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Hard lump after biozorb

cdolphin
cdolphin Member Posts: 7

I had a lumpectomy in July for DCIS. They put in a biozorb device. Since then, I have developed what feels like a golf ball in the surgical site, where the biozorb has been placed. Is this normal? Any thoughts about using massage therapy to soften it up? I don't want to dislodge it! Thanks for your thoughts.

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Comments

  • Sitti
    Sitti Member Posts: 89

    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.

  • jelson
    jelson Member Posts: 622

    Sitti- I had never heard of biozorb so I googled it and found some articles - it is very new. If you search for Biozorb using the BCO search function - you can find some threads right here on the BCO boards. good luck t you!


  • Georgia1
    Georgia1 Member Posts: 188

    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.

  • cdolphin
    cdolphin Member Posts: 7

    Thank you! It’s been 6 months post op and my surgeon said not to worry about it. Before I went racing in I wanted to see if my experience was shared. I appreciate the info. C

  • dcon1229
    dcon1229 Member Posts: 2

    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.

  • cdolphin
    cdolphin Member Posts: 7

    Thank you for sharing your story. My anxiety is gone, especially after my post op visit. I am hopeful that once the biozorb dissolves it will not change the current appearance of my breast. It is hard to tell that I had anything done, let alone three lumpectomies! I’ll update as time goes on. Thx agsin

  • Georgia1
    Georgia1 Member Posts: 188

    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!

  • justmetoo
    justmetoo Member Posts: 4

    I had the Biozorb placed in December 2016, it's been 15 months and I feel what feels like a walnut sized lump in my breast. I was told it would absorb at least after 12 months. I'm really irritated because it feels like a lump. My MO told me if it does not absorb by December he will be talking to my breast surgeon to have it removed. It's hard mentally to have a lump in your breast after treatment.

  • chronicpain
    chronicpain Member Posts: 217

    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.

  • Georgia1
    Georgia1 Member Posts: 188

    Hi all. Just chiming in to say that I had my six-month mammogram last week and while it seemed a tad more painful than usual, I only had lingering pain for a day and a half; tech said that was to be expected after radiation, with or without bizorb. Also according to my BS, who has used the device many times, most women can still feel it 15 to 18 months later; the manufacturer's promise of complete absorption by 12 months seems like an overstatement from what she has seen in her practice. So Justmetoo, perhaps you will get relief soon? I am really happy with the way my breast looks and can't imagine facing another, voluntary surgery. My biozorb is only palpable if I sleep directly on it, or press it with my hand. Maybe you can think about it as a harmless implant?

    Wishing you the best.



  • chronicpain
    chronicpain Member Posts: 217

    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.

  • Amelia66
    Amelia66 Member Posts: 7

    I had a biozorb implanted after my lumpectomy back in August 2016. I can still feel the biozorb, and it the area was painful especially after I had some physical therapy for scar treatment. Now, after almost 20 months, I do think the biozorb is dissolving. My surgeon told me that he has found-as we all have-that the device takes more than year to dissolve. He also said he removed one from a patient and it "crumbled" in his hand.

    What I notice now is that the area around the biozorb feels rather numb. Is anyone experiencing that along with the hard lump it leaves?

    Amy

  • Georgia1
    Georgia1 Member Posts: 188

    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.

  • chronicpain
    chronicpain Member Posts: 217

    Georgia1, thank you for your kind comments.

    Amy, I do not have numbness near the Biozorb but sometimes I wish I did!

    I do hope the manufacturer provides post-marketing follow-up on what happens to these, and updated resorption information as well as side effects women report, but of course the side effects would have to be noted in the surgeon's chart and the surgeon would have to be ethical enough to report them on her own.

    It will also be hard to have a sample size large enough to be able to see if recurrence dx is harder with a Biozorb, would have to follow for many years, as only a minority of lumpectomy eligible women recur within a short period of time.


  • justmetoo
    justmetoo Member Posts: 4

    @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?

  • Amelia66
    Amelia66 Member Posts: 7

    @justmetoo,

    Yep, I still have a lump where the biozorb is and it is still tender.


  • dawndw
    dawndw Member Posts: 3

    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.

  • Georgia1
    Georgia1 Member Posts: 188

    Justmetoo, I'm only seven months out but yes if I touch my breast I can still feel the lump. But I only have tenderness occasionally after vigorous exercise - or after a mammogram!


  • Teddycake
    Teddycake Member Posts: 7

    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.

  • Nthrutheoutdoor
    Nthrutheoutdoor Member Posts: 1

    My lumpectomy was in March of 2017 and yes, I can still feel the biozorb. It has gotten more tender in the last 6 months and I will be discussing it with my NEW surgeon at my 6 month follow up this week (I declined radiation so they want me to come in more often). I had a 3D mammogram back in December and it showedeverything was clear. I probably should have done more research on this before I let my original surgeon use it, but hindsight is 20/20. I’ll try to remember to follow up in about 6 months as hopefully my body will start absorbing it by then.

  • Amelia66
    Amelia66 Member Posts: 7

    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

  • DandelionHair
    DandelionHair Member Posts: 7

    hello fello biozorbs.

    I had a biozorb placed and was pleased my breast looked full, no divot. Now, one year later, I have two hard lumps. I saw my MO today, she was concerned. I will have a 3-D Mammogram tomorrow AM.

    Dear Teddy, your story is scary. Did you have chemo, and radiation? I'm so sorry to hear of your challenges. It is a BC survivors’ nightmare. You are in my thoughts and prayers. Please post updates as I am concerned.

    Chronicpain, your BS is a jerk!!! Can you find another BS? I hope he/she was having an off day. They can't realize how scary it is for us. They do surgeries time after time and loose sensitivity.

    I hope these biozorbs dissolve. My BS said it was up to the individual about how soon they dissolve and didn't say only a year. She said it could be longer.

    She said my lumps were fluid but I’ll learn more tomorrow a


    Best to all Biozorb Sisters

  • beaverntx
    beaverntx Member Posts: 2,962

    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.

  • hi i had mine for 2yrs its softer i do get pain once in awhile dr told me it takes 2yrs but i still feel mine not like first time but its thier.n i ge spazam under my breast from not sitting straight up.God Bless be srong🙏

  • Teddycake
    Teddycake Member Posts: 7

    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.

  • cdolphin
    cdolphin Member Posts: 7

    Teddycake-

    Im sorry you have gone through this ordeal. I started this thread and I will say two things. First, I still feel the biozorb. It doesn't really bother me any more and I am very happy with the cosmetic results. I am now 14 months post op. We'll see if it really disappears in the next year! As far as making decisions to or not to move forward with chemo, that's a personal decision. I had huge reservations about undergoing radiation for DCIS stage 0 (ER+). But, I asked the question about survivability with out it and they said that doing all four (surgery, lumpectomy, radiation, tamoxifen) I have a 99 percent survivability rate. Without radiation, I have a 50% chance of it returning and what it comes back at is anybodies guess. I don't like that statistic. If you aren't loving the aromatase inhibitor, I think (have your doc verify) that tamoxifen is still an option. I was premenopausal when I started it. So while I am getting used to the new menopausal symptoms, it isn't anything I can't manage.

    Good luck and stay healthy!

  • Irishgirl711
    Irishgirl711 Member Posts: 88

    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.

  • cdolphin
    cdolphin Member Posts: 7

    I'm sorry that you are going through this! The biozorb does get easier to tolerate and will shrink in size over time. I think it took me about 6 months before I noticed it becoming less hard and palpable. I had full breast radiation and while I didn't blister, my skin was angry the last week of treatments (I had 20). There is a cooling gel bandaid that your radiation oncologist can give you that helps with pain and irritation. I don't remember what its called but Im sure your doctor will know. Good luck! It will be over soon.

    And FYI, I had my first mammogram exactly a year after surgery and it wasn't that bad. I was so afraid that it would be excruciatingly painful and I was pleasantly surprised.

  • Irishgirl711
    Irishgirl711 Member Posts: 88

    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.

  • josieo
    josieo Member Posts: 140

    Early 2018I had a lumpectomy, removing a large (3.5 cm), irregularly shaped tumor. I didn’t know prior to surgery, but the surgeon did also find extensive DCIS as well, which had not been detected by mammogram, ultrasound, or biopsy. I learned that because of the amount of tissue removed the surgeon elected to place in a biozorb, recognizing that otherwise I would surely look very deformed. I was extremely grateful. Other than the surgery scar, my breast looked as it did before, and although I felt the biozorb, it was not painful and six months later I notice it much less. I also know it minimized the chance of a seroma forming in the scar cavity, and the markers helped the radiation oncologist more accurately target the boosts. Plus, I had a normal looking breast.

    For me, the benefits far outweighed the discomfort. Full credit to my surgeon for thinking on his feet, and making a great decision for my specific situation.

    I know everyone is different, and I wish lessened discomfort to all.