Lumpectomy scheduled for July 20. I have some questions.

Hello.  Seems like we have a few similarities - I was diagnosed at 32 last June.  I had abnormal looking lymph nodes on an ultrasound also and they all turned out fine.  I had chemo and 7 weeks of rads and I'm just finishing up my Herceptin this month.  I was told the younger you are, the more aggressively they treat you, especially if you're a high grade and Her2+ (and I see you're Her2-).  I think it's pretty standard to get rads if you're having a lumpectomy.  I was planning on skipping rads because I was just terrified of what it would do to me.  I went ahead and did it because after chemo I had a lumpectomy and although there was no IDC left, there was a little bit of DCIS left and my hope is that rads took care of that nastiness!  I can tell you, for all the fretting I did about going through 7 wks of rads, I had nearly no side effects and my skin was back to normal within a couple weeks.  Everyone is different, but it is possible that there wouldn't be too much damage to the tissue.  I don't have any experience with thymoma or the temperature, maybe someone else here can help with that.  Hope that helps a little!

Yup; if you need chemo, they'll do it first, then the radiation (I believe that's because chemo should kill anything that's leftover anywhere in the body, and radiation would just target the specific area). If the cancer has spread to the nodes; many women who have a masectomy need both chemo AND radiation also. (So having a masectomy is not an automatic out from having radiation, a fact most doctors don't make clear). I had a lumpectomy, chemo & radiation. All went well. Best of luck! Ruth

edited to add that I have never heard of a fever as being 'normal' for BC. What does your doctor say?

poetic - They found both the DCIS and IDC when they did the biopsy - the IDC was completely gone after my lumpectomy.  But you're right - I am doing great!

I hope this week before surgery goes quickly for you so that you can get some answers.  I'll be thinking of you and I'd be glad to answer any other questions if I can!

Hey there,

As I understood it, the wires are inserted to sort of guide the surgeon to the right area.  In my case, they put me into the mammogram machine took a pic and then I had to stand there, still in the machine, while the radiologist inserted a wire on either side of the lump (I'm guessing that's approximately where they were, I couldn't look cause those kind of things make me nauseous!).  Then they took another mammo pic to make sure they were in the right place.  

At first I thought, How could the surgeon NOT know where the right area is - you can feel my lump for pete's sake!  But then I realized there is a lot of microscopic bits of cancer so of course they wouldn't be able to tell if they got it all without those wires marking it.  The wires are very thin and they bend them and tape them down to your skin, so it's not like it's this heavy wire sticking up out of your breast.  It's not fun by any means, but it's not a horrible experience either and it went pretty quickly.

Sounds like you have a really supportive and caring husband and family.  Having pics taken sounds like it will be fun and maybe take your mind off of things for awhile.  The fear still occasionally pops up for me, even a year later, but they're more like small bad moments instead of full bad days.  I can't tell you when my last "down" day was, it's been that long!

When you feel up to it, let us know how surgery went for you.  Hugs and good luck!! 

Thinking of you and hoping the nerves aren't getting to you too much today!  You'll do great tomorrow!

Might I recommend using Evernote (free for lots of bandwidth) to track the progress of all appointments, online research, voice recordings (tape the consultations), articles, notes - EVERYTHING!  You can download it for FREE on your PC, MAC, iPhone, iPad, Android phone, etc - then it all syncs up to the 'cloud' and makes it VERY easy to keep track and tag all the craziness that will arise. I've found it to be INCREDIBLY helpful in organizing things. www.evernote.com

Jen:  If no one has mentioned ice yet, I will.  You will most likely be sore and swollen for awhile.  Little ice packs inside a soft bra or just against your body will help.  Some docs give them out as part of your post-op pack.  The pathology can be confusing.  Taking notes helps, as others have mentioned.  And don't worry about asking the same thing multiple times.  Your team realizes stress is affecting how well you can take information in.  Friends will be asking what they can do to help.  Don't be afraid to give them specific tasks.  Don't be shy or "brave" about keeping up with everything you've done before.  Lots can wait.  Thinking of you.