ADH newbie 3 lumpectomies coming up

momaton

Hi all,

I have been on this diagnostic roller coaster for 3 months. US, diag mammo, MRI, US guided core biopsy. Have a diagnosis of ADH on one lump. The other two suspicious areas are still without a diagnosis.

Sooooo I am now going to have all 3 areas , 2 lumps and one(at least 5 different pea sized lumps) suspicious for DCIS taken out by way of lumpectomy/ excisional biopsy.

I have A cup breasts, with my implants I am a B cup. Not a lot of tissue there. What am I going to look like after the surgery? The largest lump is 1cmx1cmx1cm, the other is half that size, the DCIS is scattered pea sized lumps. Sometimes I am thinking just take it all and insert a larger implant.

Silly I guess to worry about looks....

I am a little scared of the surgery......and very nervous about the outcome.

leaf

I'm so sorry you are going through this.

I haven't had 3 excisional biopses, but I've had 1 excisional biopsy (that took maybe 2 tablespoonfulls of tissue). I have a B cup. I had unsightly bruising for several months (it took maybe 6 months to really turn back to normal), and after a few months, the slight dimple filled in. My breast turned all sorts of beautiful autumnal colors - black, blue, purple, green, yellow, etc. By about a year down the road, you would have to look very hard to see where it was. I do have a very faint pink scar.

My breasts are of unequal size (like I think most breasts are), and surgery was on the larger one. But at least with me, even if you knew I had an excision, it would be pretty challenging to see the incision location. Maybe other women have different experiences, but cosmetically it certainly was no biggie for me. If you are a stripper or an underwear model, you may need a change in career, at least temporarily. Most women are not in that situation.

Of course you are anxious about the outcome. Who wouldn't be? But look at lots of posts from Beesie to get reassurance about DCIS. Unless your ratings were BIRADS 5, you have a good chance they will be nothing worse than what you currently have. Your chances are excellent, but not 100%, that you will live a long healthy life, and eventually die of something other than breast cancer.

momaton

Thanks, Leaf

LOL about being a stripper or underwear model.....one could only wish ...I hear they make some good bucks.

Already a birads 5 on my MRI so ...well, we will see. I turned all the colors of the rainbow after the core biopsy...this should be interesting.

I am not all that freaked out by cosmetic appearances. My angst is over...my boob is relatively small and after the 3 excisional biopsys...my surgeon says she wants to take "it all out" what am I going to have left/ and why not do the mx now and get this over with? sigh

I'll know more on Monday...after my meeting with my surgeon.

blessings

proudtospin

and you know when you have an important decision like this, a second opinion is very good

lordie but I just did 3 opinions for my upcoming sinus surgery!

and yeap, did 2 opinions of rads and onco for me

good luck, now go get busy with some holiday decorations to take your mind off of it

Anonymous

momaton-----they took out quite a lot during my lumpectomy and it only left a tiny little divet that you can hardly see. The body has an amazing way of filling in the area where they remove the tissue; even after 2 or 3 excisions, you may be surprised and it may not look all that different at all. I would take one step at a time and see how it goes. Praying they find nothing more than the ADH.

anne

erinm216

Same as what  AWB said. I had a little divot too.

You get used to seeing the divot or scar and you hardly notice it at all after awhile.

The surgery wasn't bad, I was only sore for about a week, but it was minimal compared to the other surgeries.

Wishing you a good outcome

leaf

If the surgeon said she wants to 'take it all', is it possible that she meant she wants to 'take out all the ADH (and anything worse such as DCIS or invasive if there's anything worse in the vicinity)', not  take your entire breast?  I get the impression they normally don't do mastectomies for ADH, but I don't have ADH or DCIS.

I had hematomas after almost all of my excisions/core biopsies.  About a week after each of my biopsies, my breast looked even worse than immediately after the biopsy: it took a while for the blood to drop down to the underside of my breast.  It takes some time for the blood/bruising to go away because blood contains hemoglobin and iron, and that takes the body a while to decompose that big of a molecule with iron in it.  I had a gyn appointment about a week after my biopsy, and the gyn said, "What happened to you?"  (She didn't know I had just had a breast biopsy.)

momaton

Thanks for the replys all.

Leaf, surgeon meant" to get clean margins" with the lumpectomies as opposed to an incisional biopsy.  part of my problem is I don't have insurance. It looks like this is going to cost at least $5000. Just saying if I am losing a lot of my breast anyway......just take it all and get it over with....can't afford to do this again.

Ah, well...all is AOK....just will go with the flow.