PTSD from wires placement procedure

turtlelady · October 2014

Is anybody else out there dealing with this? I was treated for a stage zero DCIS over the summer. I wasn't frightened at all, and assumed it would be just a minor inconvenience, thanks to the early diagnosis. The surgeon told me about the wire guides, and she indicated that it wouldn't be a painful procedure. However, things went wrong with the wires. After two hours of torture I was a quivering blob. Upon being returned to the day surgery, I was shut away in the dark, abandoned. Once the surgeon found me in that condition, she immediately called the anesthesiologist to get me out of pain right away. I assumed my problems were over at that point. The surgery itself went well and the pain medication she had prescribed kept me quite comfortable. But when I tried to go to bed that night, I discovered that I couldn't close my eyes without seeing wires. I spent that first night sobbing and didn't sleep at all. In the four months since then I've continued to have difficulty sleeping, flashbacks, nightmares, and lots of crying in unexpected places and times. I've had to cut back to part time on my job, which is hurting me financially. I am being treated for PTSD, but it seems slow. Meanwhile, I'm wondering, am I alone in the universe with this problem? Anybody else have a painful experience with the wires? Anybody else wind up with PTSD from the treatment of such a minor cancer diagnosis? I'm trying to move forward, but feeling pretty stuck.

LilacBlue · October 2014

I too had a long drawn out day of procedures that included vacuum assisted core biopsy and markers placed. Many of us have grappled with PTSD due to treatment. My therapist used a technique called EMDR<---click) and it worked really well. If your therapist does not have the training for delivering EMDR, perhaps she can refer you to someone in your area who does. Wishing you all the best.

Bounce · October 2014

turtlelady - I too can strongly recommend EMDR as an effective way of getting over PTSD.

I had a painful and stressful medical situation 20 years ago which I have never forgotten and which on occasion caused me distress. When diagnosed with cancer I was offered psychological counseling and the first session made me feel worse rather than better. I told the therapist from the 2nd session that I wanted to be more focused and not jump from subject to subject so she suggested EMDR.

I realized that more than anything to do with my cancer diagnosis I wanted to deal with the old problem and I did.

It is a technique that really seems to work - it is relatively quick - a few sessions and not months or years of "talking".

I am amazed at the difference it made and the insight it gave me.

I highly recommend you try it. Wishing you speedy healing.

MmeJ · October 2014

What went wrong with the wires?

Shut away and abandoned in the dark? Your surgeon discovered you that way? Where in the world did you have your surgery?

turtlelady · October 2014

Thanks for your responses! LilacBlue and Bounce, I actually just started EMDR today, and am hopeful for a good and relatively speedy outcome. At least I feel like I'm doing something that might help.

MmeJ, I'm in Anchorage, Alaska, and I believe the the medical center I used is excellent. However, mistakes definitely were made and things went wrong. Too much to explain here, but for some reason (as it was later described to me, following an investigation) I was a "complicated case" and the wires were misplaced, piercing into areas that were not covered by the local anesthetic. Hence the excessive pain. I was stoic and didn't cry out until late in the procedure, so the doc didn't realize I was in pain until then. At the day surgery, things were in some sort of disarray that day, with a printer down, and possibly some VIP patient present. My nurses were sent to a different patient (I'm not sure why), leaving me with someone who couldn't be bothered. The surgeon was surprised to find me in pain, as no one had informed her. She took appropriate action, and has been very kind and caring. The facility has also been wonderful since then. I had an additional procedure at the day surgery and received the best of care that time, so I do think it was a fluke that so many errors occurred, involving different people, that one day. Nevertheless, it's been quite difficult to get over.

Thanks, all, for your good wishes. :-)

Bren-2007 · October 2014

Hi Turtlelady,

My heart goes out to you hearing what you went through. You are not alone in what happened to you. The wire insertion was the single most painful experience I've ever been through. I can't even stand to think about it ... and my lumpectomy was 7 1/2 years ago.

Wishing you all the best,

Bren

NoCuteNameForMe · October 2014

I had wires placed one week ago before my lumpectomy and was not prepared for how unpleasant it was. The radiologist had me contorted in all directions with vice-like pressure on my breast. My head, neck, shoulders were all bent to accommodate the angle/machine and my poor boobie was a pancake. The radiologist said, "will you be okay to stay like that for 5 minutes?" and I responded, "Hell, no...I want the f*ck out of here! Get it done faster." I am usually very polite and pleasant but this procedure pushed me to the brink. I apologized profusely to the radiologist afterwards. But keep in mind that pre-surgery, one is also dehydrated, no coffee, no food with a stressful event (surgery) looming ahead. Really, there's got to be a better way to do this.

I have to go back for add'l lumpectomy surgery in 3 weeks and my first question was, "are there wires to place?" When the surgeon said no, it was a huge relief.

If they had offered me Xanax before the procedure, I would have taken it. I think it would have been easier on everyone in the room.

Dogsneverlie · November 2014

I had two stereotactic biopsies done and although they were obviously not fun, the person who did them did a great job with the numbing meds. I had no worries about the wire placement because I thought she would be doing it but my surgery was scheduled on her day off!!!!!!!!!! The wire placement was the most painful experience of all of my cancer experiences! I was sobbing as she was inserting the wire and saying OH MY GOD WHY DOES THIS HURT SO MUCH? She told me I WAS EMOTIONAL! When they wheeled me back up to the waiting area all pasty white and shaking, my husband was NOT happy and then my surgeon came by and was concerned and asked what happened - she said I should not have felt that and then she went down to the area where they did the wire placement and I have no idea what happened from there.

Truly, it was beyond awful.

PTSD from wires placement procedure

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