Recovery ? After lumpectomy for DCIS

Scsa

Hi. I have a lumpectomy surgery scheduled for Monday November 9th. Has anyone has a radioactive marker placed prior to surgery instead of the wire method? Also- how many days after surgery can I expect to be able to return to work? I do a good amount of walking at my job. TIA!

april485

I did not have a radioactive marker put in (but did have a marker just don't think it was radioactive) and stayed home two days after the actual surgery so 3 days of work missed total. I work in a desk job and probably could have returned a day earlier. HTH and best of luck for clean margins!

Moderators

Hi again Scsa,

Some good information here on recovering from a lumpectomy on the main Breastcancer.org site's page on Lumpectomy: What to Expect.

Hope this helps!

--The Mods

Skeptic

Hi Scsa,

I had a radioactive marker.  It is placed during a mammogram.  The procedure was similar to a needle biopsy I previously had.  For the most part it is relatively painless, you will feel more pressure then anything else, but it is not bad.  I had a lumpectomy on a Friday and felt back to 100% by Sunday.  I went back to work on Tuesday just because I wanted to be sure I was ready, but I probably could have gone on Monday. I have a desk job, so I don't know if having a physically active job would require any time off. I think maybe how much you will be using your arm on the lumpectomy side might be more of a consideration then walking, you might want to ask your doctor.  But in general, I don't think there is much recovery time at all, at least there wasn't for me.