Lumpectomy Lounge....let's talk!

Outrunning

Liza12345 I started with atypia. The surgeon I saw about it found the cancerous lump in my other breast, so make sure whoever you see checks you throughly.

That said what you probably need is an excise biopsy. They remove the lump and throughly biopsy. My surgeon told me that about 10% of atypia become cancerous. That is why they want them out and to completely check them to make sure no cancer is present right now.

Not sure why they'd do nymph nodes. That was not discussed for me for this recent benign lump nor one I have removed 15 years ago. No lymph node sampling until the malignancy was found.

Good news is that unless your lump is very large surgery is fairly minor for the excise biopsy. Just a day or two off work and a few days off exercise. They aren't worried about clear margins and taking bigger areas with something that isn't malignant.

And just to make you feel better. This round, even with cancer on the left, the benign lump with atypia at biopsy didn't even have atypia when excised. They had apparently gotten all of it with the initial biopsy.

ntchick

Hi I am usually a reader not a poster, looking for lots of info usually, here is my story. I am 44 years old mother of a 7 year and 13 year old, I first found a lump just under the skin like a grain of rice in January went for a ultrasound and it looked like fatty tissue and benign said to follow it up in 6 months. 5 months later I was checking it out and noticed a huge lump underneath it found out from a needle biopsy they were both malignant. Lobular carcinoma can be hard to detect. Now 4 weeks post op from second surgery margins weren't clear the first time and I had one positive sentinel node so they did auxiliary clearance 30 clear nodes. Lump was in the bottom of breast, lucky for me a Double D cup, the surgeon made it like a breast reduction to a perky C or D and gave me a lift preserving the nipple . Lumpectomy had some infection on breast 6 o'clock incision after both surgeries . Still trying to heal 2 holes from infection, my body was ejecting some stitches too. They put on a small VAC pico dressing and it is working miracles. Hope to Finnish healing in 2 weeks to start Chemo. Been a bit of a long road as first surgery was in mid August and I am sick of dressings. Feeling light headed and tired but generally good. Wishing every body good luck interested to follow your journeys.☺

keepwalking

Hello all! I just received notice that I will have my surgery on Sunday, Oct 25. Yay! I check in to my room in the general surgery ward at 10:30 a.m. and then to go to nuclear medicine for the radioactive tracer injections. The surgery is supposed to be about 3 pm. It is the original plan of oncoplastic lumpectomy plus sentinel node biopsy. I will have to stay overnight, and will have a consult with the physiotherapist Monday morning concerning exercises, etc. to prevent lymphedema. If all goes well I will be released on Monday. I am happy to be moving forward - and not getting scared as yet, but I am sure I will be by Sunday

MissBee - I hope all goes well with the conference today and that you receive a clear response that will answer all of your questions and you will feel secure in the decision. Waiting for this must be very difficult!

MLP - I'm glad the port placement went well, and hoping that your bruising and soreness passes quickly. Hope you were able to get back on NSAIDs and get relief for your poor knee!

BJ - I hope that rads go well today and that you feel better that you are beginning to give the knock-out punch to anything remaining!

Lisaj - Beautiful photos! That looks so serene! My fly-fishing experience (many years ago in mountains of Colorado) consisted of watching others as I sat dry on the banks taking in the scenery. But it looks like you were having fun!

Catfur - Congratulations on finishing chemo!

ChiSandy - What an ordeal! I'm not sure I would have handled that without passing out! Glad you got it stitched and hope things are going better for you.

Marymallette - Hope all goes well with your surgery today! Sending positive thoughts your way.

Stormy - Glad you are feeling fine after surgery!

ntchick - Welcome! I am sure you ARE getting tired of dressings and incisions that aren't yet healed! I hope things progress well from here and that you are able to stay on track for chemo in 2 weeks. Not that it is something to look forward to in itself, but I am sure you are anxious to get on with wiping out the BC!

HUGS to all!

Catfurr

chemo done!!! Now to decide between lumpectomy or bilateral mx. Hoping MRI next week will help with that choice!

zinny

HOORAY! Adorable

MissBee123

Congratulations Catfurr!!! What a fun photo and celebration!

Molly50

Congratulations catfurr!

Molly50

Welcome to our lumpy lounge ntchick. Sorry about the complications. I see you are starting chemo soon. My prayers are with you.

Waterstreet

Way to go Catfurr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love the Picture and your beautiful smile.

Creativevintage

Well final pathology is in and I did not have pCR. The cancer was completely gone in the lymph nodes, but there was still a 1 cm tumor in the breast, but good clear margins. The excisional biopsy showed normal breast tissue. I am a little disappointed, but glad there were good margins and the cancer is now out of my body. I am healing well and will meet with RO in about 4-6 weeks to start rads. Looks like I might be done before Christmas!

Creativevintage

Cat fur, congratulations on finishing that part of your treatment! I hope that you recover quickly and the rest of your treatment is successful!

PontiacPeggy

NTChick, you HAVE had a rough couple months. Welcome! This is the place you need to be. You probably already know we are warm, caring and comforting. Sorry you had so many nodes removed but at least all the rest were negative. Make sure you pay attention to your arm and get PT to prevent lymphedema. I do hope that you start healing now so you are in good shape when you start chemo. Wishing you luck and Hugs.

KeepWalking, thank heavens you have a date! I'm sure it will go well but sorry you have to stay overnight. PT is good! Don't want lymphedema. HUGS!

CatFurr, YES! You have to be one happy camper to be done with chemo. BTW, it really helps us if you fill out your profile with all your diagnoses and treatments so we know your exact situation. We can't tell you what to do but we can tell you what those of us with similar Dx's have done and why. Huge decision.

CreativeVintage, glad your path report was good! That has to be a relief. Won't it be wonderful to be done with active treatments by Christmas?! Why were you disappointed? Perhaps I've forgotten something you posted but with that path report, I'd have thought you'd be jumping up and down with joy.

HUGS to all of you!

Outrunning

yay catfurr!

Creativevintage glad things are looking good.

Radiation was uneventful. Except for having to wait for the doctor to talk to me afterwards. I was hoping to be home early tonight.

So, as I've said on the rads board and here too I think, my skin is sensitive to all kinds of things. I still can't figure out what ingredient in certain soaps makes me itch. So the drugstore stopped selling my shampoo. I've been using something I got at my salon. My hands have been getting dry and itching. At first I thought just because of heat coming on everywhere. Couldn't think what I'd used to make it happen. Then this morning while washing my hair I realized, sadly not before the suds were all over me, that the problem is the new shampoo. Today my head itched and my whole body. All I can say is Thank goodness I figured this out before I was raw from rads!

Creativevintage

Peggy, I did not think to ask if the remaining tumor was idc or just DCIS, as the original path showed both. I guess the most important thing is that the cancer is now out of my body. I knew going in that triple positive does not usually achieve pCR but I was hoping...on to the next phase!

PontiacPeggy

Creative, now I understand why you were disappointed. I should have looked up PCR sooner. Sorry. Definitely best thing is that it is GONE!! I had no problems with my rads and hope you don't either.

Outrunning, that's awful! You poor baby. It is so hard to find stuff you're not allergic to. Hang in there!

HUGS!

Molly50

Creative vintage, congratulations on clean margins and clear nodes. I hope everything goes smoothly for you. (((Outrunning)))sorry about the itchiness yikes that sounds bad. I hope rads are going well. I am done with 2 of 33 so far.

ChiSandy

Mazel tov, Catfurr, on finishing chemo (ring that bell, girl!) and creativevintage, on a great path report.

Had my CT today to prepare for rads--the RO took a look at the SNB incision and says it definitely is outside the field to be irradiated. I have the second part of my sim session next Wed., and you’ll notice I amended my profile to reflect that I’ll be starting RT on Mon. 11/2! This means I’ll be done before Thanksgiving (what a reason to give thanks)! I see my MO and BS tomorrow for followups. The MO might even start me on Femara early--I’ll ask if it’s okay to wait till after the cruise so I won’t be dealing with arthralgias, myalgias & hot flashes while I’m halfway around the world. The RO said it’s okay to go back into underwire bras if I find they support me better. I bought a velcro-closing binder to wear at night over the soft sleep bras in order to keep the girls--I named them Thelma (L) and Louise (R)--from jiggling and possibly popping the sutures open; I’d been wrapping a 4” wide Ace bandage around the bra for that purpose. (The binder is a bit tight, but that’s sort of the point). My BS has the final say about when to snip the sutures. I will have a long talk with her this spring about the possibility of a reduction and lift--I’ll be on Medicare by then. It’d be nice to be a 38 or 40DD rather than an I cup, since it would make buying bras a heckuva lot easier and cheaper. I’ve forgotten what it’s like to walk into a department or discount store and buy a bra in the proper size--for the past half-decade since I learned my true size (I’d been wearing 3 band sizes too big and 3 or 4 cups too small--the cups barely covered me and the bands rode up so high I got no support), I’ve had to go to Intimacy (now Rigby & Peller) and pay through the nose and/or shop online at HerRoom, Figleaves and BareNecessities. The thought of being able to walk into a drugstore and buy a cheap Genie bra that fits comfortably and still supports would be a dream come true.

I just tuned to the MLB playoff game. Oy vey. Preparing to say Kaddish tonight for my Cubbies. Glad to have you gals to distract me!

octogirl

Sorry about the Cubbies ChiSandy...but I am rooting for them until it is over (only since it is an odd year and the Giants aren't in it :-( )

and ((((HUGS))) To all!

Octogirl

Creativevintage

ChiSandy, my surgeon did a great job on my lumpectomy and excisional biopsy. You can barely tell he removed anything! There was a bit of a lopsided dent in the lower inner quadrant on the left right after surgery, but it has filled out a bit as the days have passed. He did tell me that my breasts would have less volume and I would probably be a smaller cup size, but that has not happened. I still fill out my DD bras. I will wait for about 6-8 months after I am done with radiation and reassess. Maybe if the girls are unequal I will have the PS even things out a bit and do a reduction. My insurance covers it for up to two years after initial BC surgery. I would love to be just a C cup

Waterstreet

Congratulations, wishing you a speedy recovery.

Catfurr

Thanks ladies!

PontiacPeg-I had filled it out but didn't realize the settings were all still private. Duh, wondered if everyone else saw my info, but not me😄

CreativeVintage-glad you're doing well!! That's encouraging

pennsygal

ChiSandy - I'm with you on the Cubs - I turned on the game and saw 4-0 in the first inning, and had to turn it off. I live in PA now, but Chicago will always be home.

CreativeVintage - I also hoped for PCR with chemo; mine was a 92% response and positive nodes reduced from at least 10 to just two. The MO is thrilled, and told me that they don't necessarily expect a PCR for ER+ cancers.

Waterstreet

Well I got the mapping done today and surgery is at 8:15am in the morning.

PontiacPeggy

WaterStreet, good luck tomorrow! REST! If they offer you a Valium - take it and anything else!!! Make sure to take pain pills if you need them. Keep any pain under control (and you might not have much - I didn't).

HUGS!!!

Nash54

Ntchick.....welcome to the lounge!

Catfurr....congrats!!!!  great photo, love your smile and of course the wings!!   

Molly50

Praying for an easy recovery for you, Shirley!

jamigb

Hi Everyone,

I had a minor set back last week. The tumor board found another lymph node on the breast MRI that they were concerned with so it sent me back for more surgery on Friday. I had just about healed from the first surgery so I was disappointed but also glad not to have it found later with more cancer. So I had another node removed, a skin spot removed and my port put in all at the same time. I'm a little bride of frankenstein-ish with 6 incisions total now but hey...just in time for Halloween right? This surgery has been easier to recover from but I"m still sore with the cording from the first one. Everything is tolerable though and I've been able to work through it all so I am thankful. My original chemo start date was pushed back to Nov. 5th to give me a little healing time. The longer I wait for chemo...the more scared I become....I've started having dreams about it. I'm a kindergarten teacher and really have no choice but to work through my treatment so I'm mostly working on psyching myself up with positive and encouraging thoughts. On a humorous note...it's very hard to practice tying scarves with hair!!!

Molly50

jamigb, sorry about the extra surgery but it's really good how thorough they're being!

brithael

Just got my surgery date for my lumpectomy. This reads like a good group. ChiSandy and I go back a long ways as we were forum friends on the Bonemart.org forum when we had our knee replacements. I'm hoping my cup size changes too! DD is too big. If the lumpectomy and radiation can reduce the size just a little, then I can get the right breast reduced and have a matching pair!

Lisaj514

someone posted a list of surgery tips a little while back. I want to forward or copy for a friend having lumpectomy next week. Who did it and when or what page? If someone can help that would be great. I gave her some bra and clothing tips, ice, pillow for traveling home but there was a nice list from one of you wonderful ladie