Hard lump after biozorb
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Hi Brooklyn and thanks for the post. I'm glad you're feeling good about your choice to have a masectomy after your recurrence and wish you the best.
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I am now 33 months out from Biozorb placement November 2017 , this is my semiannual update about its nonresorption saga.
It is still there, palpable, same size, no change on mammo in size either. I stopped going to the BS because she was not adding anything to what my oncologist does, and continued to pretend the Biozorb was resorbing and dodged my questions. The oncologist is very interested how it is progressing.
The good news is that the pain with exercize and lying on my left side on the Biozorb, which had started to stabilize last year, hardly bothers me at all now. Every day I know it is there, I feel it, but I can lie on it. Bumping it isn't fun, nor is the mammo, but they can get good compressions. No visible tumor recurrence on mammo or US so far.
I never wanted radiation and did not care about cosmetics, so am not sure why I got it
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I first must say I am so glad I found this forum. I am losing my mind. I had a lumpectomy Aug 17. My surgeon not only placed one biozorb in, but TWO. I have had a baseball size lump since the swelling went down after surgery. It actually feels like a baseball inside my breast. The radiologist is unable to begin radiation because of the situation. The surgeon says to take Tylenol and ice it. (I have not seen this advice here yet). Believe me, it does and has done NOTHING for the swelling or the pain. It is extremely painful. I cannot sleep and am completely lethargic due to lack of sleep. I called my insurance company to obtain permission for a second opinion. I was debating whether to have radiation or not, but I NEVER want to go through this again, so I will up my odds of never having breast cancer and do the radiation as soon as possible. Mentally, emotionally, and physically....I am spent.
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I have not posted in some time, but will update as best I can. I am now two years post surgery and still have a hard lump, and developed a seroma, which my Breast Surgeon drained in June. She also did scrape away some of the hard tissue using an ultrasound biopsy device. I immediately felt relief and Less pain, so perhaps the seroma was causing most of the discomfort.
Both the plastic surgeon and the breast surgeon suggest that the hardened tissue is actually “necrotic tissue” caused by a lack of blood to the area during the lumpectomy, rather than the biozorb.But, whatever it is, the plastic surgeon said the only remedy is to have it removed, which would require surgery that I am not willing to undergo yet again, due to the fact that I did not heal well and have horrific scars as a result.
The breast surgeon said I can massage the area and that has seemed to help, also. It does feel less hard these days, and smaller, and wearing a bra is no longer painful, so I am trying to just learn to live with it.
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I had my first surgery in June 2019 and my surgeon implanted the bio-sorb. It has not dissolved and I am in pain every day. In fact I believe the hard mass is getting larger. My Surgeon did not communicate with my Radiologist at the time of surgery. My Radiologist said there is never a need to implant just a large device when the smaller markers work well. My current doctors hope that it will dissolve but how long do I wait?
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Thank you so much everyone! This is all excellent information concerning biozorb. Thank you all for sharing your experiences. Based on all your experiences, I am declining the biozorb.
I was diagnosed three days ago with a tiny amount of DCIS (3mm). The BS believes she got it all but wants to go back in for better margins. She handed me a pamphlet about Biozorb (from 2015) and explained it's placed in case I need radiation. She stated that for most people, it is absorbed by two years. Made sense at the time until she showed me one.
You can't place a walnut sized thing inside a grape sized thing! I was surprised at the size but she told me they have different sizes. However, from reading here, people seem to acquire a golf ball sized lump as a result. Again...golf ball vs. grape.
My body also rejects the absorbable sutures and I have sensitivity to the non-absorbable ones. Since Hologic won't share what the devices are made of (that I could find anyway), I can't take the chance that my body will try to reject it, especially since it seems that it is sutured in place. That is enough reason to avoid the device right there.
I don't care about divits or lopsidedness since I am so small I wear a padded bra anyway and don't care about what I'll look like. I am a serious left-sided-stomach sleeper and need my sleep! Having cancer hidden inside the device for the few that have reported that is also enough for me to just say NO!The interesting thing is that the BS also stated that since the DCIS was so small and she is pretty sure she got it all, she didn't think I would need radiation. Again, thank you all for sharing your experiences.
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Hi Lavokym. Everyone's experiences seem to be a bit different, but after a few months I only has pain while lying on that side at night, and after 18 months the pain was pretty much gone. My oncologist can feel it when she does my exams but it's not noticeable to me any more. In the meantime, the stretches recommended after surgery and radiation really help! I had some nerve pain/soreness that took quite a while to resolve.
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Glad you found this string helpful Dulcea! Best of luck to you.
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Thanks for the update Chronicpain and I'm glad you feel better. My surgeon spent a lot of time going through pros and cons with me -- it's maddening to think some doctors don't.
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I am now 3 years and five months out from Biozorb placement November 2017 . This is my semiannual update about its nonresorption saga.
It is still there, easily palpable, same size (2.5 cm), no change on mammo or US in size either. Every day I know it is there, I feel it, but I can lie on it. Bumping it or hugging isn't fun, nor is the mammo where it is, but they can get good compressions. No visible tumor recurrence on mammo or US so far. There was a new radiologist with an odd attitude, I had not been told a new radiologist would be there. She rushed in and told me the mammo and US were "fine" and started to leave the room. I asked how big the Biozorb was now and she got flustered, said "we don't typically measure the Biozorbs". I told her the prior doc did, so she angrily left and returned with the measurements, and then said, smiling, in a tone as if reassuring me, that there was no change in its size. She obviously did not understand that Biozorbs are supposed to resorb, and better news would be if it were smaller. When I told her they are supposed to resorb, to cover up her apparent lack of knowledge about them ( half her training was not in the western world, per her online resume) she hostiley and defensively said "when you have small breasts, lumps are subjectively easier to feel." I replied that we are not dealing with subjective issues, we are dealing with objective measurements, 2.5cm, no change, no resorption, now more than three years out. I asked if she had ever seen images of other patients with Biozorbs or if radiology meetings had any new reports about long-term follow-up on them,and she dodged the question.
I never wanted radiation and did not care about cosmetics, so am not happy that I got the Biozorb. The surgeon had simply shown it to me pre-op and said she was going to use it, as if it was routine ( it absolutely was not), it would resorb within a year, and I did not think it would be appropriate to question her technique. She apparently was rigidly not processing that I had said I did not want radiation and did not care about cosmetics, presumably because her affluent patients who pay for her services outside their insurance typically do.
I am resigning myself to having a palpable one inch lump for the rest of my life. Hopefully it remains uninflamed, mostly not painful now, and does not hide a cancer recurrence. I am going to go to another breast cancer center so I do not have to deal with that ignorant arrogant radiologist again ( the previous one is now on the other side of the country). I still want to track the size.
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Hi everyone, I noticed this forum is a bit older but wanted to share my experience with Biozorb. It was placed in 2019. I was told it would dissolve and was a marker for radiation. Funny my radiation Dr said there was really not a purpose for it. Fast forward to 2020 my radiation oncologist said I would be opening up a can of worms if I had it removed because it was the radiation side and it would dissolve. So, Im like ok I will just live the pain. It causes severe pain all the time, even when I had occupational therapy. Went to my own surgeon and he refused to take out said it will dissolve and we dont take them out. Well fast forward to today. I saw another surgeon. He was surprised that it has not dissolved and is the same size. We are planning on removing this horrible device soon. In my opinion not only as it caused pain but I believe it has cause immune issues. I'm nervous and a bit scared about the surgery and healing but i will be so relived when this thing is out of me!!
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Wishing you well Cobalt - quite a shame you've had to go through all that you have dealing with that.....! Let us know how the surgery goes and how you're feeling at some point after.
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