Architectural distortion

LSMom

Hi everyone! My Mom just had a mammogram done and it showed she had an architectural distortion. Her biopsy was normal, however they think that they may not have gotten the biopsy at that right spot. The main reason for concern is because she has had biopsies in the past but the distortion was not not at the marker from the past biopsy. I may not be making much sense....b/c my Mom just told me about all of this. :-( Long story short, they are doing surgery to remove the spot they found. She said they will be removing an area around the size of a cherry tomato. They will biopsy it once they take it out.

For those of you that have had this surgery, how is the recovery? She said that she would be having general anesthesia. I don't live close by but wanted to make sure I knew how long I'd need to stay with her afterwards. Any advice would be wonderful! Thank you!!

MelissaDallas

LSMom, the surgery is no big deal. I was in and home in a few hours. They told me to take the next day off but I could have gone to work. She’ll have a lifting restriction for a few days or until her follow up appointment. I took one pain pill and then just Aleve for a day or two. The little cold gel packs are really great. They’ll probably send her home with one, but an extra or two in the freezer is nice. The ones they use at the facilities are small round ones that fit in your bra

LSMom

Thank you for your reply! She keeps insisting that I don't come. Her sister is taking her, but I really feel that I should be there.

Beesie

I've had several excisional (surgical) biopsies. As MelissaDallas said, it's usually a quick, easy surgery. Because your mother will be under general anaesthesia, sometimes it's suggested that the patient not be home alone over night, but honestly, if she is used to managing on her own, that's really the only reason why she would need anyone there. Because of the anaesthesia, she may be tired the rest of the day so taking it easy is the best plan. I tend to get sick from anaesthesia; usually at some point later in the day I have a wave of nausea but other than that I've always felt fine, with minimal if any pain. And I've always been pretty much been back to normal the next day, other than any lifting/movement restrictions.

From what your mother said to you, it sounds as though she doesn't want you making a big deal about this. You know her best, but the advice around here to family members usually is "listen to the patient and follow her lead". It's about what's best for her, not you. I understand that you want to help and be there, but if you make a bigger deal out of this than your mother wants, it might make her more apprehensive and put more pressure on her, knowing that she is disrupting your life. Just something to consider.

How old is your mother, by the way?

LSMom

Thank you so much for the great advice. She is 61. I know the worst thing I could do is Google info but I did and now I am very worried. Not really about surgery, but the pathology report of what they find.

Rshep9101

I am sorry your mom is going through this. I have had 2 of these and will have my 3rd on 8/5. Each one has been different. I have very sensitive breast and dense breast tissue. The first surgery I was back to normal by about 7-10 days. when I say back to normal I mean exercising and primarily pain free. The second surgery was harder and my pain was significantly higher. It was back to normal activityafter 2 weeks but could not box, play basketball, or run for a little longer. The incision was at my areola and a bigger amount of tissue was taken. There are a lot of nerves in that area 😉It took a couple of days for the general anaesthesia to leave my system completely...that said I have a sensitive system and have bad reaction to the contrast from mri too. Each person and each surgery is different.