, so that was my next step.  The breast MRI was excrutiating, but I got the results back very quickly from the radiologist who reviewed it (we'll call him R2).  Along with my PCP, R2 recommended an mri-guided vaccuum-assisted biopsy, which I had just a few days later.

WHEW!  Just before the biopsy, R2 sat down with me and explained that the reason for the biopsy was that on the breast MRI, under contrast, there were some areas of illumination in the mass that had patterns consistent with either bc or mastitis.  He said that because of this, and given my age (I am 37, and it's nice to hear this considered "young"), he actually called my PCP to confirm that I hadn't had any pain or redness or other symptoms of mastitis.  To date, I still haven't had any such symptoms.  And I've actually been treated for mastitis twice, so I know quite well how it feels.

Anyhow, the pathology report on the biopsy came back benign, with a diagnosis of "Granulomatous Mastitis".  I've done a lot of online research on this, and have found little, except that it is a very rare autoimmune condition...  My PCP referred me to a breast surgeon, not necessarily with the thought of having the mass removed, but to get another opinion on treatment. 

I'll meet with the "breast surgeon" on Thursday, and I picked up my diagnostic films for him today.  Of course I looked at them (after all they're my breasts!), and was rather shocked to see the size of the area of concern:  5cm x 9cm x 5.5cm.  Honestly, that's about how big it feels as I poke and prod from all sides, but I thought it just seemed bigger than it was from the outside.  All the cases I'm reading of IGM talk about much much smaller tumors - like 1-3cm.  I spoke with R2 on the phone and my PCP in person, and both said that they were very surprised with the biopsy result (I'm glad I didn't know they thought it was bc before I went in - I would have been a nervous wreck!).  Now I'm a little concerned that the biopsy may have missed something...

Has anyone else here been diagnosed with, or even heard of, granulomatous mastitis?  Thanks in advance.

Hang in there and vent away.  Be sure to keep lists of questions for all the doctors you see - I've been doing this (even writing down the silly questions, to keep my sense of humor), and it has made me feel much more empowered at my appointments.

I'm really not sure why your doctor said that cysts do not tend to be painful.  I've read precisely the opposite.  I've also had cysts due to fibrocystic breast change in both breasts for as long as I've had breasts.  These are consistently painful, and tend to be concentrated most on the 'outsides' of the breasts, even into the armpits.  The mass that I'm now being treated for is not painful to touch, poke, or press on, and that seemed to concern my primary care physician back at the very start of all this.

Anyhow, I wish you the best of luck, and wanted to share my experience with you in the hopes it may give you some bit of reassurance.

Waiting is the worst - I can totally relate to that!  My husband, who is generally rather useless, actually had a good perspective on my situation (where I'm currently waiting on biopsy results) - he said that regardless of what it is, we're already underway in finding out what's needed to treat it.  So remember the 80% benign statistic, and just keep in mind that no matter what, you're doing a great job of taking care of yourself and your wonderful breasts.