Lumpectomy Lounge....let's talk!
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Has anyone had chemo before lumpectomy? I'm having an MRI to ensure there are no more than two tumours as my surgeon says lumpectomy is still an option. The original were less than 2 cm but HER positive and tumours were grade 3 invasive and internal mammary glands had tested two abnormal glands is why I had chemo before surgery.
I was getting used to the idea of mastectomy but not going to lie I was excited when my surgeon suggested lumpectomy still possible. Thoughts ???
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Thanks ChiSandy. Unfortunately my insurance considers oncotype for DCIS investigational and state clearly in their medical policies that they won’t cover it. I did contact the company about their financial assistance program via email but nobody got back to me. I will try again because I’d really love to have that added information. Right now the plan is for some amount of radiation and tamoxifen, and I’m hoping I can get away with the lower dose for DCIS.One step at a time.
I felt concerned yesterday because it seemed like my breast was continuing to swell but I think it’s leveled off. Swollen, but not still growing!
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I have been a part of this club for 5 days now - was given the news Monday (2/11). I just made an appt for a 2nd opinion as far as lumpectomy vs mastectomy. My BS says I'm totally eligible for a lumpectomy (1.4cm) but I would like to only do this once, thus the 2nd opinion. I could have sworn he told me that he would numb the area which would last 6 hours (so I would be awake during the lumpectomy). After reading several posts, it seems I want sedation...I definitely don't want to be aware of what's going on. I just left a message with the nurse adviser to ask about this.
Also, my BS said 'it's outpatient and you can return to normal activities the next day' so I'm thinking I'll have it done on a Thursday and be back at work on Monday. Now I'm not so sure! I'm a business analyst in an IT department so I'm in my office all day with an occasional meeting. As long as I'm not in pain I was thinking I'd be ok. Is this realistic? Was hoping to save my PTO for all the appts I know are looming in the future. My health is my #1 priority but I'm single, no children, so my job is also very important - it pays my bills and provides the insurance for what's ahead! So I'm trying to balance everything.
This site has been extremely helpful and I'm glad to have assistance from others who are also on this journey. Thank you!
P.S. I'm Charley's mom because she's my 1 yo German shepherd :-) Since I said I had no children didn't want you to be confused.
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Hey charleysmom,
I hear you, things can be a bit different for us women on our own..
I think whatever they numb you with as part of the lumpectomy, it's in addition to the sedation and it lasts longer. At least for me, I think about a week after my operation I went to get a seratoma drained by the SNB, and she expected it to still be numb and it was.
I had my lumpectomy very early on a Thursday morning. I had to take the Wednesday off too for the presurgical stuff. I ended up going back to work the following Thursday, but I have a relatively active job. I think for more of a desk job, Tuesday would have probably felt all right, Monday would have been pushing it. But I think it could be different for different people and you won't know until you know. I felt just really tired, I think a combination of the sedation and my body responding to the shock/insult of the surgery.
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Charleysmom
I had two lumpectomys (actually excisional biopsy) and a separate sentinel node biopsy. For all three I had surgery on a Thursday and went back to work as a school library media specialist on Monday with no problem. Good Luck!
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Thank you, Salamandra and BookWoman! This is very helpful. I know everyone is different but just to know going back to a desk job 4-5 days post surgery is feasible really helps! Also, I can work from home so if I need to do that for a few days I can. Still trying to wrap my head around the fact I am now on this journey. I am choosing to call it an adventure :-)
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So sorry you are in this club charliesmom,but wanted to offer you some feedback. I think you'll be OK if everything goes smoothly - my lumpectomy was for the same size and I really felt pretty good - no lifting etc, but I had desk type job and did not have any problem. I agree with taking the extra day, just in case, - be good if you have the flexibility to go in if you're up to it. The biggest thing I think is the emotional aspect of this journey. I found working helped keep my mind off worrying, but everyone is different and if your job is stressful, then a longer break might be best. There is a lot of experience and support on these boeards for each step of the way, so glad you reachec out. Good luck!
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count, what they're recommending is called “neoadjuvant" chemo and it serves two purposes: one, of course, to shrink the tumors to removable size; the other, to determine whether the “cocktail" of chemo & targeted drugs would be right for your tumor. If the chemo shrinks it (sometimes to where it can't even be visualized), that's called “pathological complete response," or PCR—a hoped-for result; after surgery that protocol is often resumed to mop up whatever may be lurking, with doctors secure in the knowledge that that's the right chemo for the adjuvant (post-op) phase, followed by radiation.
Welcome aboard, new ladies. (Orientation cocktails with your captain optional)
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hi i had a pretty big lumpectomy (4cm tumor) and biozorb placed a week ago along with sentinel node biopsy. i am still in a lot of pain and node incision is huge (3 inches at least). is it normal to be this uncomfortable for this long? inside of my breast hurts with almost all movement.
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Hi mjane68~ I had a 2cm tumor removed, sentinel biopsy & biozorb placed 2 1/2 weeks ago. My breast itself felt much better by a week and a half/2 weeks. I do still have underarm and upper arm discomfort, though that is improving slowly but surely! Be gentle with yourself and it will get better!
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Hi. I just had a lumpectomy today. No lymph nodes and they used general anesthesia.Very minimal pain (more a little discomfort)so far but definitely staying home tomorrow just to rest and get the meds out of my system. Going to work a few hours from home.
Everyone responds differently but I think if you have a desk job, retuning after a couple days is doable. Before you decide, first rest and listen to your body. You deserve that.
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CSRoberts & mjane68 - its been some time since my LX but I do remember my node incision bothered me way more than the incision & reexcision did. I think there are more nerves cut in the under arm area. Mine felt like rug burn from my elbow on up the back of my arm for quite a while. But then over time it was back to normal. I'm hoping you too/two will, sooner than later, get back to your normal.
Best of luck.
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ChiSandy, hey girl!
I start Tamoxifen tomorrow. I only took Wellbutrin to offset the effects of Anastrozole. So weaned off Wellbutrin easily. Also stopped statins. They just are not my friend. Period. So back to diet, exercise, etc, plus some cholesterol lowering supplements.
Sticking with my good friend Clonazepam for blissful nights.
The best news is after 5 weeks, I feel fabulous again. My brain and focus feel tethered again. Moored. Anchored. I had forgotten what a clear and focused mind felt like. Bring on the hot flashes. I got this.
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Sounds like you're on top of things, Robin--and the new 'do looks fabulous.
I'm hopping mad now that I've found out I can't take my CBD with me to Amsterdam & Israel next month. It (25mg) and melatonin (10mg) are my magic sleep combo, keeping me from needing more than the occasional 1/4mg Xanax. It really fries me that I can freely bring benzodiazepines (Xanax) and even opioids (Tyl. #3) across int'l borders so long as they're in their Rx bottles (and you can buy straight codeine OTC in Israel), but the CBD oil I can buy at the health food or even convenience store here is still verboten in Israel: where the human endocannabinoid system was discovered! They have medical marijuana in pharmacies, but only with a 'script from a local doctor attesting that you'd futilely tried everything else for a year. Blows me away, too, that MMJ patients can get THC but nobody else can even buy hemp oil. I'd been planning to leave mine home but buy just enough CBD over there that I wouldn't mind forfeiting before getting to the airport. (And in Amsterdam, pot is still technically illegal even though coffeehouses reek of weed, but again CBD seems to be black-market there).
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I finished radiation two weeks ago. I felt the same way...I was thinking will it be normal again? It’s been two weeks and finally it’s getting to look more like my “normal “ breast. My big concern now is the serious tough ball of fluid that I didn’t get drained because they drained and drained so many times I just couldn’t go through anymore numbing shots. They told me the fluid could get that way... encapsulated I think is what they said. But it’s a tough lump now that makes my breast still look larger than my other breast. And it is still sore in that area.Anyone else have this problem? Will it go away at some point?
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Yup--I did. My breasts are oversized, and the R (the one with the lumpectomy) had always been the smaller one, by a bit less than a cup size. But even the short (16 tx) targeted hypofractionated radiation I had caused the mammary seroma to swell my breast on the side, so that it was temporarily bigger than the L. (I had been a 38H/I before the surgery, to accommodate my larger L breast, with a pad in my R cup; the seroma--which had swelled to 20cm before beginning to recede--caused me to have to move up to a 40I/J, with my cleavage pushed to the left). But over the next year, thanks to OT for cording & "subclinical" lymphedema and a "Swell Spot" pad I wore in a sleep bra every night, the seroma began shrinking, first to 18cm, then 14, and finally to 9cm--the size of the chunk they took out during my lumpectomy--for a 1.3cm tumor. It's encapsulated but painless. Interestingly, unlike some other people's seromas, it never "sloshed."
I'm back to the L one being the bigger one: by now, a cup-size-and-a-half larger than the R; and if all is well by the next mammo in June and I can lose 10 lbs., I may have the L one reduced to match. The R one actually looks perky & round, as if it were the normal breast. The L one looks like a Basset hound's ear. Depending on brand, I'm now anywhere from a 38F (Empreinte) to FF (Chantelle) to 38 or 40G (Goddess/Elomi or Third Love) to 40H, with an extender (Prima Donna).
Things will get back to normal for you--it'll just take time & patience.
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Hello everyone,
This seems like a lumpectomy question more than a radiation question but maybe I'm wrong. I had a lumpectomy Oct 29, 2018, and you'll see my stats below. Negative on lymph nodes, 3 cm, etc. Then I went through 12 weeks of chemo. Today I went to get mapped for radiation treatment. The radiation oncologist said she saw a "fluid sac" in her scan today and is sending me for an ultrasound. They will biopsy if it looks suspicious. The fluid sac is right by my lumpectomy scar, but perhaps closer to my armpit.
The term "fluid sac" is throwing me....could that be something like a seroma or hematoma? Or, could this be recurrence of breast cancer....or any of the above? Do they describe a breast cancer recurrence like a fluid sac? Totally thrown by this and a little freaked out! It's only been four months since my surgery to be talking recurrence!
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I just talked to Ultrasound scheduling. MO asked for an ultrasound to determine if the mass was a seroma or a mass that would require biopsy. So, MO suspects either seroma or something more foreboding.
Are seromas after lumpectomies common? Do they look like cancer recurrence?
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That’s ridiculous!!! Have you hypothetically considered putting it in a prescription bottle? Seems there should be a way around it. My mind is racing with devious schemes. Lol
I’ve thought about cbd instead of Clonazepam. But I hate to fix what’s not broken.
Sounds like a fun trip. Assuming you can sleep!
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Your post is the answer to a prayer. I've been praying for months that I'm not losing my mind or being paranoid. I have so much discomfort under my breasts and sometimes in my armpits/bilaterally--- and yes,often it's frank pain I'd have to characterize as moderate to severe. My surgery was April 5th 2018, I'm almost at a year but not quite. I had huge breasts before and had to have bilateral reduction with my lumpectomy; it was extensive surgery. ( I say that as a retired RN w/31 yrs practice experience ). This pain is VERY hard to live with. I also have an awful lot of neuropathy in my breasts; hits like lightning and isn't activity-related. I can be grocery shopping or on the computer or just laying on the couch watching tv at night and those hot, cattle prod pains shoot through my breasts. No predicting when that'll happen. I've fought my way through a lengthy, deep depression ( Thanks, anastrozole
and started taking Zinc Orotate to help the depression and it has helped, thank God. I work on my outlook every day but it's hard to feel gratitude when you hurt so much/so often. The pain under my breasts is awful. Some days I think if I had it to do over, I might not. Lymphedema, medical bills without end, the near-constant worry that I'll have a recurrence etc etc. I'm sure everyone here knows these issues and lives with them too. I haven't had any follow-up studies post-op because I swear to God I think I'd pass out if they tried to mash my breasts between those plates. Makes me cringe to the point of puking just thinking about it. And like so many, TOO many women here, I think everybody around me thinks I'm just "all better" now. I'm not a lightweight; I can tolerate an awful lot and I'm truly not a sympathy-seeker, but it consistently stuns me that those I love can't seem to grasp this is a long-ass process, a marathon, that cancer recovery is measured in 5 yr increments and you're not considered "cured" until you've reached the 15 yr mark without a recurrence. They don't seem to grasp I still need support, not just the day of my surgery and the couple weeks afterward. It's a hard thing to live with, but to live with it silently just adds to it's weight. I'm grateful to have this sort of "secret space" to say how I really feel. I'm angry & resentful often and I keep all of that to msyelf. For so long I've tried to tough this out on my own....but I really needed to touch base with women who KNOW what I'm talking about & I don't have to feel needy because I want understanding. I'm sorry we all have to be here----- but I'm so very grateful you're here for me to "talk to". 0 -
LillianGish, yes, seromas are not unusual after lumpectomy; 13 months out, I can still palpate mine and sometimes it is tender. Mammograms/ultrasounds indicate it is getting smaller, but not very fast!
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Phoenixwmn- I'm about 15 months out from LX. I had "zaps" of pain, nerves I'd guess, that hurt and made me jump or grab my breast. But if you're in severe pain, I think you need to be seen by your BS. You shouldn't have to suffer.
Feel free to say what you want on here. If one of us haven't been though it, or felt the same, then as sure as rain, someone else will have. It's very reassuring to "talk"with others who know what its like. Best of luck to you!
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Hi All, I’m 8 treatments into radiation, and I’ve noticed more pain and swelling at my incision site. It just feels...hard. Anyone else experience this?
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Hi kec1972,
I don't know if this is what happened to you but...after surgery they had to drain the fluid that kept buiding up in the incision sites. It was a painful process with the numbing shots. And I kept having to go back. FInally I said no more. The fluid that was built up in my armpit hardened because it became encapsulated, the term they used. But it finally went away. But the one in my breast got bigger and really hard during radiation. I finished radiation 3 weeks ago and it is still just as hard, and hasn't gotten any smaller. It's uncomfortable, too. But I'm assuming eventually it will go away as well. I hope.
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Hi Carrie, that sounds uncomfortable for sure! I really didn't notice mine until after my 8th rads treatment. I don't know if it's just scar tissue, but it's definitely harder and more tender. Maybe this is normal during radiation? I don't know.
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Beaverntx, thank you! It turned out to be a seroma underneath a lymph node under my arm. The lymph node though, was clear and just fine. Yay!!! So relieved.
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kec1972- ask to see you RO; tell RO about incision spot. Its been over a year for me for rads and that sounds normal to me now, but ask your RO, it will put your mind at ease.
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Mammary seromas can take a year to shrink down to the size of the tumor bed, but they will shrink. I helped mine along with a Swell Spot cushion (given to me by my OT) worn inside my bra: small one in my regular bra during the day, larger one in a leisure bra for sleep)
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A bit off subject but did anyone have a lump where their scar is? Dr thinks it is probably scar tissue but to be sure want a mammogram. 6 months since lumpectomy so is it even possible to have a reoccurrence that fast?
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Iamloved, I definitely have hardness where my scar is. I think it's just scar tissue(I hope!) I had my lumpectomy on 1/7 and am in the middle of radiation, so I don't think it's a recurrence.
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