feeling a lump after double mastectomy/no recon.

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hanami
hanami Member Posts: 30
edited June 2014 in Not Diagnosed With a Recurrence or Metastases but Concerned

Hi everyone,

I have had a double mastectomy last March after treating my trip/neg. bilateral bc with neoadjuvant chemo (had a complete patholog. response) and radiation to left breast, axilla and clavicle and right breast. Since then all of my check-ups were fine. My doc always did a sonogram of the scar area and of each axilla and he also would check my lymphnodes etc. by palpitation.

 Today I made a 3month check-up appointment with a new doc (moved out of country recently) and I will be seen next week. So far so good. But while I was letting my fingers run over my t-shirt on my chest this afternoon (above where my breast used to be....I had no reconstruction) and felt a lump or thickening. It's located about 2 fingers wide under my clavicle and to the left of my sternum. I remember talking to my doc last time I saw him about all these bumps I feel all over my now flat chest and he laughed and said that many women think they feel all kinds of things after a mastec. but that it's all just the ribs/bones that they can feel, now that the breast tissue and fat is gone. The "lump" I feel now seems to be more easily felt when I stretch my shoulder back and the chest skin tightens and as I move my arm/shoulder it kinda dissappears/flattens. Could it be muscle tissue? A lymph-node? I am just so scared right now even though I know that worrying doesn't help in any case. So if anyone here has had a B9 lump in this area, could you please chime in. What B9 thing could it be?  

Thank you so much,

A 

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  • TriciaK
    TriciaK Member Posts: 362
    edited January 2010

    Hi,

    I did'nt have a mast but am thinking maybe it's scar tissue from surgery??

    Scar tissue is common after surgery or radiation and many people think it's another tumour.

    If it changes or you're really concerned ask the Dr to check it out more just in case but hopefully this is all it is.

    Tricia x

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  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 19,757
    edited January 2010

    I had a bad scare last fall...my DH is the one who felt the mass on my left side and when I went searching, I found a lump under my right arm. Weeks of worry and the radiologist brushed it all off in a second. Oh well. Felt new and lumpy to me! Could be fat necrosis; an inflamed lymph node due to an infection elsewhere; scar tissue; cyst; or what we're all afraid of hearing....

    Please let it know how it goes.

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  • hanami
    hanami Member Posts: 30
    edited January 2010

    I had my hubby feel it last night. We both only feel it if I hold my arm in a certain position. As I move it around and the skin on my flat chest moves around it becomes harder to feel. I pray that it's just muscle, scartissue and my ribs sticking out. That's what it was last time when I asked my doc about different areas of my new flat chest that felt lumpy. He also said, that my skin is still kinds puffy (internally) from radiation. But I guess whatever it is, I will find out more next Wednesday at my appointment. Now if I could just quiet my anxious mind until then ... that's what bugs me the most about my situation. Chemo, Radiation, even my double mastect. were all bearable for me. But I want my innocence back...I want to wake up and not think about my mortality all the time. That change I still haven't adapted to.

     Greetings, A 

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