Nipple Dimpling after Lumpectomy
I had a lumpectomy 2 weeks ago and will have a follow up with the breast surgeon next week. Today was the first day since surgery that I went without a bra. I am having more pain and I noticed that my nipple has a dimple. Has anyone experienced this? It was not dimpling before surgery and my lum was in my right breast at 10 o'clock about 5 cm back from the nipple.
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I would definitely ask the BS at your next appointment or even call/message prior to your appointment. I had dimpling or inverted nippleafter my lumpectomies two years ago. The BS has never been concerned and said it was because I have very large breasts, had lots of swelling after the surgery and now have lymphedema in the right breast. It’s never really gone away although after a 40# weight loss it occasionally will look normal.
Best wishes for a quick recovery.
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I hope it's not too late for you to wear a bra that puts pressure on your breast to control the swelling. I wore the extra-firm straight jacket surgical bra for two days as directed, then immediately switched to a zip-front sports bra with fairly firm removable cups. I left them in, then wore a folded, soft child's sock inside that cup for comfortable compression. When I saw my surgeon for the follow-up, she was pleasantly surprised at how little swelling I had, just a tiny spot near the incision. I wore those sports bras and socks 24/7 for 3 weeks except when showering.
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Front zip sports bra. Definitely wear one. Should you go without a bra don't be doing too much, it takes a while to heal inside. The first time I went without a bra after surgery I was folding laundry and wham. Seroma. You don't want one of those. Good luck at your follow up.
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Thanks for the feedback. I think it was because I went for the day without the bra. I had been wearing a sports bra 24/7 since surgery, and I thought the sole reason was to keep the dressing on top of the incision. I am allergic to adhesives, so no tape and no surgical glue. I was told to change it daily and rub some ointment each day. When I was informed I could remove the dressing, I thought it meant the bra too. It felt like total freedom to take it off, particularly at night. I have never even once slept in a bra until now. Anyway, last night when I got in a pretty significant pain situation, my husband encouraged me to put the bra back on. It helped a ton with the pain, so I am leaving it put for now. That whole inverted nipple feels weird, and I will ask the BS next week. I do have large breasts. The part of my breast that was removed has an egg-sized lump that feels a bit hard, and I am bruised terribly. The bruise has been there on the right side from day one, but now it seems from the nipple down, the entire breast is turning all those varying shades of yellow mustard, brown and black bruise recovery colors. The texture of my skin looks weird too. If I didn't already know that I have breast cancer, I would suspect it from the nipple and the skin texture. It looks different every time I look at it. It's still hard to believe that I have breast cancer. Is it possible to still be in shock?
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Straight up felt better all day and then back to being in so much pain by the end of the day that I took a pain med. I don't know if this is normal for this kind of surgery. I have had other surgeries before, and each day was better than the next. This surgery has not been linear at all. Fatigue hits me out of nowhere and feels like I could lie down and sleep for a few hours. I went a couple of days with no pain or need to take pain meds. Now I am back to having fairly significant pain and OTC stuff isn't touching it. My husband keeps telling me to take it easy. I suppose I might call the surgeon tomorrow.
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If it's just been a few weeks since your surgery, you are supposed to take it easy. No lifting anything heavier than a gallon of milk, and no strenuous activity, especially if you haven't had your follow-up appointment yet to get clearance from your surgeon.
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Thanks, alicebastable! No, I have not had my post-surgical follow-up yet. It was supposed to happen Wednesday, but they moved it out a week because pathology was not back yet. I have been taking it pretty easy, with one exception. We got my son a Rottweiller puppy for Christmas. She was pretty light and small when we brought her home on Christmas Eve. They would hand her to me and I would hold her on my lap for a few minutes. Then I started feeling more recovered and have been picking her up myself to take her outside to potty. But I took her to the vet for shots yesterday, and she was 15 lbs already. Fortunately, my adult daughter was with me to wrangle her. But, I told my husband yesterday that I can't pick her up anymore. Now that I have come to my senses that the little puppy isn't so little, I have stopped and your feedback about a gallon of milk is proof. I hope I haven't jacked anything up in there.
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I have noticed changes to my breast's skin since having my lumpectomy surgery. First of all, my nipple will invert off and on, which perhaps would be normal now that some tissue is missing in my breast. Secondly, I noticed this morning that the skin around the bottom side of my nipple feels thicker, and I have what looks like orange peel on the skin's surface all around the nipple. This makes me nervous because these are signs of breast cancer that I did NOT have before surgery. In fact, I didn't have any signs of breast cancer except for the small 6mm mass seen on a screening mammogram. Has anyone experienced this after lumpectomy? I feel like it's a pretty significant change in my breast appearance, but maybe this is just normal. I will of course, point it out to one of my doctors, as I only just noticed it. I'm must not sure which one needs to know about it, the surgeon, the RO, the MO????
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You are still pretty close to your surgery date so it's probably the result of the healing which takes a while. Have you started radiation yet? That can cause changes in your breast appearance, too.
If you need to contact someone about this it would be the surgeon if you haven't started radiation. If you have an upcoming scheduled appointment with your MO or your RO you could ask them to have a look. Six months after my lumpectomy the appearance of my nipple changed quite a bit. I had an appointment with my MO the next week and he was able to tell me it was just part of the healing process.
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My breast feels thicker near the nipple because it's where the scar tissue is. Most surgeons (I presume) try to use the areola line for the incision so the scar won't show. Mine was almost 5 years ago and the skin there still feels different, and occasionally looks different from certain angles because there's a big old divot behind the skin.
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Hi Maggie15. I have consulted with RO, but not started yet. I have a second follow up with the surgeon in a few weeks. I guess I will keep an eye on it and let him know then.
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Hi concernedaboutresults, You are probably fine waiting a few weeks for the followup. My MO told me that the increasing scar tissue deep in the breast was pulling my nipple in and the skin thickness was close to the incision. Two years out from surgery my breast looks pretty good: a little smaller and a bit different but not so much that I look weird in a locker room. Best wishes for your upcoming treatment.
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