My Experience since past 2 months. Today was the surgery.

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someone_in_nj
someone_in_nj Member Posts: 9
edited June 2014 in Benign Breast Conditions


Hi All, I am sincerely thankful to all participants on this discussion board sharing their experiences.  I feel obligated to share my experience to hopefully help the newbie visitors.  I have been a weekly scared, silent reader, since 2 months.

So here's my experience. Age 40 1/2; I go for my annual ob/gyn test. (I go every year.)  So the doc welcomes "my age" with a crisp blue note of prescription for mammogram.  She did an in office test and everything seemed fine. 

1st mammogram: Results came in. Dr's assistant called to inform me that I needed to meet the dr. regarding the report. I ask if everything was okay?  Her assistant said, "most likely there is a concern" and that's the reason doctor wants to see me.  I am a healthy, non-smoker, non-drinker, no drugs, etc. My feelings at that time were like - not taking this seriously in a negative way.  I just wondered what could it be though.  I was concerned, but not scared.

So I go meet the dr.  She reads the results, tells me my report came as "abnormal" on left breast.  She immediately prescribed me a 2nd mammogram and 1st ultrasound, and also gave me a prescription to see a breast surgeon for consultation - after test were done, so the surgeon had those results too.

2nd mammogram and 1st ultrasound: On the mammogram they noticed 2 problems.  A tiny cluster of calcification and, on different spot "Architectural Distortion" .  So on the ultrasound, they looked for the "distortion" part and studied the shape, size, and the appearance I guess.  I was looking on the screen and I could see the part of "Architectural Distortion".  The radiology tech at that time said, in her opinion it did not look like a "problem" (aka cancerous) but the dr. has to read the report and advise what to do.  The dr. reviewed my report and suggested to schedule for an "Excisional Biopsy Surgery".  I was shocked and scared, because a surgery? it conflicted with how I was feeling - a completely healthy person. Surgery was recommended remove the tissue on calcification and area of distortion to be examined by the pathologist.

I went home all confused and scared, started internet search on calcification and distortion and all.  The more I read, I am not sure if I felt relived or even more scared, because I found plenty of information, but they were all "personal" "individual" experiences that only a lab result in pathology can find. Also, when I went home, I used my finger to locate the part of "distortion" and I could feel a "tiny pointy rock like" feel which none of the others had experienced. (I could visualize it to be like the picture I saw on the ultra sound. It had clear border with a pointy oval like structure).

Breast Surgeon Consultation: I was really scared to show up for this appointment.  This was "The Place" where my "future" would be told.  It was a reasonable time when the dr. showed up in my waiting room.  She had already studied my report and was very well prepared to discuss the options and answer my concerns.  She started out with telling me on what was found on the report and why the procedure was needed.  Then she told me how the surgery would be done which would minimize the scar and be "cosmetically" pleasing as well.  While she explained the surgery part, I think I was feeling numb and was about to break down crying. I was not prepared for this.  I then asked her upfront what would be the chance of having cancer?  She mentioned 25% chance, and 75% it was non-cancer.  At this point, the "surgery part" felt like nothing and I was engulfed with the 25% chance because that is very high. Also, I mentioned to the dr. of another lump I found on my own which none of the test picked up.  So she examined that part and believed it was "fibroadenoma changes", but to be absolutely sure before my surgery took place, she recommended I go for an ultra sound and "Fine Needle Aspiration" procedure if needed.

2nd ultra Sound: The ultra sound did not show anything.  They could not find anything. Dr. read the ultra sound report and found it okay. However, when you touch you could feel the smooth lump. Then the dr. came in and felt it as well which would not show on the ultra sound.  So the dr. performed a "Fine Needle" procedure and told me the "quick results" would be back in 4 minutes.  So while I changed and waited praying, the Dr. comes in and says "Good luck! The results are normal." He said it was just fatty tissue and nothing to worry about. I was relieved.  I had one down as normal, now 2 more to go.

Excisional Biopsy Surgery: Today morning was my surgery.  I did not get any preliminary result from the doctor because the doctor said it cannot be seen with our eye and must be examined by the pathologist under the microscope.

I have to wait 5 days for the report.  I am hoping for the best. 

 

[I really want to write about my experience on the surgery today, on what to expect and how it all went.  I will do that tomorrow.  I was called in at 6:30AM and left at 1:30PM.  Personally I did not find such details of the Day of surgery anywhere on this board and I think it might help others.] 

 

 

 

Comments

  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited June 2014

    Hi Never,  I also am new here but not new to breast cancer and prior concerning mammograms with benign results.  I hope all goes well for you.  What a nightmare to have to go thru all of this with your very first mammogram.


     

  • Chrismarie
    Chrismarie Member Posts: 30
    edited June 2014

    OMG! I'm so happy I found this thread. I just turned 41 and had slight blood discharge.  I was also given my a prescription for my very first mammo and an US.....along with a breast surgeon.  Both tests came out negative which I thought was great but the surgeon still wants to do a duct excision next Tuesday. I am scared out of my mind about the surgery.  I have never even had my wisdom teeth out.  So please tell me how the day of the surgery was. That would be greatly appreciated. 

    Edited by Mods to fix formatting issue.

  • someone_in_nj
    someone_in_nj Member Posts: 9
    edited June 2014


    hey ya, I wrote a lot but did not save and my laptop battery died so I lost all that. I did not know my power was out :(

    oh well so in short I will update now :)

    6:30AM: I show up on time. Get paperwork signed.

    6:45AM: They take me to change and I am in the wheel chair.

    7:00-8:15AM: Take me to pre-op room.  Meet the nurse, anesthesiologist, put in ivy, measure blood pressure etc. (I look around other patients ready for surgery).

    8:15AM-10:00AM: Go to other floor for mammogram and get "wire" in for the "wire guided excision" procedure. (This was really tough because they took so many scans. Some scans were blurry, while other scans did not show problem area clearly).  The radiology dr. then inserted 2 thick needles in the problem area and left the wires in there.  This procedure requires your boob to be compressed so they can measure the location and insert the needle. Then they scan again to see the wire was done properly and in the right area.  It was not a comfortable position but I was not in pain either.

    10:00AM-10:45AM: I was back to the pre-op room. Just waiting. The inserted "wires" were taped to my chest. No pain. No nothing. Just relaxing.

    10:45AM: Nurse puts in the anesthesia and I am knocked off completely in couple of minutes.  I was in heaven.  I love anesthesia.

    1:15PM: I wake up.  I hear some sound. I had NO idea the procedure was done already.  I see the nurse by my side writing something.  I ask her if I was just sleepy or was it the anesthesia that was making me "drowsy"?   I had no idea if I was waking up or going to sleep!  She said, we are done with the procedure and asked me how I was feeling.  I thought WOW, I had no idea procedure was done already.  I am feeling great! I don't feel any pain. I was just surprised that they had cut me up and I did not feel anything.  I had to look at the bandage to understand my procedure was complete. 

    Nurse asked me what I wanted to eat/drink and in no time she got me my tea with milk n sugar!!  She asked me to change and called my husband who was in the waiting area.

    1:30PM: I am ready to leave. I feel light headed, little dizzy, and little bit unable to stand up and walk straight and normal. but I have absolutely NO PAIN. They said it was all normal and that's why they wheel chair us back to the car.  So I enjoyed my ride in the wheelchair to the main lobby!:)

    2:00PM: I was home.

    Honestly, I had really good experience with the nurse, the doctors, the service. 

    The only part that scared me was the radiology technician.  She was unable to locate the problem area and had to take numerous scans. She had 16 years of experience but did not look competitive. She laughed for her mistakes - such as numerous blurry scans. She expressed being tired and not getting the scans correctly and laughed out loud saying "we are really working for our money today".  She finally had to get the radiology dr. to assist her.  Yes that was scary.  I am glad the dr. was present because the whole procedure depends on scans that show the problem area clearly.

    I am praying that my correct tissues were taken out for examination. I am hoping all b9.

  • Colleen_2
    Colleen_2 Member Posts: 177
    edited June 2014

    someone in nj - This sounds exactly how my surgery went except I also had to have a wire inserted by ultrasound as well so I had wires on both sides.  My recovery was very good as well.  I was expecting a lot of pain but I was fine.  Wishing you b9 results!  Hugs!

     

  • someone_in_nj
    someone_in_nj Member Posts: 9
    edited June 2014


    Result are in 48 hrs later. Not 5 days:)

    Dr. called to inform nothing to worry about !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No "c".

    However, I will be on watch.  She will discuss this with me in person in 14 days.

    I have "ductual hyperplasia focal atypical"... high risk category... but it's not "c"

     

     

     

  • sarahjane7374
    sarahjane7374 Member Posts: 669
    edited June 2014

    ThumbsUp awesome!  congrats!

  • someone_in_nj
    someone_in_nj Member Posts: 9
    edited June 2014


    Thanks! it feels good.

  • Chrismarie
    Chrismarie Member Posts: 30
    edited June 2014

    Fantastic for you...so exited all went well!😄.  Question, do you know if everyone has the wire because my surgeon didn't say anything.  Also my procedure is at 9:30, and they said it would only be 20 minutes.  Anyone experience this?   I'm so nervous about the whole thing.

  • someone_in_nj
    someone_in_nj Member Posts: 9
    edited June 2014


    Hi Chrismarie,  I think the "wire guided" procedure is not for everyone, otherwise your dr. would let you know. 

    Now regarding the Time:  That was the whole reason I wrote my experience of the day of surgery.  Mostly to inform that even if Dr. says certain time for procedure; your actual presence could be much longer.

    I was told my procedure was going to be for 1 hour.  This was true.  However, I was not there for 1 hour.  I was there 7 hours. The "actual" surgery part was 1 hour.

    So hope this helps.  Because initially I was going to have my husband take off for couple of hours from work.  I thought since they called me at 6:30AM, I might be done by 9AM the latest.  That was definitely not the way it went.  :)

    Your excision procedure for 20 minutes does not seem long.  So that's awesome for you.  However, just call up the office and ask them how much time will you be there for the day. They will let you know what to expect.

    Also, the surgery part is a breeze.  Thanks to our doctors / education / service / country / whatever you may call it.  The MOST difficult part is the "results".

    I wish you the best and hope you have positive result / procedure / experience as well.

  • Chrismarie
    Chrismarie Member Posts: 30
    edited June 2014

    Thank you so much for taking time to answer me.  I do feel better.  I just can't wait to be on the other side of this.  

    Best wishes to you!!!!

  • WolfsLady
    WolfsLady Member Posts: 111
    edited June 2014

    I wish your results weren't high risk, but glad it wasn't worse.  I'm sure you will have a lot to discuss and decide over the coming the weeks.  

    I can't believe how quickly they did everything with you.  Except the wire placement.  With me the wire placement went really well and the rest seemed to take forever.  My doctor was running late so the time between when they inserted the wires and when they did the surgery was awful.  They took me back to get ready and when I was sitting there all dressed up thinking "Let's just get this over with." Someone came in and told me it would be at least another hour to an hour and a half.  

    Later: I barely remember them giving me the meds to knock me out.  I was like you I woke up disoriented.  I hate the way it feels to have comprehension of time having passed.  My surgery (gallbladder) they had me count down from 100.  (They didn't do that on this one or the one to remove my appendix and adhesions.)  100, 99, 98... It was funny because when I woke up, I was still counting.  97, 96...  I couldn't figure out how they could be done when I was still counting.  LOL  I liked it better without the counting and those last few seconds of anxiety, knowing it's going to happen.  

    They also kept me longer.  I think, for at least 45 minutes after on each of my surgeries.  I'm amazed they let you go so quickly. 

  • Colleen_2
    Colleen_2 Member Posts: 177
    edited June 2014

    Sorry you have to join the high risk club but great news for the b9 results! Happy

  • sarahjane7374
    sarahjane7374 Member Posts: 669
    edited June 2014

    Chrismarie - I'm guessing no wire for you if they said your procedure would be 20 minutes.  Between the ultrasound, wire placement and follow up mammograms, that in itself took over 20 minutes for me.  Even so, it was no big deal - beyond the sting of the lidocaine, I felt nothing.  Good luck!

  • Chrismarie
    Chrismarie Member Posts: 30
    edited June 2014

    Did anyone have "twilight" sedation?  They said it is similar to a colonoscopy....which I have never done.  

    Is that lidocaine? 

  • sarahjane7374
    sarahjane7374 Member Posts: 669
    edited June 2014

    Lidocaine is a numbing medication - kind of like novocaine.  I've never had "twilight" sedation - my excisions were all under general anesthesia. 

  • jarris77
    jarris77 Member Posts: 100
    edited June 2014


    Chrismarie, I have had several of procedures done with "twilight sedation". You are not under as deep as you are with a major surgery but you will be "out". With most of mine, I don't remember anything. With one, I was kind of semi-conscious and remember parts of it. It's kind of like I was aware of what's going on but I really didn't care what they did...lol. If I remember correctly, one of the drugs they use for this type of sedation is called Versed (I haven't checked to make sure that is correct). Good luck.

     

     

  • Chrismarie
    Chrismarie Member Posts: 30
    edited June 2014

    I just have another question in regards to afterwards.  I live by myself (recently divorced as if that matters), I will be having my mom take me to my surgery but will she have to stay with me when I return home? I don't have any children but I do have two dogs.  Will I be able to take them out, etc? I'm just trying to plan ahead as much as I can.....a little OCD I guess!

  • WolfsLady
    WolfsLady Member Posts: 111
    edited June 2014

    I would try to get her to stay at least long enough to be sure that you are awake and not going to be sick from the sedation.  I was ill for hours and throwing up until I got some meds to stop that.  I think it was the next day because I was a little afraid to be alone while I was feeling so ill and the pharmacy is 12 miles each way.  Hopefully you won't have any problems.  I'd say I was groggy for at least 6 hours after.  But I know someone who went home and slept for 2 hours and then drove her son to his cub scout crossover and I think cooked dinner.  I couldn't have driven nearly that quickly.   

  • Chrismarie
    Chrismarie Member Posts: 30
    edited June 2014

    WolfsLady did you have "twilight sedation" or general? They told me I would have the same as you get for colonoscopies....which I have never had. Is that what you had as well?

  • WolfsLady
    WolfsLady Member Posts: 111
    edited June 2014

    I don't think it was twilight.  I had that once with a colonoscopy when I was in my 20's, and I remember bits and pieces.  I seemed to have some slight concept of time passing when I woke up.  With this I was out.  When I woke up my husband and son were there and I honestly would not have known that they were done if someone hadn't told me.  However it never occurred to me that they would do anything less than knock me out.  I did consider asking about being awake until I read more about exactly what they do when they remove a papillloma.  

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