Lumpectomy Lounge....let's talk!
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Sfrankie, red and swollen is never good. Is the area tender? If not improved by morning, you'd better call the after hours number for your surgeon. In the meantime, keep track if you are running a fever or for worsening symptoms to report.
My Lx was ~12 weeks ago & my incision is still a little lumpy on one end. The SNB incision is flat & perfect. Neither are tender. A couple of weeks postop I started massaging (really, just walking my fingers down the incision while wiggling them a little) to soften & loosen up the area. It helped so much to get that area mobile again & did not hurt. I'm still healing but am pleased overall
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sfrankie - Hope you got some answers, were able to talk to your surgeon and your issues are being addressed. I never had such issues, so unfortunately cannot help. Sending you healing thoughts.
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Sfrankie - I had to have my lumpectomy done twice - the first one didn't have a clear border - however, the surgeries were like a month apart... about a month (can't remember exactly) after the second surgery my breast filled with fluid, it was red and swollen and the scar burst that night- and all this fluid released - it was a relief to have the yucky fluid out- that was brownish and scary.. It was a small hole in the scar area -It was a seroma that didn't dissolve and it started to drain ...It was clear fluid since then and in the beginning I had to put a little pad in my bra like a bandage.. but after a year it stopped .. but after a few months it started again but I didn't need a pad as the amount was so small.. I was on antibiotics a few times for it to make sure it wasn't infected.. eventually the BS reopened and reclosed the scar area and I had no further problem...
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At around 4-6 weeks my incision got red and irritated because my body was rejecting the internal stitches and they were being moved out. It was fine afterwards.
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Sounds just like me. It’s been 4 weeks and yesterday red, swollen and hard. Doctor called in an antibiotic just in case an infection was brewing. Seems a little better today. Going to see her in the morning.
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Found out a few days ago that a close friend has brain cancer. She is going in for her biopsy tomorrow. Hopefully everything goes well. I hate this cancer.
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So I got a call this morning from the imaging center. They said a second radiologist had looked at my images and determined the cluster of microcalcifications is within normal so no biopsy is needed. That’s good news but it leaves me feeling a little unsettled. I see my RO in a couple of weeks; she’ll have the reports and images so I’ll see what she says.
MJ
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Tappermom, that 'unsettled' is a ghastly side effect of having cancer. I don't think any of us will ever completely feel out of the woods again, no matter what assurances we are given. I know I won't. Isn't it sad that even good news is tainted with a whiff of suspicion? I know how you feel.
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Tapper, once we get a cancer diagnosis, true peace of mind goes out the window. We never know when that other shoe might drop, or the strand of hair holding the dangling sword may snap. A "little unsettled" is about as calm as we're gonna get. "WIthin normal limits" and "no biopsy" is as good as it gets. (My last mammo in June said "no signs of malignancy in either breast; repeat in one year unless otherwise clinically necessary." Hedging their bets!
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Thank you, runor and Sandy, for your reassurances. I’m living life to the fullest - flying to Colorado tomorrow to be with my daughter and grandson as they prepare to move to Wisconsin - but that darn sword is always hanging over my head. I keep trying to brush it away - without cutting myself!
MJ
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Tapper - you can at least take a big breath and try to relax. You had me scared worrying when you said they called you back. I was waiting for your results on this blog. I wonder what the RO will say - maybe just watch that area closely. I know how you felt, but it sounds very good so far. I’m just starting my radiation treatments next week and they have a mammogram scheduled on top of my last week - there’s no way I’ll go having that done with a bad sun burned condition, but when I do have it done, I will be scared to death they will find something new. That sword is always there to haunt us!
The ongoing fear is how fast tumors can grow in one year. It has bothered me that since the initial diagnosis, it seems like an eternity for the surgery get done, the results of Oncotype test, then the chemo length of time, and then weeks waiting for the radiation treatments to get started. That’s almost a half year. I keep thinking there’s probably a new tumor already growing in the middle of this torture - why else would they do a mammo after all the treatments? Maybe it’s just protocol so that they have a clean slate to compare to with future mammos.
It’s definitely not fun! I’m glad I’m not the only one going crazy
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I had my lumpectomy yesterday. The spot of DCIS was waaaaay in the back, near the chest wall of my right breast, about 9 or 10 o'clock. The surgeon went in from the front, as the incision was made along the areola. Isn't that unusual?
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Kellyoc519 - mine was done exactly the same.
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hi. I just had a lumpectomy on 1/26/18 and they recommended radiation. I met the oncologist (chemo) and she feels I should do chemo as there is 30% chance of it coming back. If I do chemo it reduces it only by 1/3. My husband and I had this all figured out before surgery and now this. I meet the other oncologist (radiation) next Tuesday. My husband lives out of state due to work. My heart tells me to stick with radiation. I know if this nasty cancer comes back I will need a mastectomy. Me, I guess I’m taking a chance and praying. I’m a stage 1, Grade 3. Nice to meet you and wish you the best
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Welcome Trinity Mom2. We're glad you found us. Did you have an Oncotype test done or a mammoprint? Those both tell you how much improved your odds are with chemo. Your chemo oncologist is called an MO - medical oncologist. The radiation one is an RO - radiation oncologist. At the center I went to, all the oncologists in the group and the breast surgeon met each week to discuss all the cases and make a recommendation. My MO also thought I should have chemo but the RO and BS both said no and everyone agreed with them. You will mostly likely have to have radiation no matter whether you have chemo or not.
Please fill out your profile and each and every item PUBLIC via the SETTINGS tab. Then we know all your particulars since they appear after each post you make.
Did you have lymph nodes removed and tested? Were any positive? Was your cancer ER/PR positive and HER2 negative? These are all important considerations in determining chemo.
Let us know these things, please. Good luck! We're here for you.
HUGS!
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Kellyoc519- I saw 2 surgeons. 1st one was going to go right around areola. 2nd surgeon went in right at it. Neither is wrong. I believe its just the surgeons training and preference.
Trinitymom2- I'm with Peg, you need way more information before you decide on chemo. Radiation after lumpectomy seems to be the protocal. But chemo, more info is needed to make any decision. Best wishes to you.
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kellyoc519, my lumpectomy was the same. I can’t give you the surgical reason they make the incision along the outer edge of the areola but my surgeon and plastic surgeon worked together so that my plastic surgeon would use the same incision if I needed repair work done on my left breast. It might have something to do with the mapping of the location of the tumor in your breast and finding the sentinel lymph node. The nuclear dye is injected into the nipple/areola area. That dye leads them from the tumor to the sentinel node.
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thanks tlfrank, CindyNy and Bella2013. I guess it's quite common. The core needle biopsy and seed placement went in from the side and that was way more painful. Glad this was the preferred direction.
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trinitymom - my oncologist explained that chemo is also about preventing recurrence as a Stage IV. Localized recurrence in the breast is one thing but the thing is, breast cancer can recur somewhere else. So it's not so much about just having a mastectomy if it comes back.... The point of the chemo is to prevent recurrence anywhere in the body.
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Moth, this is how chemo was explained to me, as well, to prevent a later recurrence elsewhere. (And best of luck to you as you start your chemo!)
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Hey PrincessButtercup! How are you? I will go peek into the Jan threads later to snoop
Thank you for the good wishes; I'm home now. AC #1 is hopefully doing its cancer killing superhero job!
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Hi All....was just sent this way from "just diagnosed" by Georgia 1. I have decided on a Lumpectomy with brachytherapy (radiation for five days for one week) and hope to have surgery scheduled this week. Yesterday I endured an MRI in the only dedicated Breast MRI machine in Northwest Arkansas and there were no surprises, no other cancer found, normal looking Lymph nodes, except for the biopsied one who was a bit enlarged but they said that was expected since it's still angry that it was violated. Breast Conserving Surgery looks like a good fit for me.
Hopefully I'll know tomorrow if the surgery can be scheduled for this week. I want to get this done and get started on the healing process! Spring is just around the corner and I'm a Driftwood Artist and want to be able get out there and find beautiful pieces of driftwood to art with! Stealing a phrase my amost teenage granddaughter has picked up..."I AIN'T GOT TIME FOR THIS!"
So glad to have found all of you though. As I see it, we are already in positive territory since, thanks to BC.org, we are no longer in this fight alone! We are now a BAND OF SISTERS and NO SISTER WILL BE LEFT BEHIND! Sorry, my husband was an active Marine years ago and still is at heart.0 -
Hi Dustien & welcome.
I totally get the "I ain't got time for this!"
Are you having oncotype dx done on your tumor?
Oohrah sisters
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Dustien, hopefully you will sail through and be back on the shores eyeballing for driftwood. There might be some bumps along the way (hopefully not) but if there are you will find someone here who has walked the walk and can provide guidance. Best of luck to you!
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Welcome, Dustie! I'm trying to wrap my head around where in NW AR you are. Fayetteville area? I've spent some time around where MO, AR, KS and OK intersect--played the Coffeyville (KS) Humanities Project twice. Hope everything works out great--tiny tumor, brachytherapy, ER+--sounds as promising as IDC can be. Welcome to our Band of Sisters! (Sounds so much cheerier than "the sorority nobody wants to pledge").
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Moth, I don't think I get that testing done till after Surgery? Doesn't that depend on the tumor's pathology or something like that?
Thanks Runor... I do hope you are right and I sail thorough this .. Can't help but wonder if there's another shoe out there waiting to drop though. Guess that's a normal feeling when something like this seems to be going well...
ChiSandy... You're surgery looked to be pretty easily cared for too? I'm North of Fayetteville about 25 miles, not far from the Missouri line. Love Chicago where you are! One of my favorite Cities to visit for sure.
You said "sounds as promising as IDC can be" and I agree with you there. I was praying nothing was found on the MRI and now I'm praying the surgery goes well and clean margins are found. I will be praying each step of the way that the "promising" becomes a reality. I know not all our Sisters have been so fortunate and my heart goes out to each and every one of them, though, if I may be a bit selfish, I do so want to continue my "best case" scenario on out to a happy conclusion!
And I agree... "Band of Sisters" sounds so much better than "The sorority no one wants to pledge". As I see it, we have all been drafted into a war none of us wanted to fight and being a "Band of Sisters" together in this awful conflict, sharing experiences and having each other to lean on, will surely help all of us get through it with fewer battle scars, physical and mental, then if we had to fight the enemy alone.
I've no real life sisters but now I've a whole Forum full of em! Thanks all, for the welcoming spirit. This has been the best part about this ugly war so far, that's for sure.0 -
Dustien, we all are waiting for that other shoe to drop. Speaking for myself, that is the daily battle. I think many of us achieve physical recovery before we get mentally recovered. I hope that is not the case for you.
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Welcome, Dustie! I'm confident all will go well for you. Like you, I did brachytherapy. It enabled me to get back to my life much more quickly & to avoid a lot of the side effects traditional radiation often causes. I hope you find this to be true for you, too. Love your attitude! My DH is retired Navy (only because his eyesight prevented him from becoming a Marine!) so I can identify with your "Marine approach." You're going to kick cancer to the curb!!!!
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Dustien - yes, it will be done after your surgery. Just wanted to make sure you had it in your care plan to get it!
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My hospital didn't offer brachytherapy--what I had was 16 sessions of 3-D (mapped via CT scan) "conformal" (aimed at just the tumor bed) hypofractionated (double-dose) radiation. 3 weeks of M-F plus one more Monday. Very few side effects other than swelling of the seroma (and breast enlargement!), some skin reddening (which cortisone ointment reversed), and a little thickening around the nipple & areola. No pain, itching, or skin breakdown.
OncotypeDX is usually done after surgery because it isn't done for IDC tumors that clearly wouldn't require chemo (e.g., ER+/HER2- and very, very small), nor if there are more than 3 positive lymph nodes (used to be one had to be completely node-negative). You will have sentinel node biopsy during your lumpectomy surgery to determine node status.
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