Topic: Hard lump after biozorb

Nov 21, 2017 09:58AM - edited Nov 21, 2017 03:50PM by Sitti

cdolphin, welcome, although I'm sorry you find yourself here but its a great place for information and support. I haven't heard of a biozorb device so I can't speak to that but I do know it's possible to develop a seroma, maybe that could be what you are feeling? Hopefully others will come along with some answers for you.

Edited to say, I don't know that I would do massage therapy unless cleared your BS just to be sure.

Nov 22, 2017 07:13PM Georgia1 wrote:

Hi CD. I can only speak to my experience with biozorb, which is all positive so far. My surgery was October 10, and I only really started feeling it this past week. My theory is that my breasts were so puffy at first, and my muscle so tight from the lymph node removal, that it just wasn't that noticeable. I bet everything is fine, but your surgeon probably wants to see you after six months anyway. So I'd schedule an appointment and discuss with him/her if there's real pain. But my surgeon said it would be a noticeable golfball-size lump for at least the first year. As you've probably read it does dissolve after that.

Jan 19, 2018 03:56PM dcon1229 wrote:

I had a lumpectomy in April 2017 with the Biozorb placed and now in January 2018 I still feel that lump you mention. I think it's normal as I've read you may be able to feel the healing tissue and the BioZorb marker as a firm area in the breast, but in most cases, this usually resolves over time and it can take a year or more for the body to reabsorb (and it leaves the tiny clips in place to mark the cancer area). I guess everyone is different in length of time it takes to absorb but I think it's great that I don't show any dents where the tissue was removed as it heals around the Biozorb. My surgeon didn't find any problem with it when I saw her in November for a regular followup and mammogram.

Jan 21, 2018 08:49AM Georgia1 wrote:

That's great news. I am now three months post surgery and can't feel it at all. Finally sleeping on my right side comfortably after lumpectomy and radiation!

Mar 19, 2018 05:50PM - edited Mar 28, 2018 02:25AM by chronicpain

Yes, having an ongoing lump after BC surgery makes it hard to monitor for lump recurrence and is irritating!

My Biozorb was placed during lumpectomy 11/22/17. I was a bit suspicious of it as it is a foreign body and I already suffer from chronic pain and did not want anything weird and new that might have unknown consequences ( like having to go back in surgically to take it out). The well-regarded surgeon firmly assured me it will resorb within a year and I figured she knew what she was doing.

It started hurting more last month, especially with exercise and movement and excitement, and has not reduced in size at all. I see the surgeon for followup in April and have been wondering how on earth they are goung to be able to do a proper mammogram around it late May, when I am due for six month mammo, given its ongoing presence and pain. It seems they will have to do less compression, as I already have trouble with mammograms from pain, almost passing out, even with mammopads ( which is why I delayed for three years and changed mammogram centers) and could not do an MRI due to my muscle and pain problems.

The surgeon may be reluctant to admit there is a problem, or maybe she will say that the resorption can be delayed and then rapid later but not really know for sure.I had problems with a lot of pain postop due to my RSD and chronic chest wall inflammation as well asfibromyalgia pain, so having to do surgery again without cancer recurrence or missing a recurrence is disturbing, if it comes to that.

Apr 14, 2018 12:06PM - edited Apr 14, 2018 03:59PM by chronicpain

I am not sure if this post belongs on the "angry rants" forum but it has to do with Biozorb so I will post here.

Saw my BS yesterday. She was running late because the pt before me who was new had come late and there was another new one after me, so maybe that is why she was unexpectedly abrupt and snippy and her desire to quickly get rid of me was obvious. She clearly was not very interested in hearing about the pain I have around the Biozorb and SNB site, and was annoyed by my questions. She said my Biozorb area pain is just normal post-op pain, then firmly mashed around in the relevant areas without asking if there was pain or watching my face, (there was a lot) and pronounced there was nothing of concern.

I noted the Biozorb has not gotten any smaller at almost five months now, and it was not sore after the immediate postop period, but she just repeated the manufacturer's info that it takes a year to resorb and also reminded me that "postop pain" lasts a year.

I asked if it would start to resorb quickly later on in the year, exponentially, as we are five months now and it is the same, or be a slow linear process that will start at some point in the near future, and she just repeated her "it resorbs within one year" mantra. I asked if she has ever had to take it out surgically due to failure to resorb, inflammation or other symptoms, and she said no, but paused and said they have only been using it two to three years or so. I was going to ask how many Biozorbs she had done, but thought better of it.

I asked if it would interfere with my mammogram coming up which (per our last discussion) is due late May, i.e., at six months post surgery. After first initially arguing that late May is not six months post surgery (surgery was 11/22/17) she caught herself and said I would not need a mammogram until a year after my pre-diagnosis mammogram, so in September ( so post lumpectomy mammogram is now based on a year after when the presurgical mammo was done??).

I asked if the ongoing hard lump or the inability to properly compress due to pain at its site and stiffness from the foreign body would interfere with imaging, and she dodged the question. I think she simply does not know if it is harder to find recurrences when Biozorbs are in place and is perhaps hoping that by subtly changing the goal post to one year after the last mammogram instead of six months after my surgery, the thing will have resorbed by then.

I was surprised at the new "one year since last mammogram" recommendation, instead of six months, and asked if maybe one should at least do an ultrasound at six months post surgery because I did not have XRT, (plus that is what she had talked about at the last visit), and have discomfort, but she said US without mammo is not at all helpful (?) . She started telling me that the protocol is to do mammo six months *after XRT* ( true) and because I did not have XRT, we can just go to the usual annual schedule which made no sense to me. I asked if maybe the fact I did not do XRT would make one want to do it at six months postop rather than a year, sooner rather than later, to make sure CA is not coming back (plus last visit in January she had specifically said "six months after treatment".)Why would one push the date out further just because I did not have XRT? I did not t even have an MRI as I could not tolerate it. I wonder if she is hoping for the Biozorb to be less of an interference with longer time? Most of what I read, and what the MO had recommended, is to do mammograms every six months for a few years, and that was with women who had XRT and who would in theory have lower recurrence risk. Her logic makes no sense and I think it was all a "make things up as you go along" attempt to not address Biozorb concerns.

She added on that if I worry about mammogram pain, I should take motrin before. This showed she had not really looked at my chart, which is replete with information about my chronic pain and the fact I am on round the clock maximum motrin as well as maximum strength Ultram. When I noted I already am on full strength motrin round the clock etc., instead of saying she had forgotten that she just said "take more." Take more than recommended maximum doses, really?

Maybe the lump and discomfort will settle down and go away, maybe not. I certainly am not interested in another surgery to get it out, absent cancer. I am not sure why she used the Biozorb, as I was not going to do XRT and repeatedly told her, so we did not need a marker for XRT, and I was not interested in cosmetic issues either, I just wanted the smallest surgery that would be safe to get rid of the BCA so as not to flare my chronic pain issues, so the Biozorb's marketed alleged cosmetic value is of no value to me.

So meanwhile I am stuck with it, and her, unless symptoms get much worse. In hindsight I should have questioned using it more but who knows, maybe the distortion and dent without a Biozorb would cause more discomfort and twisted scarring than I have now.

I think we still have a lot to learn about the Biozorb, and that unless you are a famous and/or important person, it seems to be getting harder and harder to find docs who do not overload their schedules and just rush around, and who would be willing to honestly discuss uncertainties. She and her husband are already very wealthy people (based on a variety of things I know about them) so why crowd her schedule so much that she barely has time to talk? My guess is she is filling her records with how great I am doing postop and that I have no concerns, or worse, that I am argumentative and a difficult person.

Apr 16, 2018 09:03PM Georgia1 wrote:

Hi CP and sorry your surgeon was such a jerk. Sounds like you know there are two reasons to use the biozorb: better cosmetic results, and a slightly better target for radiation, especially boosts. Without either of those concerns in your case I'm honestly not sure why your surgeon went that way. Maybe a pattern of not listening?

In my case I was super pleased. My surgeon was clear that absorption could take more than a year, and that there would be pain for a few months. I'm five months out from surgery and sleeping fine on that side now, tho the pain immediately after my six-month mammogram and follow-up exam was pretty bad for a couple of days. (And yes, a mammogram six months after surgery is standard.) I hope the discomfort lessens for you soon, and all I can add is that the gentle stretches recommended for post-lumpectomy and during radiation should help quite a bit.

Amelia, I have not experienced any numbness. Thank goodness my breast looks and feels about the same.

Apr 20, 2018 02:53AM justmetoo wrote:

@Amelia,

My Biozorb is still hard its been 16 month since it was placed and its still tender, do you still have a lump or has it dissolved?

May 12, 2018 11:17AM dawndw wrote:

My biozorb was placed in November of 2016 and still hasn't been absorbed and is sore to touch. I also have huge problems with inflammation with any kind of impact, such as any kind of exercise that has the slightest bit of impact, riding bikes over a bumpy road or even someone bumping in to me. It is such a problem there is no way I could do the mammogram after a year and until it's gone I don't feel like I can do one. My drs keep saying it should absorb soon but they have been saying that for almost a year and it doesn't really seem smaller, though the seroma around it has finally been absorbed. I wish I had been given more accurate information about this product because it definitely effects my quality of life by making it impossible for me to do most exercise and even do a lot of my regular activities without paying for it from serious inflammation for the next several days. So I have gained a lot of weight and lost strength. Both which are back risk factors for reoccurrence. The only advice I get from team is take aspirin and try swimming.

Jun 9, 2018 06:34AM Teddycake wrote:

My first surgeon put a Biozorb in my breast without telling me about it beforehand. It caused a lot of pain. I actually called the makers of the device who had a clinical breast surgeon call me and she said it sounded like the Biozorb that was used was too large for my breast. Anyhow I didn't do any follow up treatments and the cancer grew again. My 6 month mammogram did not spot the cancer. I had a follow up MRI that showed a 7mm tumor right adjacent to the tumor bed. Surprise surprise, after the surgery in which I asked my new surgeon to remove the Biozorb, it was discovered that I had a 17mm tumor where most of it was inside the Biozorb and the Biozorb had encrusted into my chest muscle so a chunk of muscle had to be removed in order to remove the device. I see no reason for this device and surgeons really should tell you beforehand that they plan to put a foreign object inside your body.

Jun 18, 2018 12:36AM Amelia66 wrote:

It has been almost two years since my lumpectomy and Biozorb implantation. The Biozorb doesn't feel like it has softened up at all. I did have radiation in December 2016, and that could also be causing some of the pain. I think I might be calling the company as well. I have a mammogram next week. Hoping it goes well, and there is not another tumor lurking in the Biozorb, but that has crossed my mind.

Amy aka Amelia66

Aug 22, 2018 04:54PM Beaverntx wrote:

Dandelion, at 6 months post op. my biozorb had "zorbed" and diagnostic mammogram/ultrasound supported that my lumps were the seroma (which, by the way, is very gradually shrinking). It appears that the absorption of the biozorb is very individualized.

Sep 11, 2018 02:02PM Teddycake wrote:

Hi, I did radiation this time as my tumor was close to the chest wall and I had read radiation seemed to have slightly better outcomes than mastectomy alone when tumor is close to chest wall. I am opting out of chemo as it seems to only make an absolute 10 year survival chance difference of like 2% and honestly I think it is more likely I will die of something else! I happily just went into post-menopause and now they are talking about Aromatase inhibitors since my tumor was ER positive. I am not finding very good meta studies about whether or not this is worth it as it sounds like it will just worsen all my menopausal symptoms and maybe cause bone fractures and the such. My estradiol level came back super low so what the hell is all this fuss about except to make money off of us? Not one doctor besides my second surgeon and radiation oncologist has actually treated me as an individual. I wish I believed in the medical world, but for the most part they seem to just be taking educated guesses as to how to treat cancer. I think the cancer is gone. I couldn’t gain any weight after the first surgery and had gone from 120lbs to 95 lbs than I fought so hard to get myself back up to 100 the beginning of this year. I had my second surgery end of May and now I have gained weight and today weighed in at 107. The cancer definitely made me lose weight. One interesting thing I noted was that proceeding both surgeries and when it was clear I had a tumor, my body temperature kept measuring around 97.6 and after surgery I am now measuring at normal like 98.6. I AM SO GLADTHE BIOZORB IS GONE! I FEEL SO MUCH BETTER.

Oct 2, 2018 11:36AM - edited Oct 2, 2018 11:38AM by Irishgirl711

Hi, Ladies,

I found this thread after learning that I had a Biozorb inserted two weeks ago during lumpectomy surgery. It was mentioned in passing by the RO when I went to see him.

My circumstances are unusual. I had DCIS diagnosis last year, followed by lumpectomy and insertion of a SAVI device to target the area and deliver targeted radiation. I received the five day, twice a day radiation “seeds" , had the device removed, and went happily on my way.

Nothing showed on my six month Mammogram. When I went for my one year Mammogram, they initially told me all looked okay, but called me back within minutes of leaving the facility to come back for more three dimensional views. The result showed dreaded microcalcifications in the same breast, near the chest wall. Another biopsy. DCIS again!

I decided on another lumpectomy and thus time they will do full breast radiation (hence the placement of the Biozorb).

I am almost two weeks post surgery, oncoplasty, and reduction and lift of the other breast to have symmetry.

No one told me what the Biozorb would feel like, but, to me, it feels a lot like The SAVI device I had last year (without the open wound and wires protruding). I was happy when that thing was removed, and to think that I will feel this new device for up to a year or more is very upsetting.

I think they should have warned me, in the very least. I can't imagine having a mammogram with this device in me.

Guess I can't do anything about it. Not looking forward to full breast radiation, either, which is why I had the SAVI implant last year. I am very fair skinned and burn (and blister) easily.

I can only hope that this ordeal will be over soon.

Oct 6, 2018 03:15PM Irishgirl711 wrote:

thanks, cdolphin!

I am still healing from the surgery and waiting to discuss radiation next week with RO. Frankly, I am on the fence about it, because the pathology report said that there was no sign of cancer in any of the tissue! (Maybe the biopsy removed the DCIS?). Really strange outcome.

Last year, the Pathology report confirmed DCIS, so I had the SAVI device insertion.

I will need to discuss with my BS and RO.