MammoSite for People Under 45

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coveyrun
coveyrun Member Posts: 2
edited June 2014 in Radiation Therapy - Before, During, and After

Hi All,


I am brand new to the forum, as well as brand new to BC. Just had my lumpectomy done earlier this week for DCIS and have my follow up appt. on Monday. Surgeon called me yesterday to tell me that the margins are clear, largest area was 9 mm, cavity is the correct shape, grade 3, stage 0, 1.2 from the surface. He said I am an ideal candidate in all respects for MammoSite, but for one thing--I am a little less that 2 months shy of my 45th birthday and the protocols have only been revised to include women 45 and older. He is concerned that my insurance may not cover me for this procedure due to my age. Does anyone else have experience with this or know the reason for the rather arbitrary age restriction? Thanks in advance for any help.

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  • LScott63
    LScott63 Member Posts: 57
    edited October 2012

    I had internal radiation last June.  I am 48 and my surgeon really pushed for me to have this radiation, (she writes the grants for this research at the Cancer Center) since I was under 50 I had to go in under research.  So they took my history and sent it in and I had a 50% chance of getting chosen.  Thank the Good Lord I was chosen.  I would definately recommend this procedure to anyone questioning it. The treatment was 2 times a day for 5 days as opposed to 33 treatments of external.  Since it is targeted radiation, the risk to lungs, heart, ribs and good breast tissue is reduced.  My insurance company paid for this radiation never was it an issue that they would not.  The only issue was whether I would get chosen since I was under 50.

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  • LScott63
    LScott63 Member Posts: 57
    edited October 2012

    Wondering what you found out about Internal Radiation. 

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  • coveyrun
    coveyrun Member Posts: 2
    edited November 2012

    Well, after repeated calls to my insurance company by me and by the surgeon's office, we were both told that (a) the MammoSite treatment code is a valid treatment code for my diagnosis code of DCIS, (b) there is no specific protocol that is subscribed to by my insurance company, and (c) there are no exclusions listed for the treatment code of MammoSite. Therefore, together we made the calculated risk decision to go ahead with it. I had the MammoSite implanted yesterday at the Dr's office.

    It was awful. One of the worst procedures I have ever had done, including natural child birth. He gave me a local anesthetic at the incision site, which apparently was not very effective on me. The surgeon had a very difficult time inserting the device, and I was in a lot of pain, apparently because of the super-fibrous nature of my breasts. I was, of course, trying not to move or make any  noise, but I had tears streaming out of my eyes. The Dr. said he's never had such a difficult case and he was using considerable leverage/strength (read: manhandling) to insert it.  I am NOT a wimp and normally have a very high pain threshhold. Not fun. When it was finally in, he drained the area and then filled it with saline, which stretched the area and again caused considerable pain.

    I was prescribed Tylenol 3 and told to take one every six hours, which didn't even touch it, even combined with a large dose of ibuprofen. This morning it is some better, and I haven't taken anything but ibuprofen since last night at bedtime. I have more pain, bruising and swelling from this procedure than from the lumpectomy. All I can say is that I'm glad that's over with.

    I am supposed to go to the oncologist to have it checked and the dressing changed on Friday morning, and assuming everything looks OK, I'll begin radiation treatments twice a day for a week on Monday. The part that's bothering me is that the oncologist told me they'll "just slip the balloon out" following the last treatment on Friday, sans a local. Considering the surgeon told me they'd "just slip the balloon in" after a local, I'm not feeling good about that prospect. :-)  I sure as heck hope it "slips" out easier than it "slipped" in. . .

    My parents were supposed to come and stay with me (they're 13 hours away) during my week of radiation, but they're both very ill with bad upper respiratory infections, so it looks like I'll be doing it on my own next week. Wish me luck.

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