Post-treatment breast self-exam

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nita1027
nita1027 Member Posts: 26
edited June 2014 in Not Diagnosed With a Recurrence or Metastases but Concerned

Okay, getting to know the new normal for the breast that had the tumor is proving to be interesting.  There is all kinds of weirdness in the tumor bed, the line where the internal sutures were, but that mostly feels like a fairly large area of scar tissue.  I have another area that is not part of the tumor bed (tumor was directly behind my nipple) in the outer lower quadrant that feels to me like a lump (enough so that I plan to call my doctor about it next week.  I had a PET/CT scan back in April (2 1/2 months ago) that didn't detect any focused uptake.  My first post-chemo, post-rads mammogram was fine...

Anybody else out there having post-rads lumpiness?  Do rads even cause tissue to feel lumpy?  Any thoughts?

Nita 

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  • otter
    otter Member Posts: 6,099
    edited June 2010

    Nita, I didn't have a lumpectomy or rads, but your post has been sitting here for quite awhile and I didn't want you to think no one had read it.

    I will be really honest with you.  What you are describing -- the scars and thickened areas and lumpiness -- is the main reason why I decided to have a mastectomy (with no recon) rather than lumpectomy + rads.

    The breast in which I found my 1.8 cm tumor had always been lumpy and full of ridges and cysts (fibrocystic tissue and duct ectasia). It was a nightmare for me to sort through all that, and my GYN never did figure it out.  My tumor was never visible in a mammogram, and because my GYN thought it was "normal" lumpiness, he did not think it was necessary to do follow-up testing when the mammogram results came back "normal".  I finally got a referral from my PCP to a breast health center where the protocol was to do ultrasound (in addition to mammography) if there was a palpable lump. The rest, they say, is history.

    So I am really sorry that I can't help you.  I do think rads cause scarring, based on what my May '08 chemo sisters have said and what I've read elsewhere on these boards.  In fact, I think the usual protocol is to wait for at least 6 months before doing a mammogram on a lumpectomy/rads breast -- maybe even longer?  But you might want to post your question on the Radiation Therapy forum, if you haven't done so already, to get better advice. 

    Believe me, though -- I do understand what you're going through.  I just chickened out and did what I could to avoid that dilemma.

    Hugs...

    otter

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