Mammograms/Lymphedema

Pauline3837

Hi everyone,

I need your imput. I am extremely careful regarding no blood pressure, needles, cuts etc. but what about mammograms.

I'm a four year survivor however since my lumpectomy, axillary node removal, chemo and radiation to right side breast, I find mammograms torture. Left side fine.....little pinchy but ok......right side is another story. Intense pain during and very sore and swollen breast and arm for several days after.
I talked to my onc about this after my last mammo. Her suggestion was take some Advil prior to mammo

Yesterday I had mammo on both breasts and ultra sound on right and man, my inside upper arm is hot and sore as hell.

Any suggestions ladies??? I've had some mild symptons of lymphedema in the past but this time is more than normal.

For those of you who experience lymphedema, do you have yearly mammo's or do you have MRI's and Ultra sounds instead???

Lhunhen

Pauline,

This is a very good point to bring up. I have thought about it before and wondered how that would affect LE. Even though the breast is not the arm...your still putting undo pressure on the affected area.

I'm sorry your haveing so much pain afterwards.

I don't do mammograms anymore. I chose to do Thermography's and sonograms/ultrasounds instead.

Cathy

NPat

I have truncal LE and arm LE. The mammograms DO flare the swelling in my breast. I recommend doing the affected breast last so you can put your bra back one before the breast swells too much... make sure it is snug but not restricting lymph flow... that is why I like the Nancy Ganz camisoles or the other stretchy bras/camisoles. I have also done the breast MRI's but my insurance needs an abnormal mammogram before it will pay for a MRI... Take an Aleve or Advil 30 minutes before the mammogram so you are not so uncomfortable. My LE breast is still sore after 3 years and I do shed a tear whenever I get a mammogram on that side. I love it when they say, "Don't breathe." Yeah, right!
pat

bird2me2

I decided to do a search on this subject because of my mammogram last week which resulted in ? I assume lymphedema though the literature I have read rarely notes the pain that comes with it. And I am shocked to read that so many responses (some from medical personnel) that say they have never heard of this!! I am a 12 year br/ca survivor. I did have mild lymphedema after my chemo/radiation and followed dr's orders to wear support bandages or tighter sports type bras. But after/during this mammogram- I thought I was going to faint. The technologist pressed the paddle WAY too tight and I know that the ladies waiting outside heard me yelling in pain. The next day I had pain in my neck, under my arms and in my right groin. I also felt exhausted and stayed in bed for about 10 days. I know this is not the best thing but I literally could not do anything. Also I went through the horror of the doctor asking me to wait and have a sonogram- thoughts were racing through my head- "oh no, it's back", "he saw something", I was alone and did not know how I might react to bad news. But the dr. said he thought it was just scar tissue. I'm still a little worried- after all he's just a radiologist. I hope more patients will start speaking out. I still have some pain 3 weeks later. I see my PCP next week.

One more thing- most of the sites that I read about lymphedema- would deny that I had it at all since there was minimal swelling. But there was lots of pain.