@pattysmiles-thank you for this!! I am not above sharing this information with the people who do this procedure. Anything that will keep others from experiencing the awful pain associated with this procedure would/should be appreciated by all- I did read somehere about some kind of cream that can be rubbed on the breasts until it is absorbed which serves to help with the pain-- the ice pack freezing the area sound like a good idea to me--anything that will lessen it sounds good to me-- .

The other thing that kind of bugged me was that after the procedure they gave me an ice pack-I was to rub that whole area with the ice pack for the hour I sat waiting for the dye to do its thing- I felt really embarrassed sitting in a public waiting room rubbing my boob over and over in front of total stangers, men and women alike..I am going to mention this to someone as well.. I had my surgery at a surgical hospital facility-- it was very efficient and professional.Very competent-- but that part was very uncomfortable for me...

Sarajaneevans,

The hospital I did my surgery is Northern .Westchester Hospital in NY within it is "The Breast Institute". My doctor is Karen Arthur-breast surgeon. If any doctor is interested to hear about how(why) the icing works they can contact there. I didn't know there was any other way to do the injections until I read other stories here. Sounds like those were nightmares!

The person doing the needles kept apologizing as she did each one (I think there were 4?). But I didn't feel anything! I did take a peek and thought it looked odd..and that was enough for me, I didn't need that type of picture stuck in my head. Like I said, we all have different tolerance to pain, but they were adamant about the ice!

Sorry you had to sit in the waiting room like that , what is wrong with these people! A little common sense and a little decency goes a long way!

Pat

sarajaneeva- I had mine injected right before my bmx almost 18 mts ago and still have nightmares over it.  Worst part was the tech saying it really didn't hurt most women.  I am not saying I tolerate pain well but by golly I went through all the biopsies and testing without any complaints.  Received loads of compliments how still and cooperative I was.  I STILL am furious that this barbaric procedure is done to us and continues to be done to us because nobody wants to fix it.  Nobody should have to endure this pain in this modern day of medicine and pain killers.

@grt42btexan-exact thing here almost--I breezed through all the other procedures without complaint,AND I expected this one to be no different-but the more they told me it was going to be very painful, the more the hairs on my neck stood up-- I did ask the woman who did the procedure if everyone reacted the way I had, or was I just being a baby --she told me most everyone reacts this same way-it is a very painful procedure,agains she apologized and repeated nothing can be done to deaden the area-the good news is the injections go very quickly- It makes no sense that a better method of doing the procedure has not been invented,or something done about easing the pain during--I don't care if it takes under 2 minutes -the pain is excruciating and not something you forget-

RE:  The guide wire- alternative

Mine took them an hr. to get in.  The man at MGH told me it is usually  in MUCH quicker and he kept apologizing and finally said it was because my cancer was far back- into the chest wall.  ( Just what I wanted to hear at that moment )

In any case, I almost stayed here in SPFLD., MA. because they  have  a dr. here at Baystate who does NOT use a guidewire. She used radioactive seed localization.  (RSL)  I did see her as a first opinion.

 http://baystatehealth.com/StaticFiles/Baystate/Newsroom/Publications/AlphaSights%20Magazine/Alpha%20Sights%20Static%20Files/RadioactiveSeed.pdf

The I thought I was silly  not to go to MGH just because of a wire.

I did ask the surgeon / MGH there why they dont use the RLS but she  just said that was not her job.  I figure if they can do it here, they can do it anywhere, no ?

All things considered, I wish I had stayed here ----just 10 mins away. I do hear they (Baystate)  give their pts. LE risk reduction techniques here post surgically.

I had snb with my bmx, but the tracer dye was not injected until part way into the bmx. My BS explained that she would remove tissue until she got close to the 'the' spot and then inject the dye, and the mx work would pause until the immediate path report came back.  So obviously, I felt nothing.  I never realized how many different approaches there are to snb with mx.  Perhaps is it a question of where they're tracing from? I.e, if your lesion or whatever is in certain locations, that requires injection before starting the surgery, otherwise it happens during the surgery?  I can see why snb with lumpectomy requires the injection-while-conscious, but with mx, this really confuses me.

@Ariom, unbelievable,but I am so glad you were spared. The pain is excruciating.

now wire insertion, that's another story, that was a total nightmare, went on for more than an hour.

Sarajaneeva. Thankyou!

I meant to mention, but forgot to say, I quizzed my surgeon before my surgery, because I was so obsessed with this procedure.

He was genuinely unaware of the fear attached to it. He said, although he'd  had some say it was uncomfortable, he wasn't aware of it being really painful. He told me if I wanted to have a local, I could have whatever I wanted, and reiterated that this was my surgery, my decision. That was his approach for everything connected to this surgery for me.

I told the young man who did my procedure what he'd said, but he wasn't authorised to give the local injection., so he called my Surgeon who was prepared to come down to administer it himself. I felt like such a baby, that I told him not to bother.

My Surgeon was trained in South Africa, set up breast clinics there, then went to London and did the same there, and moved here recently to regional Australia when the ancient, but well loved Surgeon retired. So he is very experienced.

It's a mystery to me how there can be such disparity in experiences with this proceure, and I really feel for anyone who has that dreadful experience. 

@Carol57, Oh dear lord, now that does sound barbaric....how did you stand it-that is just wrong on so many levels-there has to be another way-I am so sorry for your suffering ):

No final pathology results for us today As we pulled into the parking lot at the doctors, the cell phone rang-the doctors office tellling us that the doctor had been detained in surgery and we would need to reschedule next week- they will get us in at the most available appointment. BOO!!!

Sara, I am so sorry to hear you have to reschedule for your Pathology results, that's just so wrong. As if you aren't keyed up enough, you have to go away and wait some more.

I wish you all the best, hope you get another appointment superfast, and that you get a great result!

@Ariom- Thanks so much- I keep thinking today is Friday,since that day is tomorrow, maybe they will call tomorrow and get me in- I hope-otherwise it will be  middle to late in the week,next week- I should not be surprised, these are just the kind of things that happen to me.. so I have learned to shrug them off -I hate to wait longer,but can't do much about it- I guess there is a reason for it someplace...

Kira, that MGH paper is soooo frustrating.  A true disservice to women facing MX, in my opinion.  Moreover, considering that MGH has a big reputation, many surgeons outside MGH might hang their hat on this work and figure to go ahead and do the SNB all the time in a prophy setting.  The result of this is going to be MORE cases of LE.  It does not take much common sense to be aware that this will happen. 

Plus, does MGH figure that it is subsequently unnecessary to take the precautions regarding flying, blood draws, blood pressure, etc when a sentinel biopsy is performed?  Living with such precautions is quite a burden and it is a lifetime burden.  Are they just ignoring this whole matter??  In the case of bilateral it is a real inconvenience and can be disruptive.  I think it is quite irresponsible of them to gloss over these points that have big implications for quality of life. 

Hmmm, if THEY were the ones having the surgery, what would they request to be done???  That would be interesting. 

I used to consider MGH the paragon for LE screening, as they reportedly measure all their patients pre and post op on the perometer...

The mere mention of MGH begs me to tell my story again and again, and I dont care if I say it a million times, I will do so to warn women.

I'm at MGH and they say:  " Btw, would you mind being a part of a study ?"  At first, I think : " NO!  I dont want them doing anything/ experimenting on me and my BC!"  I say : " A bc study?!"  The girl says : " Oh no no- nothing to do with your bresat...we just measure your arm.  That's it." (I felt this was in NO WAY related to me...like a control group)  Sigh of relief and I say " "Sure."
They measure with perometer, and she says :"  So every time you come in, we'll do it, just to keep a record"  I say sure no problem and that's  it.  When I went in post op, I *knew* I had LE by then ( 6 mos) and had been repeatedly calling and asking for guidance or appt. while they denied it.  This time, when they put my arm in the perometer the girl just said : Good, you're all set . Thanks". NOTHING ELSE was going to be said.

Meanwhile, I now knew a bit about LE from here so I specifically asked : " My arm is fine then ?"  She said :"  Yes. It's perfect!"  Sigh again.  I said :" OK, so no bigger ? "  She says : " Just a little- nothing we would worry about."

Then I was back in the waiting room with a knot in my stomach waiting to see the BS who could not deny my rng indent and (still) swollen breast and reluctantly said : " OK, I see it.  Just have your ring re-sized then."

I will go to my grave swearing they never gave me a single LE risk warning or post op instructions that so much as mentioned LE. I have their (pre op) consent form here on my computer .  LE is not mentioned.  I believe it should be. End of story ( until I tell it again)