Is a lumpectomy/reduction different from a dmx/reconstruction?

dysonsphere

Back in July when I had surgery, I opted for a lumpectomy of my tumor in my right breast. Although the tumor was small, it had spread to my lymph nodes, I weighed the options and chose to have a reduction as well. As far as I expected, my right breast would have a reduction and tumor removed, and my left breast would have a reduction to match. I had very large breasts (40DD) and I couldn't imagine going through radiation and future mammograms with such large breasts. I'm glad I did because radiation was difficult enough with my new small breasts. However, since the moment I woke up from surgery, I have been confused about the whole thing.

The nurse in recovery referred to my surgery as a double mastectomy. After being in surgery all day, I freaked out when I heard that. I demanded to speak to my surgeon because I was so upset. They calmed me down and took my bandages off so I could see I still had breasts. They said the term was correct but I had breasts. They were much smaller than I had expected. It took a few weeks but I got over that. The surgeon said after radiation I can have additional surgery to increase the size through fat graft if I choose.

Fast forward to about 2 months later and I feel a lump in my breast. I speak to surgeon about it. They tell me that there is no breast tissue in either breast so that if I feel a lump at this point it will most likely be normal healing process. No breast tissue. Oh, and no need for mammograms either because there is no breast tissue in either breast.

So, it seems to me that I had a double mastectomy and the just spared my skin and nipples and used my own fat tissue. Isn't this much different than a lumpectomy and reduction?

I suppose it's mute at this point but I"m still pretty confused about it and my surgeons, both of them, don't seem to understand why.

Just wondering if anyone had a similar surgery.

Iamloved

I am scheduled Dec1 for what they are calling oncoplastic surgery. A breast surgeon will remove the tumor and from what I understand the plastic surgeon will rework the remaining tissue and form a smaller breast and reduce the good breast to match. I can see why you are confused. Where did the fat tissue come from?? I hope you get an answer. I meet next Monday with both my breast surgeon and plastic surgeon and I a. Going to have them explain this to me again...just so I know the plan.

MountainMia

No wonder you're confused. It sounds like they are not clear in what they're saying. You might try forming yes or no questions you can ask, to try to clarify.

As for me, I had a lumpectomy in 4/19. The breast surgeon is good at what she does and reshaped my breast so it did not look different, just a little smaller. My healthy breast had always been a little bigger than the cancer breast, so even though there wasn't a big change, it made the difference between them even greater. I opted to have a reduction surgery on the healthy breast, which was in 11/19. That was a plastic surgeon. He matched the sizes very well.

I'm sorry you're going through this and hope you get better information soon.

Beesie

A lumpectomy with a reduction and a mastectomy are completely different surgeries.

If your surgeon unknowingly performed a MX and a breast mound was created using your own fat, where was the fat harvested from? It had to come from somewhere else on your body.

This doesn't add up.

WC3

dysonsphere:

My understanding is a mastectomy is complete removal of the breast tissue and a reduction is a partial removal of the breast tissue. I have heard lumpectomies refered to as partial mastectomies but not often.

In any case, I think you need to sit down with your surgeons and ask exactly what was done. I would also get a copy of the surgery report and the consent forms you signed.

LivinLife

I'm concerned you were not told specifics of what would happen before surgery... The fact you are surprised about what you are learning says communication either did not happen or was not clear. I doubt it was the latter b/c what you have is not what you expected. Having no breast tissue does not sound like lumpectomy or reduction.... If this tissue is from another body area I would ask why that decision was made vs. just reshaping/using the breast tissue you had. Sounds like someone may have gone rogue?

MelissaDallas

Mastoplexy and Mastectomy are different operations. Clearly there has been some miscommunication. Doctors don’t “go rogue” because they don’t want to be sued for malpractice

Beesie

dysonsphere, I've been thinking about this more. I looked at your past posts and noticed that you had a SAVI procedure done prior to your surgery. A SAVI is only used for lumpectomies; there is no need to guide the surgeon to the tumor when the patient is having a mastectomy because all the breast tissue, including wherever the tumor may be, will be removed.

WC3 is right - you need to get a copy of your surgery report and your consent forms. This is not a moot point because you need to know what surgery was done so that you get proper screening in the future. If you did not consent to a BMX and did not have a BMX, then you do have breast tissue and you need to continue your breast screenings. Understanding this is critically important.