fascia not removed, path report: + margins in fascia!

rockstar22

 I had Bilateral Mastectomy on August 30, 2011 with TE reconstruction. My stage one IDC cancer was found on a screening MRI that I requested due to family hx of breast cancer Had to have MRI biopsy because wasn't able to see on ultrasound. Evidently, the cancer was "very deep and close to the chest wall". Morning after surgery my doc makes rounds and says that nodes were negative and he didn't even see a tumor during surgery. One week later the path report is in and I have margins in the fascia. My surgeon admits he didn't take out the fascia because the breast tissue came out so easily. He is now recommending radiation, which I wanted to avoid by having the mastectomy. I'm really angry and don't understand why he didn't take out the fascia not to mention some of the chest wall in the first place considering the depth and that removing the fascia seems to be standard for mastectomies. I plan on callng first thing Monday and getting all of my reports and discussing his decision making process but I'd love to know what you all thnk of this.

DiamondGirl

Rockstar22, I don't have any answers but just want to bump it up so someone can give you an answer!

Good luck!! {{{Hugs}}}

coraleliz

I had a BMX for bilateral tumors. Both tumors were close to the chest wall. Didn't show up on mamograms. I read in my surgery report that the fascia was removed & my path report said the fascia was clean. Removing the fascia isn't something my surgeon discussed with me prior to surgery. Some surgeons are more aggressive was what I was told. I also believed that a BMX would mean no RADs for me. Not so. Lymphatic Vacular Invasion & node involvement. I was actually kind of upset when I read my fascia was removed. My left side was slower to heal & has slightly less range of motion. I'm not sure how I would have felt if part of my chest wall was removed, without my prior understanding.