Lumpectomy Lounge....let's talk!
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Had lumpectomy Dec 20th. Nobody mentioned after swelling goes down my breast would look so different after lumpectomy. More like a breast reduction done for a very tiny tumor. Not really complaining , just uninformed and quite surprised at how mubh they removed. Anyone else?
Waiting for radiation appointment feels like eternity like others have mentioned.
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Hi Mimi
Yes its a bit disconcerting sometimes to see how much breast tissue is removed during a lumpectomy which is also sometimes termed partial mastectomy which might be a more accurate description. To get those nice clear margins is important and I guess I thought it was better than taking less and having to go back and take more.
Hope you are feeling better and get that radiation process going soon.
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Hi Gals
I'm jumping in late, I had my lumpectomy back in October, all went well, had numbness for quite some time, but seems to be better now I get the occasional twinge of pain in that area. Today is my 4th chemo treatment of 8 here, I go every 2 weeks and radiation will follow once the chemo is done. 6 weeks of it... an easier journey then the chemo. Loving the discussions on here...
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Today is my oncologist appointment since lumpectomy to review pathology reports and plan next steps. Feeling slightly anxious since pathology reports came back different than original biopsy report. I'm ready to take this next step on this bumpy ride. Let's do this
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hi ladies -- I'm wondering if anyone has experienced what I'm feeling right now. I had my initial LX a year ago December and a reexcision LX last January. I completed rads at the end of March last year. My treated breast healed up beautifully and I had no issue with residual pain or skin problems. The breast has never felt fully normal in that it has always felt numb and just slightly tender, but it has never been uncomfortable beyond the few weeks of healing time after both surgeries.
Within the past several weeks, though, I've been feeling sharp pains similar to what I felt post-surgery (zings). Last week I had my quarterly appointment with my MO. I mentioned it to her and she said it's probably hormonal. I'm pre-menopause but haven't had a period in almost three months. Typically this would make sense, but my untreated breast doesn't show any signs of tenderness or pain that I would have related to my period.
Last night the pain was enough to wake me up. My incision is at three o'clock, and the pain seems to be concentrated at nine o'clock, next to the nipple. I know I should just call one of my MOs -- not sure if this would be a question for the surgeon or RO. But I thought I'd check here first to see if anyone else has experienced this.
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Iwannaseeyoubebrave - how are you doing? I hope you have all your results and a plan of action. It helps to know what the next step is and not just be waiting and wondering. Let us know how you are feeling.
geminin4 - sorry I can't help. Hopefully someone will be along soon who had something similar. If it carries on or is worrying you contact the doctor who you get along with best and let them know it is bothering you.
kimie06 - welcome. Hope you are doing well - halfway through chemo.
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Hi Lumpies and welcome to newbies!
Bounce -
good to see you! Rads done! Well done:) emu the girl!Fur friend - Happy BC vacation! Hope you are just in the zone...restoration and love so you will be ready for rads!
Gemini4 - and the girl keeps changing and zingers again:( understand I see BS today...I want to know when girl will not be tender and swelling go away...want to sleep on my side and tummy:( PT says LE is issue. Incisions are so tender...we will see...RO said looks good but worst LE from the get go... so call ask show! Did you do anything different or extra active to flare up? What a roller coaster...let us know.
Tarot & JoanT - speedy healing and enjoy a BC vacation...take this time off from BC and just do life:) let us know what your next step will be ...in your pocket
RedReading - how's the investigation going...ugh. Hope you are taking a break and reinergizing...sending positive thoughts and prayers!
ValJeanS - sending incredible shrinking thoughts...pff! Gone! {{{squeeze}
Kiwi lady - ugh the flu:( we shared it too! Think we are past it but trying not to expose ourselves again. Nasty. Here's to healing and good health! Hope everything us healing well and you are comfortable with your next step in treatment....ask ask ask!
Gina - ha ha luv the blue tube top! Fingers&toes crossed for your path report...as you heal make time for you. Seriously a BC no c zone is very restorative between treatments so go blow some bubbles wiggle your toes in the grass name an snow angle and soak inall the love!
Iwannaseeyoubrave - go girl! We will be in your pocket today for path report {{{squeeze}}} take appointment buddy and don't be surprise if you cry...happy tears sad tears relief tears:). You did it and will do it! You are a brave warrior with lumps of brave warriors standing with you...make a video clip of so ething that Najee's your heart smile and play it...Overcomer!
Kimie06 - Whoa so far...congrats on 4th chemo! Go girl! We will be in your pocket {{{squeeze}}}. Will try and keep the noise down, but the crums and party hats require a twirl...so take a spin
)) Miminiemi - yes, a partial mx...the girl does change in size. I did ask to see pictures and hark on my girl hysteria what was going to happen...a divit, but I know that if and when I'm ready I can make them a matching set ha ha! Looks good to me...B&D. Ask your BC team...but for now healing. Rads will change the girl a bit more so give it time but know your options and be kinder to yourself. Time does heal and give perspective...you will know what is right for you! So lube the girl for rads...aloe, emu oil...check with your RO.
(((Hugs)))
Cindy
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hi Cindy -- interesting you mention new activity that might have contributed to this. While I have been experiencing some soreness in the last several weeks, I did to go a yoga class on Tuesday and did an amazing stretch that targeted my armpit and side torso. I wonder if the zing I'm feeling is the nerves reawakening from that stretch? I spoke to the teacher after class and told her how great it felt to stretch that part, and she said that inactivity (which I've been guilty of!) causes that whole area to contract and in a sense get stuck. I'm going to give it a few days before I call any doctor. It's not hot or swollen or red ... It feels like it's deep inside, and I'm not sure what any of my docs would be able to do about it. I had a clinical breast exam just last week, and the MO said everything looks and feels fine. But if anyone else has experienced this, I'd love to hear your story! :-)
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I have had some pain in the areas under the old incision scars during the past three weeks or so that I didn't have in the 6 months since my lumpectomy. I am wondering if it has something to do with the cold -- we have been having much lower temps than is normal. My RO did a breast exam two weeks ago and didn't find anything out of the ordinary, and I had a PET scan the very end of Oct which was clear (unlike the first one the previous Oct when I was diagnosed. Praise the Lord, I had never been so scared in my life). Have a mammo coming up in March,
Anyone else have pain which they think MAY be from cold weather? This whole thing is panicking me that it may be a recurrence, although I also think that is unlikely.
Carol
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me too, miminiemi. Mine looks like a squashed apple. I am surprised at how much they took out for for a mass less than an inch. And that's with swelling, lol!
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Iwanna, i just got my paths yesterday, IDC, pos for both receptors, seeing the onco next week and a plastic surgeon to discuss options. I was surprised to hear that chemo is a near certainty.....thinking of all of you....
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Hi Ladies
Awhile ago my RO examined me and for a few days after I had some pain! He wasn't too gentle! He seemed to be trying to see if he could poke his finger through my SNB incision.
So maybe some pain could be set off by a breast exam?
At a later date I asked my new MO (not my favorite person) if it was normal to still have pain and swelling 3 weeks after rads and she told me it could continue for 2 years - or perhaps forever - and that changes in the weather would be felt in my breast.
For those of you worried about appearance - about 3 weeks after surgery I noticed a groove in my breast - but not close to the surgery. It was upsetting but after about 2 weeks it passed. I have no idea why it appeared or how it resolved.
My old stretch marks seem more noticeable to me since finishing rads.
Tarot - it takes some time to get used to whats going on. Ask questions and let us know how you are doing. Hugs.
Cindy - nice to see you - no emu oil for me - I don't think its good for the emus! After surgery I used Waleda's Arnica oil and loved it so went back to using it after rads was done.
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I loooove arnica, I've used it for years...and didn't think to use it now, after surgery LOL! thanks for the reminder bounce.
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I agree with Bounce that a breast exam can cause pain. I had two on one day - YEA- NOT-- but I am getting used to them- My RO was trying to feel a complex cyst I have in my breast that is near my surgery site. why it was not removed since they knew about it before surgery is beyond me and him too he said. But I can not feel it and he attempted to feel it and its located deep so I had pain in my breast for about 2 weeks after that. I have to have an ultra sound on that cyst every 6 months also. grrrrrrrr....
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Thank you, bounce and ndgrrl. I had already been hurting a week or so before my RO put his hands on me, lol, but he sure didn't make my breast feel any better, either. I had also been hunting for a lump or something when the problem first started and probably did some of my own damage. Bounce, I am relieved by your doctor's weather comment also. That probably has a good deal to do with it as well. I went out a little while ago in a t-shirt (42F) to drag an elec extension cord out to the greenhouse to add a 3rd heater for tonight. By the time I came back in, Ouch!. Stupid me!
Again, thank you, ladies. I feel much better now hearing this, and will probably toss on a sweater on next time.
Carol
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Reading with interest all the posts about pain -- thanks for asking about this, gemini4. I started rads this week, which are administered with both arms above my head holding onto a bar -- I have aching pain in my breast near the incision under the breast (My scar is like an anchor -- around the areola, vertical down the breast and in the curve along the bottom). I have also had a couple of zingers this week, the first I have had in months. I noticed when I was on the table getting zapped today that the position seems to stretch my chest in that area and it starts to hurt by the time I can get off the table. It aches off and on through the evening. Maybe this is like the yoga stretch? I am beginning to think maybe there is scar tissue there that needs to be softened up -- as I rub in my creams and oils, maybe the massage will help?
Tarot -- many of us have been there, and it is so hard to wait for the treatment plan to be finalized. Good threads here, once you know your treatment plan, that connect you with others in the same treatment -- tho it seems like a lot of us stay on Lumpies too, this is home base! We are with you in your pockets! Feel free to ask, vent, whatever you need. (((Hugs)))
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I think that scar tissue is a definite possibility for aching or sharp pulling pains because if I go to yoga regularly and keep my armpit and side stretched I feel great but if I go several days and just work on the computer, walking, riding the train its tight as tight can be and has to be stretched out all over again.
I think the sharp sudden pains might be more nerve-related. I read somewhere that nerves heal something like 1/2" month or something slow- I have to look that up again.
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Thanks to gals who also were surprised at the how much tissue is removed for a 4mm tumor. Rads to start next week. I hear that can cause some shrinkage too. Having put away all my underwire bras I am now the owner of front hook bras that are all cotton. I notice pockets inside where pads can be put. Are these designed for lumpectomy ladies? It wouldn't seem sufficient for mastectomy gals. Any tips on avoiding oh healing from tads would be appreciated. Am especially concerned because of very fair skin and large breast that can get sore in summer just from sweat.
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Miminiemi -- I have heard the same about rads causing some shrinkage -- my PS said you don't really know the final outcome til about 6 months post rads. If you like, for some more detailed info, join us on the winter rads thread at http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/70/topic/815476
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I WAS DIAGNOSED 5/03/13, INVASIVE DUCTAL CARCINOMA. 7CM TUMOR IN LEFT BREAST WITH 3 CM TUMOR IN LYMPH NODES. 6 MOS. CHEMO, 7CM DOWN TO 2.65 CM AND LYMPH ALL GONE. 12/27/13, HAD LUMECTOMY BREAST HAD GOOD MARGINS BUT HAD 15 LYMPH NODES REMOVED 11 POSITIVE FOR CANCER. STILL HEALING FROM SURGERY NEXT TWO WEEKS RADIATION WILL START FOR 6 WEEKS. IM NOT SURE HOW TO FEEL, WILL IT COME BACK? IS IT ALREADY SPREAD SOMEWHERE ELSE. STRUGGLING STAYING POSITIVE.
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Regarding shrinking and new breast shape post lumpectomy, even though I'm a year out from surgery, only in the past few months have I noticed what my affected breast is "shaping up" to be. For many months after rads, it didn't look much different than the unaffected one, probably due to post-rads swelling. My incision is about three inches wide, horizontal at three o'clock. The side of my breast next to my armpit lacks roundness, but it's not quite dented. The lack of roundness makes that breast's nipple point a bit to the left. My bra size is 38D. I did have quite a bit of tissue removed because the tumor was lobular and because I had to have a reexcision. My BS said that since I had a lot of breast tissue (I guess that's the clinical term for big boobs? haha), she was able to "fluff up" and kind of redistribute it so that I wouldn't have a huge dent. The affected breast was always the larger breast of the two ... It's now smaller, but not enough so that it's noticeable in a bra or clothes. It does stand up perkier than the other.
Thanks for all the input on pain. It does make a lot of sense. I was seeing a PT in the fall just to make sure I didn't have lymphadema ... She saw no signs of it. I didn't use up all the sessions that I was allowed through my referral because I was feeling fine. They expired at the end of 2013. I think I will ask my BS to order a new round of sessions, and that should be helpful. I admit I hardly ever do the stretches recommended for post-surgery, but I use my arm normally and don't avoid any particular ranges of motion.
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Crittermama---my prayers are with you. ((((HUGS))))) I know it is so scary. So many "what ifs." We are all here for you. This is a good place where we all understand.
Hugs to all of the rest of you too. You are all in my thought and prayers.
As for me, I finished rads in September. Breast was fine for two months and then it swelled up and became very painful. Went to RO...he put me on antibiotics. Didn't work. Went to BS...he did an ultrasound and saw nothing. Put me on a stronger second round of antibiotics. I just finished them and there is no improvement in my breast. I am having a dye MRI on Wednesday to try to see what the problem is. They don't seem to think it is lymphedema or cellulitus. They said it might be an infection around the implant, but I don't understand why the anti-biotics wouldn't work then. I get the "zingers" too. They are startling and painful.
Oh the journey.....
I am thankful for this site and all of your support.
Laurie
XOXOXOXO
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hey Laurie -- sorry to hear you're in pain! Can one of your onc's give you a referral to a PT who specializes in lymphadema? Even if they don't suspect it, it can't hurt to get some PT, and it might give you some relief.
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Laurie, just hopping in here to mention that our doctors often have little experience with lymphedema, especially of the breast. The medical professionals who diagnose lymphedema are not doctors, but specially-trained lymphedema therapists. You need a referral from any member of your team to see one for an evaluation. Here's how to find one near you:
http://www.stepup-speakout.org/Finding_a_Qualified…Breast lymphedema is often painful, and the pain doesn't respond well to OTC pain meds. It also may tend to move around and be hard to pin-point exactly. Lymphedema is progressive, so if that's what you're dealing with, prompt treatment gives the quickest response and makes it easier to manage on-going. It also reduces pain and the risk of infection, which is heightened when there is stagnant lymph fluid present in the tissues. Here's more information about breast lymphedema:
http://www.stepup-speakout.org/breast_chest_trunck...And here's information that might be helpful to share with your doctors, written for doctors by a doctor with lymphedema: http://www.stepup-speakout.org/essential%20informa…
Hoping you soon have good answers and some real relief! Gentle hugs,
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Hi all - I had my lumpectomy yesterday - they did IORT during the procedure. I had a bit of nausea when I woke up but no pain. They sent me home in a pink stretchy tube top. I was lucky - I had only a few pinches of pain with the guide wire insertion (my nurse was awesome - kept eye contact with me the whole time and held my hand). The surgeon came in and saw me in the prep area and I got to ask her a few questions. They wheeled me into the operating room, I got on the table, they said they were going to give me a little something and then I woke up in recovery! I still have had absolutely no pain and was able to work from home today. I had a ravenous appetite when I got home yesterday but today, not so much. I'm guessing that I'm overdoing it a tad.
My only complaint is that I didn't get to speak to my BS or RO after the surgery. They talked to my husband, but he didn't know the right questions to ask. The BS told him everything went well. The incision was done about 1/2 way around my areola. She put dissolving stitches in under the skin and then glue on top.
My final path report is supposed to be back on Tuesday so I'll keep my fingers crossed. I don't think they would have done the IORT if they didn't have clear margins (at least a preliminary report of clear margins based on a radiology report), so that's positive, right
Hope you all are doing well.
Debbie
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Hi Warrior Of BC,
Thinking of you fondly this weekend. Our journeys make us stronger.
I go Monday for my Radiation consultation. Don't even know what to ask at this point, just exhausted from the journey, LOL
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Dear Poke,
Wow you sound great, upbeat and all. All the best for you as you wait patiently for report. You did great
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I'm new to this post. Do people tell which oncologists or hospital that they are using? Would you have done a Bilateral if you'd known your results were going to be different?
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Hi Richall- no regrets with my decision thus far- I didn't want a unilater MX so went with LX/Rads, I thought about bi-lat but didn't really have the fortitude for the reconstruction journey and would not do it without. Glad I got to keep as much of my natural breast as possible.
Some do discuss their docs/hospitals if there is a specific one you are interested in just ask if anyone has experience. Welcome to the boards a great place to post questions of any kind you can think of
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hey Furfriend, i'm going to my first oncology tomorrow.
We can hold hands during our appointments, LOL! I haven't a clue what to ask either. 0
