What happens after you wake up from lumpectomy?

Hi Everyone, I have to say reading thur this has eased my mind considerably.  My surgery date is Jan 22nd, so still a few days off, with plenty of time to worry.  Not so much about the surgery, and your replies have really, really, helped, but mostly I'm worried about the nodes and margins.   I'm still having days of not quite believing this is actually happening to me, since I feel good...and the implications not just for my future, but for my girls as well.  I just cant seem to get out of my own head.

I'm glad to hear it went so well, OG. I was concerned about the drive home, knowing it was fairly long and you might not feel very well.

I think they pretty much always do imaging of one sort or another after the wire localization. Thank goodness mine is wayyy off to the side and really hard to capture on a mammogram, as I know they'll do US instead.

It is strange, isn't it, how you can feel great and then are told you have this life-threatening disease? I don't think of myself as sick; I see myself as a healthy person who is being treated for cancer.

At any rate, thanks for your updates and insights - it's good to have you back amongst us.

Bikerbabe, I hope you'll be able to stay calm these next few days and sail into your surgery feeling that you're in good hands and knowing that you've got an army of sisters behind you!

thanks oceangirl, reading about this both scares me and gives me strength to know I can get thru it. I'll just try and focus on work for now

Bikerbabe, about those wires: A few hours before surgery, you'll have a mammogram to locate your lump, then, after a lovely injection of lidocaine, they'll place a hair-thin wire directly into your tumor. Another mammogram (very gentle because it only needs to check the placement of the wire, not screen for problems) validates the wire's placement. The wire extends several inches beyond your skin, so they will tape it down to keep it from interfering with your movement. The purpose is to help the surgeon identify exactly where to direct his attention. It sounds pretty frightening, but other than the "bite" of the lidocaine, I didn't feel a thing. They will probably also inject blue dye, and maybe a nuclear substance, which will drain into your sentinel node/s. Your surgeon will use a tiny geiger counter and the visual clue of the dye to isolate the proper node/s. The dye is the reason you need to arrive several hours before surgery (or, in some facilites, the day before). I know it sounds absolutely horrid, but most of us here found it far better than we'd imagined.

The wires guide the surgeon and help precisely pinpoint the location of the tumor. It's kind of a gross image but I understand the reality is not as bad as it sounds.

I had a titanium marker (about the size of a grain of rice) placed during my biopsy so I didn't have the wires. I guess the radiologist new what was coming...even though I didn't.

Titanium markers - that's a new one and interesting. Anyway, as we have all been saying the reality is not half as bad as the thoughts/fears one has before surgery. Anyone tell me how long I will have a blue tit? Doesn't show much signs of fading after 6+ weeks.

gemma--It took me at least 6 months for the internal bruising of surgery to dissipate. But I was 71, and the general wisdom is that we heal more slowly as we age; I seem to recall that you too are in the senior age group. But by my first-year checkups, the discoloration was gone. At week 4 and week 5 after surgery, once the blood build-up was fluid rather than gel-like, the surgeon removed 100 cc of blood from the boob--60 cc at 4 weeks, 40 more cc at 5 weeks. And I felt and looked a whole lot better after each extraction.

The persistence of the bruising did lengthen the gap between surgery and radiation for me--it was more like 8 weeks before the prep CAT scan than the more usual 4-6. No big deal, and rads were no problem at all.

bikerbabe I know exactly what you mean. I can't believe it's me with cancer either. I've never been in the hospital or even had a broken bone. I don't think I've fully accepted it yet and not sure I will ever be able to think of myself as a cancer patient. It's all very depressing and I've had a hard time with the mental aspect. I had my lumpectomy on Monday and I'm still home. Not in any pain but just trying to cope.

Wow, Denise - your mom sounds like a trooper! I wish her continued health and vigor.

I thought it was interesting that they tested the margins during surgery. I'm sure it takes longer that way but it sure makes a lot of sense to me.

Hi, Denise - That's useful to know. I may ask my surgeon about that. We have to do a frozen section of my node anyway, so perhaps it would be easy to check the margins at the same time...

Information like this is simply NOT available anywhere else! I need and value the support from all the women on this board but the insights and pooled information are an amazing resource as well.

PS - Did you tell her surgeon about your mom's outing the day after surgery? I'm sure s/he would get a kick out of it!

Nash, that makes a lot of sense. I wonder why that's not more common? By the way, my tumor is around 3 o'clock, 3:30, too.

Thanks, Nash. We're doing an extensive US of both sides next month prior to scheduling the surgery. I might ask my surgeon about this option. My original surgeon uses the wires but I don't know whether my current one does; she hasn't said anything about it and I just thought that was what all of them did. Mine's pretty close to the chest wall at the far edge; I don't know if that would make a difference or not...

Again, thanks for raising this alternative!