Mastectomies four years ago....now another lump

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Lauren1957
Lauren1957 Member Posts: 3

Hello Ladies.  I am new to this forum, but not to breast cancer.  I was diagnosed with DCIS in right breast in 2007, and in 2008 I had a double mastectomy and skin sparing TRAM reconstruction.  Now, over four years later I have found a lump.  

After my mastectomies and reconstruction I was told I would need no further mammograms.  Last week I found a sizable lump that can easily be felt and even seen if I am lying down.  I saw my breast oncologist day before yesterday.  He is referring me to a breast oncologist surgeon who he feels will want to remove this lump regardless of ultrasound and fine needle aspiration results.  He said it could possible be a lump of necrotic tissue, say, if a blood supply to that area failed and the tissue it supported died.  He said if this is a malignant tumor, he does not expect it to be of the original tumor....but to have arisen from the small amount of tissue left after the skin sparing procedure.  In other words, a completely new and different tumor.

 I am waiting on test scheduling for the ultrasound and fine needle aspiration, consultation with breast surgeon. 

 My head is spinning.  I thought I had reduced my chances of getting any kind of breast cancer by 99%!   When I search for my particular situation on the internet, I don't get a match.  Can someone please talk to me if their situation was or is similar?

Many thanks,

Lauren 

Comments

  • SelenaWolf
    SelenaWolf Member Posts: 1,724
    edited July 2012

    I'm so sorry that this is happening to you, given that you did everything you possibly could to avoid it.  I do believe that that are a few posters on the board who have had something similar happen, so I hope that they reach out to you.

  • Lauren1957
    Lauren1957 Member Posts: 3
    edited July 2012

    Thank you Selena, I hope you are right.

    Lauren 

  • wallycat
    wallycat Member Posts: 3,227
    edited July 2012

    I had a small lump that moved about 1" under my mastectomy scar.  Since I did not reconstruct, I could see it very easily.  My breast surgeon was such a sweetheart...he scheduled an immediate removal (I was able to sit up and watch!  Very cool!) since no equipment picked up my initial tumor, he did not want to trust the ultrasound (which he did use).

    It was a fat globule.  No cancer.  I hope your experience will be the same.

    DCIS is not invasive, so the odds of it spreading are much lower (not that a new cancer cannot just crop up since, as I was told, even a bmx leaves some breast tissue), but your odds of it being nothing are huge.  

    Please post back when you hear.  Our thoughts are with you.

  • Lauren1957
    Lauren1957 Member Posts: 3
    edited July 2012

    Thank you Wallycat!  To hear the words "fat globule" would be music to my ears!  I will tell you guys what the results are.

    Lauren 

  • jill47
    jill47 Member Posts: 351
    edited July 2012

    Welcome to the forum Lauren, I'm sorry you had to join under your current conditions, but lots of support and great information here.  Personally I am very interested in what the lump turns out to be since I just had my NS bmx 3 weeks ago, my MO is not giving me tamoxifen because of the low risk of recurrence/new bc after the recon we had. So try to stay hopeful, as hard as that is, our hearts and warm thoughts are with you.  

  • lindylounz
    lindylounz Member Posts: 23
    edited August 2012

    Hi Lauren

    Have just read your post and was wondering how things are going for you since you discovered the new lump.

    I had a reconstrcution almost two years ago and last week I found a 2cm painful lump at the base of the reconstructed breast. I have an appointment tomorrow with a BS to see what's going on. Full of anxiety and uncertainty as wasn't expecting anything like this to come up.  I have fat necrosis areas in that breast so am very familiar with what that feels like, whereas the lump is round hard and painful.

    Hope you have had good and reassuring news!

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