Healing after lumpectomy

elisheva

I just had my lumpectomy last Thursday, a week ago. I feel well and the pain is not too bad, but I don't like the look of the breast. It is large and hard, and the skin is really stretched. I hesitate to call the doctor with such minor complaint, an anyway it is very hard to get anybody on the phone in the doctor's office. I will see the surgeon on Monday for the pathology report. Should I just wait till Monday or try the contact them?

What has been your experience about healing from lumpectomy? Did any of you have similar experience? I will be grateful to hear from anyone.

Thank you - elisheva..

Deb-from-Ohio

Hi Elish

  I had mine on April 21st, my breast is still swelled, of course I had node dissection too and have found out that I have to get aspirated tomorrow to get rid of some fluid.......But from what I understood, there are stitches inside also, and they have to heal...so your breast has been through alot...

Deb

AmyIsStrong

I had my lumpectomy on 3/19.  It was healing nicely and then about a week or so later,  suddenly became very hard and painful and swollen, not even at the incision but on the other side of the breast. It felt hot to the touch and throbbed. I was terrified I had an infection and really panicked. Saw the surgeon the next day - she assured me that all these changes come and go after surgery for the next 3 months or so, as the body deals with and reabsorbs the dead blood, extra fluids, deals with the trauma to the area, redistributes the lymph fluids, etc.  I felt so much better knowing it was normal.  She also prescribed 12 sessions of physical therapy for me. I went to a practice that specializes in breast surgery patients.  The women were WONDERFUL - and they worked especially on the breast area, doing a massage that redistributed the lymph fluids away from the surgery area, as well as scar massage to make sure it healed well. They taught me how to do the massage myself (or my DH could do) and some stretching exercises also. I only had FOUR sessions with them but they were SUPER HELPFUL. We are saving the other 8 for further along in my treatment, as they say that sometimes you need some PT when you are going through rads also. The therapist's approach is completely different than the doctor's - they take LOTS of time with you, answer all your questions, are very supportive, patient, etc.  IF you are able to, I would encourage you to get a PT prescription from your surgeou, and try to find a practice that specializes in this area. They have tons of experience from dealing with so many bc women. It really helped me.

And - now that I am almost two months past surgery, the breast is almost back to normal. Still has some hard areas but no pain and much more normal.

 Good luck to you as you recover.

Amy

elisheva

Amy and Deb,

Thanks so much for your posts. It is very helpful. Amy, I realize that I shouldn't panic, and I refuse to listen to my husband who urges me to call the surgeon. I'm sure this can wait till Monday. But it is discouraging to read that now, almost two months later, the breast is still not completely healed... I hope you'll both make a full recovery.

Elisheva.

jabl1252

I had my lumpectomy on April 14th and it is still healing. My surgeon said that you will have alot of old blood that will fill up where he took out the tissue,and sometimes your body can not absorb all the blood so it has to come out of you or you will swell up. You need to wear a sports bra untill it heals to keep pressure and to hold your breast in place.It is a pain to wear the bra all the time ,but is well worth it. Hope this helps you. Julie

GloDee

I had my lumpectomy 4 weeks ago today, April 20, and I am sitting here topless typing this note.  My first week was fine.  By the day 7-8, my breast was getting swollen and so sore I had to hold it to walk.  It got so sensitive that I couldn't stand to wear anything over it.  Sports bra, everything, felt like wool over a severe sunburn.  Still does today, though the swelling has gone down quite a bit.  I did call my surgeon and the nurse several times.  He saw me at 2 wks, but just told me to "take it easy" and not to "be so hard" on myself.  A week later I was back in his office worse, with red areas on my breast.  He did drain the fluid, but said there wasn't much there.  I don't understand why mine is still hurting me so much at 4 weeks.  Let your doctor know your discomfort now.

elisheva

GloDee,

 This is really tough. I think you should continue wearing a bra, maybe buy yourself a larger size? In my case, the doctor promised that this is completely normal, and it wasn't bad enough to drain. She said it can last a long time but eventually the body absorbs the extra fluids. I am getting used to living with it - not to say that it is pleasant!

In the meantime, the pathology report showed that one margin wasn't clean, so I'll have a re-excision next week. Did any of you have the tumor tested with the Oncotype DX test? Just curious. I understand that this test will be one factor in deciding whether to I'll get chemotherapy or just radiation. I am postmenopausal (67). What is your treatment going to be?

 Lots of luck! elisheva.

Sydney6

elisheva,

I didn't post anything here, but I had the Oncotype test done.  What do you want to know?

Sue

GloDee

May 19, 2009  10:40p.m.

elisheva,

Tried wearing the sports bra again, but am paying for it today with more soreness and redness.  Guess I go up still another size, from my normal 36 to a 40 or 42, or an x-lg.  I just read about the Oncotype test today.  My surgery was 4 wks ago, so I don't know if it is too late or not.  This is silly/stupid but, do they keep the slide or whatever of your cancer cells for a certain period of time. Think I read that the cancer cells are used for the test.  Also, I understood that it was just to determine if you could skip chemo, not radiation; is that right?  I too am postmenopausal (66 in July) and had hysterectomy 12 years ago.  BTW, my swelling is better, but the skin sensitivity is terrible and a hot, burning feeling is in my breast.  What next????   Glo

elisheva

I am surprised that we don't see more responses about this topic. I'm sure that many of us had problems after the lumpectomy surgery. I guess after we heal from the surgery - which must happen eventually, so don't lose hope Glo - other concerns, that is, treatment,  take precedence. I hope you will get better soon. My situation has definitely improved. Now it's the itching that bothers me

I asked about the oncotype DX test because I'm curious about it, and I wonder if it has determined the kind of treatment for anyone in this forum. Glo, there is an description of this test right here on this site. You can enter the word in the Search space, right in the Home page, and you'll find it.

Elisheva.

Anonymous

elisheva - I had a lumpectomy on February 27, 2009, and found that the only way I could get some relief was to wear my sports bra 24/7, the only time I took it off was to shower.  I had extensive bruising which only recently healed from the last bruise, the very bottom of my breast.  I had to go up a size or two, but it was worth it for the support.  I stopped wearing the sports bra in mid-April and moved on to a regular bra.

I had the Oncotype test - they do it only if you are ER/PR positive.  What it does is determine the percentage of risk you will have of developing cancer in another part of your body over a 10 year period.  This then helps the oncologist determine if you will need chemo in addition to radation or not.  My score was 18%, in the gray area (intermediate), not high risk, not low risk, but at the bottom of the intermediate area.  My oncologist said chemo would help lower that percentage, so I started on taxotere/cytoxan on April 2, but after the second treatment at the end of April, I was having severe side effects and some complications, so I stopped treatment and have just started with rads.  Hope this helps!

Sydney6

elisheva - I had a lot of swelling after the lumpectomy.  About a week or so after it was pretty severe so I called the breast surgeon and made an appointment to be seen.  The morning of my appointment a bunch of fluid can out of the corner of my incision which kind of freaked me out.  It looked like lymph but was tinged pink and there was a lot of it.  It definitely felt better once some of that was out.  The BS said it was normal and sometimes they can drain that - not as bad as it sounds because she attempted to do that for me at a later appointment but there wasn't much left in there.  Usually it gets reabsorbed into your system but to be honest with you I don't know how long that would take.  Mine kept building up and coming out on its own.

I had the Oncotype done and my score was a 12 which put me at an 8% chance of  distant recurrence in 10 years if I did just the tamoxifen.  My oncologist said with the chemo it would only reduce my chance to 7% - not worth what chemo would do to me.  So in answer to your question I used it to determine my treatment.  Good luck to you!

Sue

LRM216

Healing from my lumpectomy was a breeze and I had a very large incision (bat wing procedure).  Unfortunately, I had to have a re-excision on 4/8 for 2 clear margins (which I got), and the recovery from that has been a real b*tch.  Good luck to you, keep us posted.

Linda

pdaw

This is my first post.   I was diagnosed with DCIS in 2006 - had a lumpectory, followed by 36 radiation treatments.  I got along very well - actually worked a very stressful job, sometimes up to 50+ hours a week during my entire radiation treatment.  Like Linda, healing went very well.  

  Anyway, my latest news is that yesterday I found out that I have IDC in my left breast.  I'm scheduled for lumpectomy on June 1 - have already been told that I'll need chemotherapy followed by radiation.  My surgeon will insert a port at the same time as my surgery.  Like all of you, I've learned far about this subject than I ever wanted to know.  With this diagnosis, I had so many new words thrown at me - Grade 3 - possibly stage 2 HER-2 negative.  I knew about the  ER & PR test from my previous diagnosis.  I did not know about this discussion board in dealing with my cancer 3 years ago - it might not have existed then - but plan to be a regular for the next year of my life.

elisheva

pdaw - sorry to hear aboout your recurrence. Good luck!

No news here - I'm waiting for the reexcision in a week, but my surgeon has told me a week after the first surgery that the swelling of the breast and retaining of fluid is very common and normal.   My BS also told me that if the incision bursts and water spills out, do not panic. Just take a warm shower and wash it off. They should tell us those things right after the surgery, it would have been so helpful, don't you agree? I find they don't give enough information at that time, and I told her so.

GloDee - how are you ding? Is it still hurting?

Linda - I hope I don't have your experience with the second surgery. Why does that happen? I thought the second time is a smaller procedures, without lymph nodes excision, and they take out less tissue, etc. I see that you are triple negative, so do you get chemotherapy, or what kind of treatment? Good luck to all of you. I think I will stay with this discussion forum for a LONG time. Somehow it helps to spell out (and spill out) your thoughts to like-minded (dare I say kindred spirits?) people.

elisheva.

pdaw

elisheva

I had to learn the vocabulary.  What is a reexcision?

Linda -  I am also triple negative.  What do you know about it?  I found out 1 good thing today and that is that triple negatives respond to chemotherapy better than some others.

GloDee

May 21, 2009  11:32p.m.

elisheva - Thanks for asking about me.  I am feeling 90% better emotionally/mentally just from your comments about the lack of information on this topic. That has been a huge problem for me, and I have consistently told the dr and nurses I've bothered this is a problem.  I was believing I was the only woman who had postop problems from a lumpectomy.  Nothing is even mentioned in the pamphlets they sent home with me.  Why is this???  We see pink ribbons, breast cancer awareness EVERYWHERE, but we, at least some of us, are not being given enough info up front.  I thought I would be wearing clothes, driving and almost back to normal by 2 weeks for sure, then have a couple of good weeks before starting radiation.  At four weeks, most of the swelling is gone.  BUT, I cannot wear a bra, even a sports bra yet and clothing over that breast is really bad.  I walk around at home most of the time topless or I wear a t-shirt and hold my hand underneath to keep it from touching my breast.  My surgical arm is sore and tired from holding it in the "protective" position. NOBODY told me anything about this.  When I tell my surgeon and the nurse/patient educator who called during the first two weeks, they were very nonchalant and patronizing.  "Everyone heals differently," or "Don't push yourself" was the type information I received!  I am totally frustrated, even angry, because of the lack of info given pre and post surgery.  Enough on my new cause for now.  Does anyone have an idea, or give me your healing time, what to expect about some type of normal feeling in my body.  I had one abt. 4-inch incision on left outer and back side of breast with sentinel node biopsy.  My numbness and sensitivity are still present at underarm (flabby part), armpit, slightly behind armpit, and left outer part of breast and nipple.  Nipple is really sensitive.  My husband suggested that I split a coconut and start wearing that like in the island movies!  Perhaps.

elisheva

Hi Glo,

Seems you have an unusually tough time healing. And the fact that you don't find any answers from the surgeon's office makes it much worse. Did you get your pathology report? Did they give you a treatment plan, and did you find a medical oncologist? I don't really know when you have to look for the medical oncologist - wasn't told by my surgeon - but that would be the next step. He or she will plan the next stage of treatment with you based on the reports. Myself, I am feeling much better. I returned to work 5 days after surgery. But then my job isn't particularly stressful. I am a librarian at an academic institution and we have no classes now, so there is nothing going on. This is the best time to get sick

 In 5 days - May 28 - I have my second surgery, the re-excision. For pdaw, they do this when one or more of the margins of the tissue they took out is not completely clean of cancer cells, they have to go back in and take our another layer from that same spot. Very sorry to hear about the recurrence. Good luck to you! There are so many possible situations and variations on the theme, don't you agree? I hope you'll have an easy time. Please keep us posted.

elisheva.

Sydney6

GloDee,

I wore the sports bra, but hated it.  I was swollen for some time, but I guess what I thought was a lot of swelling the doctor didn't.  Every time she looked at it she said it looked great.  The area where the sentinal node was taken healed fairly quickly for me however I still have a little numbness in my back, but it is getting better.  My surgery was on January 15, 2009.  A friend who had also had a lumpectomy told my she would wear her sports bra over a T-shirt for support around the house as the T-shirt felt better against her skin than the sports bra.  Once I got going in radiation I just went braless (it was like reliving the 70's).  I am not that big so I would usually wore a long sleeve T-shirt (it was March) and a zip up sweatshirt over top.  When I had to I'd wear the sports bra. 

I too felt like things arose they didn't give you any idea about.  When I would call the doctor they would tell me whatever my problem was was normal.  My sister said it would be nice if they told you this or that can happen just so you don't freak out when it does.  Good luck.  You'll get there,  It just seems to take longer than you expect - sort of like when my husband starts a project around the house.

Sue

GloDee

May 22, 2009  11:50p.m.

elisheve and Sue,

For the first time today, I felt better.  Actually went to get my hair cut then treated myself to a pedicure!  I did say not to be too rough on the cuticles, etc.  Kept my spandex cami on all afternoon without getting too uncomfortable.  Maybe I can see some progress after all.  Elisheve, I am a librarian also.  I retired 6 yrs ago.  I actually worked as Research Medical Librarian at M.D. Anderson right out of college, in the Dark Ages!  When I moved back to Mississippi there were NO medical libraries in my area, so I became a school librarian.  Question about re-excision & margins:  Did they not know the margins were not clean during the 1st surgery?  I thought my surgeon said they checked that while we were still in surgery.  Is there a possibility I, or anyone, could find out a few weeks post op that we have to go back and take more???  I would be so upset.  I can tell I am a terrible patient.  Am I unaccepting of what this dreaded disease does and that it is not simple?  Think I am not looking forward enough.  Sue, good analogy about the length of recovery and the husband's projects.  Same here.  I may be older than you ladies, but wonder if your spouses are "involved" in your diagnosis.  Mine never asks me questions, seems to want to be removed somewhat, even though he has gone to the doctor with me.  His coping mechanism has always been different from mine though.  I scream and fuss and he hides his head in the sand, assuming whatever the issue is will go away if we don't discuss it.  On the subject of oncologist, my surgeon told me surgery day that he would send me to the oncologist after my 2 wk checkup.  At 2 wks, he said I "wasn't healed enough" and it might be another month.  My next appoint is next week, which will be five weeks postop.  Have no idea what he will do at that point. 

Gloria 

pdaw

elisheva

I will be thinking about you on May 28.  My prayer list is growing by leaps and bounds as I meet ladies through this forum.  My dr. says that she only has to go back in about 10% of the time for additional margins. 

I am anxious about surgery on June 1, but really can't wait.  You know when you have this alien growing inside your body and you just can't wait to get rid of it.  And, of course, I feel for it almost every night - and of course, it feels bigger each night.   I would have let her cut it out on the exam table the day of diagnosis.

cleomoon

Ok maybe this is a really stupid question.

But why might they not use a small drain for larger lumpectomies like they do for masectomies?

Sydney6

GloDee,

While initially my spouse was wonderful I get the feeling sometimes that since my surgery is done and I'm done with radiation he thinks I should just move on.  He doesn't really seem to want to talk about it or understand that I'm still healing physically & emotionally.  When I asked him to come with me to the oncologists office the day I was getting my prescription for Tamoxifen he said he would but didn't quite get why I wanted him to go.  That's one of the reasons I come to this website.  As wonderful as my friends and family have been, they really just don't get it.  That being said just yesterday he bought plants for our deck.  He said he's making one corner of the deck the breast cancer corner.  I thought that meant he was getting me some herbs or plants good for cancer, but he meant it was all going to be pink flowers.  So even though he doesn't seem to want to talk about it I know he thinks about it.  I think that is just how men are.  (As a side note I just want to say I have never been a huge fan of pink, and said why couldn't blue be the color for cancer.  After I thought about it I thought would I really want my favorite color to represent this hideous disease?)  In response to your comment about are you "unaccepting of what this dreaded disease does and that it is not simple" I felt that when my surgeon first explained what would happen they made it sound like it is simple.  Maybe they do this so you won't freak out.  My surgeon made it sound like you have the lumpectomy, go for 6 1/2 weeks of radiation and then you take Tamox for 5 years.  I thought O.K., no probelm.  When I first met with the oncologist she brought up chemo based on the fact that my tumor showed evidence of lymphovascular involvement.  I did not have to do chemo because my Oncotype score was low; however; I had to sweat that out for a month due to insurance company issues.  I also had to have a bone scan and a cat scan which showed something on my liver and my lung.  I then had to have a liver MRI which showed it was nothing and in 4 months I need to have this thing on lung looked at again.  The whole time I'm thinking whatever happened to surgery, radiaition, medication and then done?  Let me know how you make out with your follow-up.  I wish you all the best!

Sue

Sydney6

pdaw,

I was supposed to have my surgery December 15th but 4 days before I came down with shingles so it was pushed back 3 weeks.  They tentatively scheduled it and then pushed me back another week so I know exactlly how you feel.  When they pushed it back the 2nd time and I was waiting for confirmation the day before I actually went I told my husband if they postpone me again I'm going to tell Ithem to give me a knife and I'll cut it out myself.  I will be thinking of you and hope all goes well on the 1st.

Sue

elisheva

Hello Ladies,

 It seems that y'all are busy on your computers on the weekend. I forget about the computer during the weekend and check this website during work hours... Lucky me. I have more questions than answers, like the rest of you.

Glo - isn't it ironical that you worked for M.D. Anderson, one of the outstanding cancer research facilities? Let us know what comes next for you. Pdaw - good luck for June 1. I hope you have an easy recovery.

On the subject of husbands. First, I think we are lucky to have them; so many cancer patients are alone. Mine is also very supportive, but I feel that he is tired of it all, and for the most part I'm not talking about it. Yesterday I showed him a new development - a recessed nipple - and then I said by way of apology that he's probably fed up with me talking about it. He hastened to assure me that no, he is always ready to hear. Still, it's best if we keep our thought to ourselves, and that's why this forum is so wonderful.

Elisheva.

GloDee

Elisheva,  How are you?  Are you home?  I've not been on the computer, but you were on my mind.  Let us hear about your surgery as soon as you feel like it.  I am thinking about you. 

GloDee

Sue:  Have been home but away from computer.  Your thoughts are so close to mine.  You are probably right on about the surgeons making this whole process sound so simple, possibly because they are afraid of freaking us out.  I honestly thought I would be feeling fine from the surgery by two weeks out and probably that would be it.  Now, I am 6 weeks out and still mostly uncomfortable.  Will see the oncologist Thursday for the first time.  Don't know what to expect or what exactly to ask.  What do you mean about "lymphovascular involvement"?  Did you already know that from surgical or path report or did she tell you about it for the first time?  Does the oncologist do the Oncotype testing?  Let me know if there is anything I definitely need to ask that I might not know to ask.  Thanks for your notes.

elisheva

Hi - Glo, Sue, pdaw - I hope you are all doing OK, as well as can be excepted. How did your surgery go yesterday, pdaw? I had my reexcision last Thursday, and I can  defiitely say that it was easier since they did not touch the lymph nodes, and the scar under-arm healed nicely. The breast is again bruised, like before, but today it's much better. Will see the surgeon next week Monday (6 days to wait), and then I'll find out about the next step, when finally I'll learn the results of the oncotype test. For all of you - there's another thread under the  IDC topic called "Anyone with a high oncotype and <1 cm tumor?". Interesting. Glo -to answer your question - the surgeon send my tissue to do the Oncotype test to the only place that does it, in California. (I guess they have a patent on it.) It takes 10-14 days to get the results. They only do the test if you are ER+ and lymph nodes are negative, and that's why it takes a while before they send out to do the test. Do you know if your tumor is ER positive?

The waiting is really getting to me. I also was under the impression that it will be radiation and a pill for 5 years, but I still don't know. I'm trying to find a medical oncologist in a cancer center that's convenient to me by subway. (I live in New York and am fortunate in this way because we have so many great resources.) So I called her office and they are putting me off. "the doctor is busy and she can only see new patients at the earliest on June 29"!  So there's nothing I can do but wait, or compromise and go to another place, another less experienced doctor. It is frustrating.

Elisheva.

Sydney6

Hi GloDee - When I had the biopsy done the pathology report said "lymphovascular invasion present" as did the pathology report from my surgery.  You should get a copy of this from your surgeon before you meet with the oncologist, that way you'll have a chance to review it and write down some questions before you go.  My husband came with me to the oncologist which was good because sometimes they think of different things to ask.  I don't know your circumstances, but I got a good feel about my oncologist for a few reasons.    She openly talked about what concerned her on the pathology report.  She seemed to want to be very cautious given my age - I am 45.  I had a bone scan & cat scan - I believe to make sure it hadn't spread because of the "lympovascular invasion".  Although the results of the cat scan of my liver & lung both said it was probably nothing she insisted on following up with the liver MRI and another look at my lung in a few months.  I was about to ask about the Oncotype and she told me she was about to bring it up to me.  (A friend had told me to ask about it, because she said some oncologists don't mention it.)  Then when the insurance company gave her a hard time she didn't back down.  My Onco score was a 12 with an 8% chance of recurrance, which means I did not have to do chemo.  As she explained it the chemo would only reduce my recurrance percentage to 7%.  Let me know how you make out on Thurs.  I will be thinking of you.

elisheva

Hi All. I got back today my Oncotype results. My score is 26, which is in the median range but on the high end. I will meet with the surgeon next week and the following day with the oncologist - whom I have not met yet, but who agreed to open up a slot for me (yay!) - and hear what they suggest to do next. Because of my age (67) I expect it will be radiation, not chemo, although it looks quite aggressive (and my path report also noted "lymphovascular involvement".) Actually, my new oncologist is involved in several studies, one of them for people in exactly my situation. I am wondering whether she will suggest that I join her study, which means doing chemo... I also think that you should go for the Oncotype DX test. How did your visit go today?

best to you, elisheva. 

Sydney6

Hey elsheva -- Sorry the Onco test wasn't more definitive for you.  I'm wondering where in NYC you go.  I had gone down to Sloan for a 2nd opinion (I'm upstate).  Let me know how you make out next week.  I'm glad the re-excision went O.K. for you.

Sue

Sue