Hematoma radiation

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gingerstx
gingerstx Member Posts: 91
edited June 2014 in Radiation Therapy - Before, During, and After

I have an egg-sized hematoma near my breast incision that resulted from my January 13 lumpectomy.  Due to contradictory biopsy results my MO requested oncotype dx testing to determine whether I should have 3 months of chemo before my 36 radiation treatments. I'll get those results on March 1 and if I don't need chemo, I'll start my radiation process right away.  I'm wondering if my hematoma will affect the placement of my tattoos, the effectiveness of the radiation, side-effects, etc?  Both my RO and MO saw the hematoma 2 weeks ago but neither said anything about treating it.  My SO is in another state and has not seen it. 

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  • lmk
    lmk Member Posts: 15
    edited March 2011

    I also have a hematoma which developed post-op. It was significant in size also. Dr's were silent on treatment -"it will go away"; mentioned it to my chiro-he said to put a warm moist cloth on it for 10mins at a time; I noticed the reduction immediately & continued doing this frequently during the day. I didnt continue doing that during rads since I already had two planning sessions because it decreased in size. Based on my research on rads for early stage BC, the EORTC trial on comparing boost vs no boost indicates that the boost component of radiation(which i'm having) has an impact on the cosmetic outcome(hematomas may be one of the causes). I do wish i had known about the moist cloth earlier & maybe I wouldnt have had the hematoma during rads.

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  • gingerstx
    gingerstx Member Posts: 91
    edited March 2011

    I found out today that I don't have to have chemo (yay!), so the med onc sent me right over to the radiation onc where I got marked, fitted, and photographed for my radiation treatments and got  an MRI.  I pointed out my hematoma to the tech who was prepping me and he said he'd see what my MRI told him.  Meanwhile, 2 weeks ago when I saw my GP, she told me to apply moist hot cloths to the hematoma, just like you'd been told.  I only did it a few times because I didn't see any immediate results but since I don't start my treatments for another week, I'll start doing them again.  Thanks so much for your input.

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