Lumpectomy Lounge....let's talk!
Comments
-
I just had my one-year mammogram after last Summer's surgery, which is what insurance covers. I have had a CT and PET scan since surgery, but not because of breast cancer - I just look at those as bonus assurance. But I'd prefer less scanning because of the radiation. As far as ultrasounds, don't they need a target area before one can be ordered? I don't know of any place that would do one just because the patient wants one. And healing tissue in the breast might give a false positive anyway.
0 -
Hi JB1165
My breast surgeon will see me six months post-op, and my first follow up mammogram will be when I have my normal annual one. I for one am a little on the glad side to wait, mostly because I think that's going to be uncomfortable. I want the scar tissue to be less dense!
0 -
Just looking for feedback I had lumpectomy and reconstruction and biopsy of three lymph glands removed after being diagnosed with grade 3 hormonal breat cancer of HER 2 came back negative, but one lymph gland was diseased so had all lymph glands removed results tommorow, I am still very uncomfortable with feeling of severe sunburn two weeks after and my breast is still giving out sharp pains here and there breast also feels like sunburn wondering if this is normal
0 -
jackie170108, we welcome you to our BCO community. Posting this link, in case it could be helpful: Lumpectomy expectations. It could indeed be the healing process, and the nerve regeneration. But if you have any concerns, you may want to get it checked out by your doctor to make sure there isn't any infection.
The Mods0 -
I have got my check up tomorrow and results so I’ll mention it it wasn’t quite as bad as this although it was a biopsy of lymph glands previously than
0 -
I'm happy to report that i totally forgot the 4
th anniversary of my lumpectomy. I think that means I have finally reached a place where i don't think about it all the time. June 8th 2015 was my surgery. follow up with my oncologist today, and all is well... don't have to see him until the fall, and will be discharged from treatment the spring of 2020. I'll be 55 years old :-)
0 -
If I didn't have an MO appointment on the one-year anniversary of my lumpectomy, I doubt if I'd remember it. If I concentrate really hard, I can remember most of the dates of various surgeries I've had, but I can't figure out any reason to do so unless I'm filling out medical history forms.
0 -
Molliefish, my five year anniversary of my lumpy is July 23rd. I got off my anastrozole on October 17th. I stay on my Fosamax for at least 6 more months after that. I see my MO in 1 year (June 3 2020). Like you, I don't think about BC all the time, even though I drive cancer patients all the time. Isn't it nice? Congratulations!
HUGS!
0 -
BTW, I had my first mammogram about 9 or 10 months after my Lx.
HUGS!
0 -
Getting a little anxious about my lumpectomy on Friday, I know it will be okay, I just hate being put under. Hopefully one day this will be a distant memory.
0 -
it it will be I'm sure of it
0 -
If you can, reframe anesthesia as a really great nap (because it truly is).
0 -
Kjchico - edj is right, lumpectomy surgery is a great nap. Similar to a colonoscopy.
The worst part of a colonoscopy is the pre part. Worst part of lumpectomy is the after. Take it easy the rest of the day and the next. Don't do what I did, which was too much and resulted in me fainting, falling and chipping a tooth.You got this!
0 -
Shoot I haven't minded the colonoscopy prep and boy, that is the BEST nap. Plus so far, the all clear message just adds to the relaxation.
0 -
Good luck and clear margins to you. I had mine last week.
0 -
First annual bilateral screening mammo (not diagnostic) since I first got on this hamster wheel: "the kids are all right" till June 2020! I've lost 15 lbs. (intentionally) since I met with the oncoplastic surgeon in January (my original breast cancer surgeon was booked into the next decade), and I'll see if I can lose another 10--then we'll make serious plans for a L reduction so I can be a good, honest DDD on both sides (currently, Thelma--the L one--is an H and Louise--the R, surgical one--is a DDD) So for now I'm a 40G (F, FF, or H, or 42, depending on brand). ThirdLove and Elomi seem to work the best for me without breaking the bank.
0 -
ChiSandy- congrats on the great mammo results and the weight loss too!
0 -
Sandy, great news! That's a big step deciding on the breast reduction. I know you were on the fence about it. And congratulations on the weight loss. Good luck with those next 10 pounds! I'm rooting for you!
HUGS!
0 -
Good day Ladies,
Thank you all for the many good wishes. Have not had time to catch up on all the logs, soon I hope! I have started on Ibrance and Faslodex, and so far so good, just horrible hot flashes and subsequent weakness from fluid loss. The stupid tumor in my incision is super itchy and I am hopeful that in a month or so that will resolve--still wish I had insisted it be cut out early on. Best wishes for all of you on upcoming surgeries!
All the best!
0 -
Hi! Michelle recommended I come on over to the lumpectomy lounge and gather the wealth of information you all have, so here I am!
I was diagnosed in February with IDC grade 2, HER2 - , PR + oncotype 2(very low risk) . The MRI showed the little bugger to be quite diverse in how it was spread through the tissue of the breast. I was told: "Think fingers spreading out, not a lump."
The MO I saw and the SO conferred and decided to put me on Anastrozolex daily for 6 months, with 6 week checks to try to get the little bugger to shrink some so the surgeon would have to take less breast tissue for the lumpectomy to get clean margins. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. No big deal, very curable.
Well, I just saw the MO and the little bugger (per Ultrasound 2 days ago) has grown not shrunk. Pretty scary considering I am on Anastrozole AND it is a slow growing type tumor. The MO is consulting today with the SO for a final decision, but he is leaning toward lumpectomy sooner rather than later.
My head is swirling. From the start I was concerned, confused by and eventually convinced by my expert team that my outcome was the same if I waited and tried to shrink the little bugger or did the lumpectomy/node biopsy immediately. That I couldn't not have the cancer staged, because they were doing the lumpectomy AFTER trying Anastrozole to shrink it was frightening but I trust my MO. Now the little bugger is growing and what was so far off, in October, is suddenly right here: surgery and node biopsy.
I am scared the way it is shaped. Will it be hard getting clean margins. The MO and SO had originally agreed that hey wanted me to wait so the tumor was smaller , to allow the surgeon to take less tissue. So now what am I thinking? "Oh sh*t, its bigger, now how much is coming out during surgery??"
And of course, as our heads do, we worry and wait and worry some more. I am thinking about the node biopsy. All of my care team was happy to wait to do the biopsy until October, but if the little bugger is growing not shrinking, my brain is yelling "Oh crap, the nodes!! What if?".
I am not sure I actually have a question; more of a lump of fear in my throat that is larger than the little bugger in my boob.
If you are still here, thanks for reading my ramble, and thanks for being here
Catherine
0 -
Catob1969, how interesting that you were put on anastrozole to shrink your BC. I've never heard of it being used in that role (not that I'm an expert). It is used for suppression of hormones to prevent BC from recurring. Chemo is usually used to shrink BC prior to surgery or afterwards. I find this baffling. I'm sure ladies with more knowledge will pipe in with more information.
If you are having a lumpectomy, then normally a SLNB is done at the same time. It seems to me (again, no expert) that your team has done things in reverse order from what I'm familiar with. My oncotype was done on the BC that was removed during surgery although the original biopsy was tested for ER/PR as I recall.
Where do you live? Sometimes different regions/countries do things differently than in the US. Sometimes big cancer centers do things differently.
Wishing you loads of luck and many HUGS!
0 -
Ladies - how long were you on arimidex? and what was your doctors reasoning for the length of time you took it?I have been on it almost 6 yrs... doctor said take it for 10 yrs... I am losing my hair and blaming the pill (dr doesn't think its the pill but I do) - at 68 I really wonder if I need to take this for 10 yrs - I don't relish the idea of being bald ... but am scared to stop taking it if its still doing me any good..
0 -
IamNancy, I've been on Arimidex for nearly 5 years. My MO says 5 years is enough (and even the one in Pontiac whom I didn't like nearly as much or trust quite as much said 5) with my diagnosis. I'll be 74 in 3 weeks. He thinks that the possible harm to my bones is greater than the return of my BC. So in October I'll be ending it. I will stay on Fosamax for another 6 months or so and see him again next June.
Now as for hair, I was losing my hair when I started this mess. My paternal grandmother had thinning hair with a receding hairline. I think maybe Arimidex has made it somewhat worse but I can't say for sure. Other than that not much to complain about.
Good luck deciding what to do. It certainly isn't black and white, is it?
HUGS!
0 -
My doctor has indicated I may be a candidate for focused radiation which is twice a day for 5 days. Has anyone had this type of radiation? If so, what, if any were the side effects?
0 -
thanks PontiacPatty - your answer gave me something to think about.... its a hard decision but I will mention the bone damage to my doctor (I do have that) and she might be more interested in that than she was about the hair loss...
0 -
I am on the East Coast in Rhode Island. My doctors are in Boston.
I thought it sounded backwards too! Now that it didnt shrink, (they told me they were starving the tumor) I am more than a little concerned,
I do have an appointment with the surgeon next Wednesday. How do you ask a Doctor : How sure you can get clear margins on a spiculated mass?
0 -
Catob1969, How to make sure you get clear margins in your case? I really don't know. But ask. It's your body and you deserve an answer. And don't let them pat you on the head and say don't worry your pretty little head over it. Demand answers. Be sure you are writing down all your questions or you'll never remember them (voice of experience). Good luck and let us know what you find out.
HUGS!
0 -
Catob does your BS work with a PS? I find if they do they often recommend a consult with them too. I was probably going to have a divot in my chest so I did reconstruction at the same time. I told my BS to go big, take what you need and then take a little more. I think sometimes they don't want to leave you with a deformity if they have to take a large amount of tissue, but if a PS is involved they might be a little more aggressive. As Peggy said ask the questions and if you are not getting answers you might want to get a second opinion.
0 -
Catob, where in Boston are your doctors? I can’t believe MGH or Dana Farber would suggest such a bass-ackwards plan. AIs are to starve residual estrogen-dependent cells that may be hiding out after surgery, radiation, and perhaps chemo. Neoadjuvant (pre-surgical) treatment is usually for a solid tumor too big to remove, as well as to gauge response to a particular chemo regimen. Tumors get “shrunk” by either radiating them away or more commonly, KILLING enough of their cells with chemo—literally, cytotoxic aka “cell-poisoning” drugs—until they’re small enough to surgically remove cleanly. AIs “starve” cells of estrogen to keep them from replicating. Only chemo or radiation can actually KILL the cells in a tumor. Get a second opinion, IMHO
0 -
As to the “spiculated" mass, know that a plurality, if not a majority, of invasive ductal carcinomas have spiculations —even the small ones. (Mine showed up on the mammo I took just before my radioactive seed placement—I hadn't seen it on prior imaging; and the surgeon got clean margins). An early-stage, slow-growing (did you say your Oncotype was only 2?) IDC doesn't go snaking through the ducts. There's something they're not telling you, or insufficiently explaining. Chemo likely wouldn't work on such an “indolent" ER+ tumor, so that's not why they're giving it to you neoadjuvantly. Either the tumor is of a different type, or at its present size would not leave you much breast tissue if removed completely. Again, tumor cells get “killed" by the oxidative destructive stresses that chemo or radiation inflict. “Starving" a whole tumor of estrogen doesn't kill it, and is unlikely to shrink it. You “starve" cells that might have been left behind or hiding out elsewhere after surgery & radiation and would not be vulnerable to chemo (or further post-op chemo). That's why AI therapy is 5-10 years.
Have you considered mastectomy? Maybe your doctors think you are so set on breast conservation (lumpectomy) surgery that they are hesitant to suggest the obvious alternative. (I'm a “less is more" kinda gal, but in this case, if it were me I'd have reluctantly opted for either mastectomy or extensive removal with immediate oncoplastic reconstruction).
0
