Lumpectomy Lounge....let's talk!

PontiacPeggy

I've already started partying - went to Red Lobster and had a Triple Berry Sangria (no, I wasn't driving!). It was yummy. That's my quota for the night.

HUGS!!

octogirl

Cheers Peggy, and all! Let the party begin!

Octogirl

Molly50

Outrunning you could still do some corrective surgery if your lumpectomy breast is not pretty for you. Shirley I am glad that the pessary is working for you. I had a laproscopic vaginal assisted hysterectomy. My repairs were done at the same time. I actually had a gyn oncologist do my surgery because he is used to complicated repairs. If I were you I would use urogynecologist if you aren't already. I should be right behind you starting rads.

Molly50

I will join the party but no alcohol. I am exhausted and still at work.

PontiacPeggy

Molly, probably wise to not drink at work. You can wait till you get home. We'll party for 24 hours! I think we've all earned it!

HUGS!

Reader425

Raising a glass to the worldwide party! It's been a long day and tomorrow we're traveling. Count me in!

Even when I don't comment I read your posts and am keeping my fellow BC friends in my prayers and thoughts.

PontiacPeggy

We wouldn't anyone to be left out. I think we should have them regularly! We all do party well! And we deserve it

HUGS!

Reader425

Thanks Peggy! Indeed we do!

PontiacPeggy

Okay, clever people! We need a catchy name for our world "let's have a drink and celebrate we're surviving all this shit and are alive" party day.

HUGS!

ChicagoReader

Raising my non-alcoholic (at the moment) beverage to toast the rest of the gang!!!

zinny

"Think pink? Lets drink."

keepwalking

About 9 am here, but I'll toast with my coffee! Glad to see you ladies kept it going! Love the worldwide party idea, Peggy, and that we should find a name!

Outrunning - Glad to see you, but sorry that you are bummed about the tattoos and the physical changes. I don't have that experience yet, but I can well imagine that it will be traumatic. I know that I am still bothered in the summer when I wear sandals because I broke my second toe a few years back and it healed crooked. How much more so a part of our bodies that we identify with as women! With other challenges in your life as well, you certainly deserve a drink and some relaxation.

Shirley - So sorry you are having to deal with so many issues all at once. I hope that you find a good way to coordinate it all so that you can feel confident in the decision and well taken care of. I am glad there are people here with valuable experience that can offer good advice.

BIG HUGS (gentle) to all!

PontiacPeggy

Zinny, that's cute!

I'm pleased that we are able to get our virtual worldwide party going. So many of us are having especially rough times right now and a party is a good way to cheer everyone up.

To our newest members, keep asking questions and we will keep sharing our experiences and hard-won expertise (keeping in mind, that as the kids say, "Your mileage may vary" and we are not oncologists). Our shoulders are strong and arms comforting.

HUGS!

Outrunning

Zinny that needs a thumbs up button

keepwalking

Oh my, you'll never guess this one.

So, I go to the ultrasound, expecting that they just need to make sure that the clip/marker is still in the right place. After about 3.5 hours in the waiting room they took more mammography pics. Waiting again, then the ultrasound. then it turns out there is another area of calcifications and - you guessed it - another biopsy was done!!! Now, I am back to waiting another 7-10 days for the unknown again!!

I'll spare you the discussion of walking down the hall from the ultrasound to the mammography rooms and back with a hospital gown open in the front and a needle sticking out of my boob!

Cheers again - time for wine!

PontiacPeggy

Rina, That's awful! Why in the hell can't they do all of it at once? Your poor girls I think a glass of wine just isn't going to hack it. Maybe a cask or 10. You have to be frazzled! Wish I could hug you in person - you definitely need it.

HUGS!!!!

keepwalking

Thanks Peggy! Hug received across the ocean and helps a lot.

I also don't understand. I guess maybe the radiologist didn't think this area was significant enough to biopsy last time, but I know my BC team met together on Tuesday, so maybe they decided they wanted a closer look. I am glad that they are wanting to be sure now, rather than not getting clean margins and having to do another surgery. But I also wish it could have been done all at once.

The positive side is that this biopsy was not as painful. But the potential bummer is that this site is below my areola, so if it turns out to be malignant it will mean losing the nipple Funny how we know our bodies. I was feeling around last week and thought this area seemed a little different, but didn't think anything of it because they had just done an extensive examination.

octogirl

Rina: HUGS!!! That is awful! but it sounds like they are being thorough, which is a good thing in the long run even if you need the big cask for the wait.

I don't know if this is a comfort or not, but my tumor was right below my nipple, and yes, I lost the nipple. It is slightly more complex surgery than the regular LX but it is definitely doable (and done on an outpatient basis) and it is a much shorter recovery than a full mx or bmx. The bs did a bit of oncoplasty and covered the spot with skin. If I want (and I probably won't bother) I can get a 3-D tattoo'd nipple later, apparently they are doing really cool stuff with those 3-d tattoos now.

The only issue I had was that I popped a stitch during recovery and it took FOREVER to heal, just now healing fully actually. But that was my fault: I was told not to lift anything heavier than about ten or twenty pounds till recovered, and when I saw my grandson for the first time in months, well, I just grabbed him and picked him up for a hug without thinking about it. Honestly, it might have been worth it (wound never got infected, thank goodness, and bs, who is a perfectionist, which you want in a surgeon I think, watched it like a hawk.)

So, I am rambling and I don't know if it is comforting, but honestly, losing a nipple has been ok. We will be here to give you HUGS and I certainly will be thinking good thoughts for it to be NOTHING !!!

HUGS

Octogirl

keepwalking

Thanks Octogirl for the hugs and the information, which I do find helpful. It is good to know that being without the nipple is not that bad, if it comes to that for me. The difficulty, I think, is that I was already slated to do oncoplastic Lx for the existing tumor, which is at 12 o'clock, about halfway up the breast. So, with this spot, on the same breast, just under the nipple, that would seem to be an extensive area to dissect out. But, I should not let my mind dwell on that, and just wait for the outcome. Thanks for the good thoughts for it to be nothing like the second biopsy was!!!!

HUGS to all!

PontiacPeggy

Rina, of course you want your doctors to be thorough but....maybe all at once? Interesting that you had noticed something different in that area. I'm glad they are checking it out - should give you some peace no matter how it turns out. It's so hard losing part of your body. Hope you won't have to lose the nipple but Octogirl says it is doable. We all know that. We just don't want to have to "do." I just tossed a nice cask of wine in the ocean for you. Better go retrieve it!

HUGS!

keepwalking

Wonderful, thanks Peggy!!!!

HUGS

april485

Wow, it is so great to see the lounge is still busy all this time later. I was one of the initial posters on this thread back in 2013 when it was begun and I know I found comfort in a common cause as we were all going through our lumpectomies at the time. Hugs and know that time is your friend for most of us. Take care!

PontiacPeggy

April, Hi! I hope you joined our "Think pink! Let's Drink" worldwide party yesterday (Rina's going to extend her participation by a week or two). This is the best forum ever. Informative, caring, and funny. I hope you read all the ghost stories - they were priceless. We're crossing out fingers that the book will be out soon!

HUGS!!

Outrunning

Rina - That sucks. Sending hugs and raising a virtual glass to you.

And now I'm going to put my head down, plow through some magazine layout, and hope the Cubmaster can solve, without much help from me) the fact that we have twice as many people who want to camp Saturday as we expected and no room for them! Good problem to have I guess. But still.

Molly50

(((Rina))) You might prepare yourself for the possibility that your BS will recommend a Mx instead of Lx. I wish they had been more thorough with imaging on me prior to my Lx. It would have save me one surgery. When I got the pathology from my umx (my BS recommended nipple removal) there was cancer in the stem of my nipple. My tumor was at 12:00 just above the nipple. I had extensive LVI which they did not know ahead of time and try as hard as she did, my BS could not get clean margins on me. This is not said to scare you but given they keep doing biopsies and you have calcifications that you will have to worry about with future imaging it might be the recommended path. Sending you hugs and prayers. (and a glass of wine)

keepwalking

Molly - Thank you for your candidness. I was actually talking about this to my husband as we were returning home. I can well imagine that this could change the recommendation from Lx to Mx, depending upon the results of the biopsy. I like to consider things ahead and not be caught off-guard, so I appreciate that you said this.

How would you compare the recovery from the Mx versus the Lx, having experienced both?

HUGS

Keys-Plez

My BS said if the cancer (IDC) was limited to one quadrant (1/4), they would recommend a lx. More than one quadrant involvement, then an MX might be the way to go. My MRI found a second suspect area. The biopsy on it was benign. So we went with an lx.

But......The post op pathology report also found ILC, which is undetectable by a mammogram. I probably should have had an mx due to the nature of ILC.

For now, I just finished whole-breast radiation, which I was not suppose to have, to kill the ILC.

Tomorrow I'm meeting with my MO to start AIs.

MissBee123

Hello ladies! New to the lounge, traveling here from the July chemo group and would love some advice:

I'm 3 rounds into my neoadjuvent TCHP treatment and, according to my most recent MRI, I have had no response to chemotherapy. My tumor is the exact same size it was when I began treatment and my lymph nodes remain affected. Due to this, my MO has decided to stop treatment for now and instead I will be having surgery on the 28th.

My problem is this: my team of doctors, primarily my breast surgeon and plastic surgeon, feel that I am not a candidate for a lumpectomy and are recommending a double mastectomy. My tumor is approximately 4cm and located in the 8:00 position of my right breast. My breast surgeon said due to the amount she needs to remove, she feels I would not be happy with the results and that my breast would not look right (her exact terminology was "terrible"). This recommendation seems to be a purely aesthetic recommendation rather than one that is related to any concerns about my health or long-term prognosis. I asked about a fat graft and she said to double check with the plastic surgeon, but they are generally not done with tumors as large as mine. I trust my doctors and really respect them, but I am striving to be as informed as possible since amputating my breasts is not really at the top of my Awesome Things list.

I am emphatically campaigning for a lumpectomy and have very strong feelings about not wanting a double mastectomy. I also, however, understand that if I want symmetrical breasts that look as "normal" as possible, perhaps a lumpectomy really is not an option.

I wondered if anyone here has had a similar experience in which a double mastectomy was recommended due to aesthetics but you chose lumpectomy? I would love to hear any advice or recommendations. Thank you!

Molly50

Rina, my recovery from the mx was easier in many ways than the Lx but I suspect some of that is because I had ALND during the Lx. The tissue expander was the worst part of mx recovery. Feel free to PM if you have any questions or hop over to the September or August surgery threads to get some advice as well.

MissBee, welcome to the lumpy lounge! It sounds like you could stand to join our virtual drinking party so I am handing you a glass of wine. After all it is always 5:00 somewhere! Have you considered a second opinion with another surgeon? Have you seen a plastic surgeon. I know time is probably becoming an issue since you are not responding to chemo. I started out with a lumpectomy and ended up with a UMX when my surgeon could not get clean margins on me. If you don't want a prophy on the non cancer side you can always opt for a umx. There is no guarentee of symmetry either way anyway.

MaggieCat

Evening all.... Yep, it is after 5 here and I'm thinking pink with a glass of a nice white wine!

Had my 6 month check-up with the RO yesterday and then my 12 mth check-up with my BS today. Had some "tissue thickening" in the incision area recently. Learned a bit about the differences in how things feel to the touch now vs before all of this ( LX, rads). RO emphasized that the new "area of concern" was pliable. BS was pretty quick to say things "felt" like typical changes she sees (feels) after radiation treatment.

The weather in our neck of the woods has made headlines recently... Finally things are starting to calm... Here's a picture taken yesterday when the sun finally returned! Cheers.....