question about sentinel node injection

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javagirl39
javagirl39 Member Posts: 67
edited June 2014 in Managing Side Effects of Breast Cancer and Its Treatment

I am booked for a sentinel node injection on Feb 23 -- one day before my lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy.

Would anyone give me idea what I can expect? Will it be painful and if so, how long does the pain last?

Thanks,

Christina

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  • Hanna60978
    Hanna60978 Member Posts: 815
    edited December 2011

      

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited February 2009

    Christina

    I had the dye injection too....my surgeon used a numbing agent but it still stung, but only for a few moments...it was uncomfortable but nothing I couldnt handle.

    Some ladies say it was aweful for them so I think it is different for everyone.

    How are things doing for you now?

    Jule

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  • Raeanne
    Raeanne Member Posts: 6
    edited February 2009

    Hi christina

    I didn't think it was that bad, a slight sting on a couple of them. They did mine right before surgery.  But that was pretty much it. Hope the same for you Smile

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  • flfish
    flfish Member Posts: 423
    edited February 2009

    Christina, my experience was similar to Jule.  My radiologist used a numbing (freezing) spray before the injection.  I will not lie, it hurt  I guess I could compare it to a bee sting.  But, when it was over, it was over.  Luckily the procedure is quick.  Best of luck to you.  You will do great!

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  • flmomof3
    flmomof3 Member Posts: 28
    edited February 2009

    I had mine the morning of surgery. The radiologist /oncologist was extremely compassionate...it was the least painful part.   My injection was in the bottom half of my breast even though my tumor was on the top half.  I think it made my pee blue...just  a warning so you don't freak out later!!!:) You will be amazed how quick it is... good luck and prayers for you.

    Sue from Florida

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  • Lucky-Man-Ken
    Lucky-Man-Ken Member Posts: 28
    edited February 2009

    For some reason my wife Karen had to endure her SNB with no numbing agent at all, she actually  screamed. She said it far more painful than anything she has ever experienced, during her recovery from her bi-lat.

      So we now tell women to INSIST that the Dr at least use lidocaine.

    Ken

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited February 2009

    Flmomof3-thats funny!!!! it brought back a memory that now is hilarious.....my surgeon told me about the blue pee, but things moved so quickly that I forgot about it....the morning after surgery I used the restroom and after finishing stood there trying to remember when I put the Tidee Bowl pellet in the toilet tank!!!!  I remember standing there giggling cause the blue was so pretty....my daughter thought I had lost it. Of course I was still in a drug induced stupor..They had given me pain drugs and insisted that I should take them on time every 4 hrs through the night...I dont generally take things so those drugs did a number on me.

    Christina-you will do fine with this...things are gonna be ok.

    Hugs

    Jule

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  • lvtwoqlt
    lvtwoqlt Member Posts: 6,162
    edited February 2009

    I had bilat with injections on both sides. the radiologist who does the injections said he had bad news and worse news, bad news 6 shots around the right areola, worse news 6 shots around the left areola. He said that the lidocaine injections 'watered' down the dye and wouldn't use the numbing. They did however use warm packs to warm the area before the injections and after all injections were completed on each side and that seemed to reduce the pain. I just used my focused yoga breathing and focused on a spot on the wall to avoid looking at the needles.

    I too had the blue pee afterwards, the CNA who was assisting the nurse during the night freaked out about the blue pee in the foley bag and like Jule was in the pain medicine stupor, I laughed at the CNA and said that it would be tydee bowl blue.

    You will be fine.

    Sheila

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  • Mary22
    Mary22 Member Posts: 779
    edited February 2009

    I had mime the morning of my surgery. I wish the radiologist that did my stereotactic biopsy had done my sentinel node injection. I was very painful, she gave me three injections and no numbing agent prior. The pain was worse than child birth or kidney stones. My pee was blue and had a very strong odor after wards.

    The radiologist that did my biopsy was wonderful she used a numbing agent and also used a numbing agent when she placed the guide wires in. She is in the Womens imaging center and the other radiologist was from Nuclear Medicine, so I could not have the same one.

    Good Luck. I am sorry and hope that I did not scare you, I just wish someone would have told me how painful it really was.

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  • Triciaski
    Triciaski Member Posts: 145
    edited February 2009

    My surgeon was a fountain of information about everything except the sentinel node injection. Now I think he probably "forgot" purposely to fill me in on the details because it really does sound pretty awful. (But let me assure you that it sounds worse than it is -- at least for me.)

    When I went for my appointment the morning of surgery, I thought I was getting a shot in the arm or possibly a shot directly into the tumor. What a surprise when I found out what was really going to happen. I had four injections of a radioisotope around the areola without any local anesthetic. (The radiologist said that local anesthetic slowed down the migration and uptake of the isotope in the sentinel node.) Honestly, I'm not sure that lidocaine injections in that sensitive area would have hurt less than the isotope injections, and I'm not sure lidocaine gel would have helped much because the needle punctures didn't hurt at all (it's a very small needle) -- it's what got injected that hurt.

    But, it was over with very quickly. The explanations and apologies of the tech and the radiologist made me think it was going to be worse than it really was.

    I didn't have any dye -- just the isotope. During surgery, the surgeon used a Geiger counter to locate the radioactive isotope in the sentinel node. I had very good uptake of the isotope so he had no doubt that he indeed located and removed the sentinel node. Apparently, those nodes can be a bit of a rat's nest, and it's not always cut and dried which one is the sentinel node.

    Tricia

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  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 19,757
    edited February 2009

    I asked if I was getting something to numb the area and the tech said "I'm giving you 4 needles, do you really want a 5th?" The needles just felt like needles, but I was lucky as just the month before they stopped going through the nipple and just did the quadrants of the breast around the aureola.

    Did any of you ladies get the needle IN the nipple? Yikes! 

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  • BustersMom
    BustersMom Member Posts: 495
    edited February 2009

    I had my injections the morning of surgery.  A nurse applied a numbing cream about 30 minutes prior.  

    The first 3 injections were tolerable.   The 4th one hurt like heck.  Not sure why. 

    I've seen many women say they were not painful at all.  Guess everyone is different.

    Wishing you the very best!!! 

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  • celia088
    celia088 Member Posts: 2,570
    edited February 2009

    wow, i can't believe how many docs don't use the Lidocaine shots first.  I had my dye shots the morning of my right mastectomy surgery.  First, i had about 4 Lidocaine shots, and i only really felt the first one, which stung a tiny bit, just like getting a flu shot.  After the Lidocaine i had a series of shots with the tracer and i didn't feel any of them.  I would definitely ask for the Lidocaine shots.

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  • mbscruggs
    mbscruggs Member Posts: 141
    edited March 2009

    I was given a prescription for a breast cream.....rubbed it on my breast 30 minutes prior (was told to spread like I was icing a cake).....best $35 I ever spent

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  • digger
    digger Member Posts: 590
    edited March 2009

    I guess I was really lucky.  I was already under general anesthesia for the mx when they did the SNB injections.  That's the way my BS does them, and I am so thankful.  She must have had the injection done right at the beginning of the operation then actually retrieved the node/s after the mx itself.  I wonder why more surgeons don't do that.  My BS is the head breast cancer surgeon at Sloan Kettering, so she definitely knows what she's doing.

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  • scarp
    scarp Member Posts: 104
    edited March 2009

    Nobody prepared me for that injection.  I felt like hornets attacked.

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  • Sukiann
    Sukiann Member Posts: 310
    edited March 2009

    I called my bs to talk about my upcoming surgery 3/13 (yes friday the 13th yikes!!!).  She told me she does everything under anesthesia.  I was so relieved.  I hoping I understood her correctly.  I really wish everyone could have it done this way.  If some surgeons can do it this way, why can't others????

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  • kayakgirl
    kayakgirl Member Posts: 172
    edited April 2009

    Boy, I guess I was lucky. I had the SNB injection done after I was sedated prior to surgery so I didn't feel anything.

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited April 2009

    For me that was the worst part - the shots felt like bee stings - I cried - hopefully you will be given a numbing agent. (Hugs)

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  • juliejfsrj
    juliejfsrj Member Posts: 57
    edited April 2009

    I had the four shots in the nipple.  As I had taken xanax per the surgeons request, I was relaxed and it didn't really hurt at all until the fourth one.  It's over incredibly quickly, and the pain is gone before you have time to think about it.

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  • Leah_S
    Leah_S Member Posts: 8,458
    edited April 2009

    The surgeon did the SNB injection (radioactive isotope) the morning of the surgery. He used a numbing spray before each of the shots so I didn't feel anything. The shots were into the tumor.

    Leah

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  • jlp
    jlp Member Posts: 54
    edited April 2009

    I had stereotactic needle localisation prior to my surgery (lumpectomy) - they injected the blue dye during that procedure and that did hurt. I was still pretty well numbed with the lidocaine from the needle localisation when I went for the radioisotope injection, but the doctor also used a spray anasthetic and I hardly felt a thing - the needle and blue dye was much more painful.

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  • trishbsox
    trishbsox Member Posts: 1
    edited April 2009

    I had my sentinel node dye injection in pre-op for my surgery.  They gave me Versed, and I never felt a thing or remember it either.  The nuclear medicine tech who was injecting the dye said that UK Hospital's standard of care was to give Versed, that it was far too painful for the patient to have the procedure unmedicated. 

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  • sarajaneevans
    sarajaneevans Member Posts: 187
    edited May 2013

    Mary -yours was my exact description of my SNB-worse than child birth on any kidney stone I ever had and I have has some doozies-I screamed. literally and I cried on the last of four injections- I never want to have to go through that again...

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  • Ariom
    Ariom Member Posts: 6,197
    edited May 2013

    This SNB tracer is one of the "Mysteries of Life!"

    I'd love to know what it is that makes it horrific to some, and painless to others.

    I feared this tracer more than the Mx surgery, because of friends "Sharing their experience" before I had mine, but I truly didn't feel a thing. I didn't have any anaesthetic with it and the shots were all around the nipple.

    I was so amazed because it was nothing like I expected. 

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  • mepic
    mepic Member Posts: 84
    edited May 2013

    My BS ordered me a lidocaine patch to put over my nipple the morning of surgery and it was the least painful injection I have ever had. I was actually waiting for it to start when he told me it was over. I had done all that worrying about this injection for nothing. Insist on a lidocaine patch. Only a heartless BS would deny the prescription and subject a patient to needless pain.

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  • curveball
    curveball Member Posts: 3,040
    edited May 2013

    I had the tracer injection the day before my mx, with a local anaesthetic injected first. I guess one of the tracer injections was outside the area numbed by the local, because it stung quite a lot. However that pain went away very quickly.

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