Easing worries about certain procedures.

thank you for the post kris. i will be having a sentinel node biopsy and i've been terrified. last month i was terrified about the wire localization procedure but mine went fine, no pain at all. i will be hoping that my snb is a breeze as well!

I had my re-excision and SLNB earlier this week. For me, the injections were painful and I was glad I only had to have two of them. My hospital does not use numbing cream or lidocaine for this procedure. The tech said it would be similar to a bee sting; i think more like a hornet's sting. I thought my pain was like a bell curve:not much pain with the initial needle prick and then felt nothing (so I thought YEA it won't be painful lol) then all the sudden the pain kicked in and after about 5-10 seconds, it subsided. I really was hoping for a bit of a breather before the next injection, but the radiologist was efficient and went right on with the next one. This wasn't the kind of pain where I yelled, kicked, cursed etc. but I was clenching/unclenching my fist the entire time. The tech said the reason for the pain was that the injections stretch the skin and it did feel like the nipple area was getting pulled/stretched. Afterwards, the tech massaged the area for a little bit and then I was excused for about 30 mins to walk around the hospital and keep my arm moving. After 30 mins, I went back in for the pictures, it lit up, and she marked me. My hospital also does the blue dye once you are out in the OR. So i did urinate blue for the first 24 hours! Like any other procedure, we will all experience different degrees of pain. This was doable despite the pain I felt and if I ever have to do it on the right side I will know more what to expect.