? for Lumpectomy--afterwards

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tjohnson1971
tjohnson1971 Member Posts: 97
edited June 2014 in High Risk for Breast Cancer

I had my excisional biopsy/lumpectomy 2 wks ago.  It is sore but not to where I need medication.  I have swollen hard areas, which feel like rocks.  Is this normal?  How long does it take for the swelling to go down.  What about itching?  And numbness, it's numb all around the excision, and itchy beyond that.  Also, if I squeeze, there is a tiny bit of blood that still comes out of nipple.  I know, don't squeeze it right?  Also noticing a sort of linear dent not where scar is but adjacent to it.  Any of this sound familiar?  If you could share or remember how you felt afterwards and how long it took for hard lumpy feeling to go away. please let me know. I appreciate it.  I just want to feel normal again.

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  • leaf
    leaf Member Posts: 8,188
    edited October 2011

    I had a hard area - it was quite a distance away from the excision scar.   I had a dent, too, plus a hematoma: my breast turned all sorts of beautiful autumnal colors-purple, black, green, yellow.  I had all sorts of weird sensations-itching, zinging pain, numbness - these are probably from nerves being cut.  I started massaging the area after a month or two. 

    Different people have different amounts removed - I have a B cup and had maybe 2-4 tablespoonfulls of tissue removed.  By 6 months or a year, all I had was a faint pink scar, and the dent 'filled in'.  But, I had always had unequally sized breasts, and the surgery was on my larger breast.

    I had an appointment with the BS about 2 weeks after my excision, when she took out the stitches.    If you have one, you might want to ask about the bloody nipple discharge, and when its OK to squeeze the nipple and if you can massage it. 

    I never had blood coming out of my nipple, but my incision was halfway up my breast.  When I had another biopsy inches away from the incision a year later, it came back as scar tissue - they can go all over the breast to check for abnormal looking tissue.  

      If you get a red area that spreads, especially if you have a fever, then make sure you get it checked out to see if an infection might be going on.

    Of course you want to feel normal again.  It took me several months, but mine does look quite normal except for a faint pink scar.

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  • etherize
    etherize Member Posts: 423
    edited October 2011

    Don't squeeze it. ;-)  I don't even want to press the breast that had a lumpectomy so I couldn't tell you about the hard areas.  Sounds like that might be some fluid in there -- or a hematoma.  I'd ask your doctor if that's what it could be.

    As for numbness -- yes!  Soreness -- yes!  And I'm 4 weeks out from my lumpectomy.  All sorts of weird little shooting pains and tingles and maybe even a little itchiness, although not much. 

    The numbness, soreness, tingling, shooting pains, etc. (super sensitive skin around the incision for me) all have been diminishing as the weeks go by.

    Ask your doctor about the blood/nipple bit -- that could be just residual stuff (my uneducated guess) and the hard swollen areas.  The rest, I think will diminish.

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  • kate2011
    kate2011 Member Posts: 121
    edited October 2011

    I'm 6 months out from my lumpectomy.  I had a few areas that were hard for several months.  It finally feels normal now.  My scars are still pretty dark (just around the outside of nipple and in my armpit).  I also have some skin discoloration.  The surgeon used too much Lidocane.  It keeps fading, though.  I'm sure it will go away in time.  I still have an indentation, but it's not as bad as right after the surgery.  I'm sure that will never completely go away.

    Left breast is noticeably a cup size smaller than the other side now.  Oh well!!  Looks funny to me (size, shape, scars, discoloration), but it doesn't bother anyone else!

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  • Chickenpants
    Chickenpants Member Posts: 132
    edited October 2011
    I'm three weeks out from the excisional biopsy for ADH.  Preliminary results are DCIS & LCIS, so waiting to hear part 2 regarding margins, etc.  MRI to come next month, which is good because... in answer to your question about post-excis recovery - I have a 2 inch scar that is scabbing in some places and redness around the incision site.  I have soreness at the site too, lumps, swelling and occasional "zaps" of pain, but nothing worrisome.  My main concern is that the breast will heal well enough to withstand the MRI mid November.  I'm small breasted, so a large portion of my boob is in the battle zone.  I've heard this will all calm down and things will get back to mostly normal in a matter of months.  Let's hopeWink
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  • tjohnson1971
    tjohnson1971 Member Posts: 97
    edited October 2011

    Thank you everybody, I feel much better about all these weird feelings I am having inside.  Now I won't worry something isn't right and just the way we heal, inside and out.  

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