AFTER Lumpectomy - self breast exams

I'm with you Shayne....I wonder the same thing. I had radiation so things feel so different in that breast than the unaffected one. It's hard to explain....things feel tighter in the breast that had the lumpectomy and the other breast is so not tight...just more loose....I wish I had a bit more guidance.

I struggled a lot with this one since surgery.  And in the couple of months after radiation, I was constantly finding stuff in there that was just regular breast tissue.  Everything was lumpy.  And then I'd think I'd find something in my good breast, and have nothing to compare it to on the cancer side because half my breast tissue was gone. Ask me how many times I've felt a rib or what not and nearly leapt up out of my chair. It's nerve wracking.  I admit I wasnt so good with SBE's before surgery, but I did find my lump myself, and I knew. 

My radiation oncologist told me that things would continue to shift and change in the radiated breast for a good while after treatment.  I guess what we mostly have to look for are major changes, things that don't move around when you push around on them.  I try to do a breast exam shortly after my mammo when I know things are good, and try to use that as my baseline.

One thing that sucked for me though was when I told my then-therapist during a discussion about trusting doctors with BE's and myself for SBE's that I was afraid I was going to forget what my lump had felt like and she gave me this "oh come on now" look and to my recollection even said something along those lines. I was not impressed. Sorry, but that was and is a legitimate fear for me, that I'll forget and not notice something similar.  I mean the lump I did have practically jumped up and bit me before I finally got around to noticing it. 

I really don't worry too much about SBEs. I certianly don't do a thorough systematic exam. I see my oncologist twice a year and he checks. I have mammos and my PCP checks once a year when I have my physical. So if I spread out the visits, I feel pretty well covered.

Yes, SBEs after lumpectomy is problematic for me. I had internal radiation, so there are THINGS inside that breast, this and that, that were created during the five days nuking. I still do it but it certainly not normal.