To have mx or lumpectomy

Anonymous

I chose lump then had rads and now on arimidex. I'm not sure I researched enough or asked enough questions and  I've been second-guessing but that's just counter-productive because I'm not a worrier so I will just stop and go on with life.  I am scheduled for quarterly follow-ups with med onc; my bs will see me in one year.  If anything turns up between those times I will deal with it then.

Amlg1 and froghollow -  looking forward to your follow-up reports that all is well

Anonymous

Right ! all is going well. I had Day Stay Surgery and I'm now back home with a left breast that has felt like a pin cushion, slightly uncomfortable now but it doesn't have me screaming off for an earlier dose of pain relief. Absolute bliss, I did not have to have the lymph gland removed, only the lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy which was clear. I will not have the pathology result from the lumpectomy until next Tuesday when I visit the surgeon. I will update after that.

nim88

Well my wife had her BMx today - 7 hours from the time she left her room to the time she came back. The BS inserted the Mentor contoured saline implants. All went smoothly. My wife was quite sedated but towards our evening started becoming more talkative and cheerful. However, suddenly she started feeling breathless and had a pain in her chest and generally began panicking. They did an ECG and chest xray (brought a portable unit into the room!) and everything normal.

She is resting now after having taken a sleeping tablet but we are both happy this is over. I will update as I learn more and let you know how she feels once she has a chance to see herself. Thank you all for your support and answers to my various questions.

amlg1

Good to hear surgery is over ,hopefully she will do fine.My thoughts and prayers are with you.

nim88

The BS did a dressing change today so we got to see her work and it turns out she had done a areola sparing Mx (ASM). Originally she had wanted to do NAC sparing and we had said no and in a subsequent meeting said she would do only skin sparing Mx. She has done a fabulous job (aesthetics wise) and the incisions are underneath the breasts which will eventually get hidden. She said she had to do this because of the scars from the previous surgeries and was concerned that because of the way the blood flowed some of the skin could get compromised. Since my wife's tumor was small and early stage and she had removed the skin above the tumor at the time of the lumpx she was very comfortable with this approach.

She also gave us a briefing on the pathology and it looks like we made the right decision to go with Mx because they found a 10cm wide area of LCIS. If you see my previous posts I got three to four opinions and all advised that lumpx plus radiation would be ok. That is still probably true but with such widespread LCIS not sure the radx would have covered the entire area. And the LCIS margins were supposedly clear enough. Also found some early DCIS and atypical hyperplasia (which were all in the original pathology from the lumpx).

I hope this all works out ok. I would greatly appreciate any views/thoughts from others who have had ASM. My wife is doing well - already walking around and very cheerful. 

nash

Nimm--glad your wife is doing so well. That's good news.

Just wanted to mention that radiation doesn't affect LCIS, as LCIS is just a marker for an increased risk of bc in general.