Op booked in two days, now another mammogram today

terrischnauzer

Talk about feel sick, apparently they review ops for week and think I could benefit from another mammogram after their meeting. something about a marker but only maker I know is the one after the op for the radiotherapy . Im so scared, I asked if they found anything else, she said no they will go through mammogram with me today when I get there.....so frightened!!

BarredOwl

Hi Terri:

I had both stereotactic core and MRI-guided biopsies. At each biopsy site (4 sites), they placed a tiny titanium marker. If the pathology indicated a condition requiring surgery, the marker placed during biopsy would serve as a guidepost of the location of the biopsy for the subsequent surgery. Placement of such markers is routine, and you may have one, which will actually be removed in surgery.

Later, I also had a surgical biopsy which is technically a lumpectomy. During the wire placement (to mark the site for removal by the surgeon), the radiologist decided to place a second wire in another area nearby. I was a little surprised at the change of plan mid-stream, but realized it is better to be thorough. It sounds like your team is being methodical and proactive in reviewing your imaging in advance of the procedure, to make sure the lumpectomy will remove what needs to be removed and evaluated, increasing your chances of getting clean margins in the first go.

Will be thinking of you on the 22nd.

BarredOwl

terrischnauzer

thankyou. ..all done and yes I need to have wires put in before op. They are still concerned with my benign area but it's to make sure they only take what needs to be..

Blubelle

Hello Ladies,

If I had it do over again, I would not let them leave a metal clip. Please visit my new blog to find out why I am writing this. I've written about pain and cancer, but I haven't yet written specifically about the Metal Biopsy Marker that was the source of sooooooooooooooo much pain that I was bedridden just from pain for nearly a year. I haven't explored it, mostly because I am not far enough along in the writing process yet to do the subject justice. I have recorded the positives I derived from living in pain.

After months of suffering with no end in sight, as I had expected, I finally called the doctor. We looked for MS, I had a full body CT Scan, brain CT, bone MRI, all to supposedly find the new cancer that was the source of such excruciating pain. I had to be taken out of the MRI and given double pain medications just to be able to lie flat and in one position for the scan. I was nearly out of my mind with pain.

I wrote a short piece on pain but without broaching the subject of the metal clip because of the complexity of the issue. I haven't written about this extensively in the blog, but it was the metal biopsy clip causing the pain I write about. Once my research led me to the marker as being a possible culprit of the pain, I "tricked" them into removing it by finally being willing to get the little bit that was left of the original tumor taken out in an 8mm lumpectomy, a tumor that at one point was 14cms.

Rather than retell details here, read what I've written. http://healingwithcate.tumblr.com

I have only just begun writing, but there are a few important breadcrumbs here about this topic of pain. The pain I have written about was immediately gone after surgery. No more pain after the marker was removed and I moved onto a recovery process that I have just finally completed.

Please let me know where you have questions. It will be my life's work to share what I learned. I saved my breasts and most likely saved my life. It wasn't easy but I did it.

hugs, blubelle