Sentinel Node Biopsy, pain with just one shot?

I am having the lymphosintigraphy without numbing too. More comments would be helpful. The nurse told me that she heard it does sting. Is it just one injection or do they stick multiple times? Does it only hurt while they are injecting or as it travels too

I had the radioactive injection the night before my lumpectomy. It was 4 shots around the nipple. The first and last hurt the worst. Technician was from Maryland and he said there they use numbing cream and I believe lidocaine, the patient waits about an hour for cream to take effect, then the patient is virtually pain free during shots. Here in New York nothing was offered. I found it quite painful:

I know everyone is different, but I had mine done 4 days ago and it was not bad at all. My facility does not use any numbing as they say it interferes with how the tracer drains. The technician also told me that the cream only blocks the pain of the needle stick, but not the feeling of the liquid they inject which is what can cause the pain. For me, the heparin shots after surgery hurt worse.

I found it very painful. I have had a couple of broken bones, an eye injury that required me to be conscious, alert and unmedicated during removal of a piece of metal, and had such a fast labor that I did not get an epidural until about an hour before my daughter was born, so I am not unfamiliar with pain and deal with it pretty well. I got through a BMX fine with few pain meds. But the SNB sucked. And the doc/hospital I used did provide a lidocaine script that I applied according to instructions prior to the procedure which took place a couple of days prior to my BMX. Did not matter, still hurt like hell. And there is no reason for it. In the thread noted below posters talk about their experiences and various ways to do the SNB. It is yet another thing that does not need to be a shitty experience, but often is because docs just do what they know to do in their own universe of experiences and we simply don't know enough to ask other for options at the time it is done.

https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/91/topics/728862?page=9#post_3713039

myJourneys - I am glad you were able to decipher my message, I just reread it and see how autocorrect botched several words. lol It was very much intended to be a virtual hug and I will keep you in mind on Dec 5. If you want to pm me for more personal communication and questions you are welcome to do so.

As I understand it (I researched quite a bit before mine), not all breast centers do the nuclear medicine procedure before surgery. The blue dye done during surgery is not the same.

The nuclear medicine procedure is done a few hours before surgery and works by introducing a radioactive substance that is then viewable by their machine. It shows where your breast drains to first, the first nodes that would, in theory, be where cancer would travel to from your tumor. My technician showed us the scans and It is pretty cool to see the spots where the isotope drains to.

During surgery, they use a Geiger counter to locate these hot spots where the radioactive liquid collected.

They also inject a blue dye during surgery, which dyes the nodes blue.

So they use both to determine where to remove nodes for best chance of catching any that might be involved.

It is interesting how different centers do things differently. I am being treated at a large reputable university medical center and trust that they have the more recent data from relevant studies and equipment to provide the services that effect the best results. They also use 3D mammography as standard screening. So I trust that they know more than I do about what we need to do for me to identify where it may have spread.

I am not intending for this to sound like "my breast center is better than yours" for anyone who did not receive the same care. There are so many quality places to get good care and I believe they all want the best results for each of us. Just trying to help anxious persons waiting and wondering. If you know you are going to be having it done, it is an extra measure they are taking for the best care they can give to ensure the best results for you. That helped me stave off fears.

From the start of my being diagnosed, i have taken great comfort in knowing that breast cancer is so well studied and treatments so successful. We have so much wealth of knowledge and unfortunately so much experience that I feel almost blessed that if I am going to have cancer, at least it is this common cancer where there is so much information and support. This site, for example, has been a huge help.

Love to all who are here.

MyJourneys:

I was more terrified of the radioactive die for the SNB then I was for my bilateral mastectomy. When I say terrified I mean terrified. I had read things as bad as it felt like acid being poured on your skin. As they wheeled me to nuclear medicine a few hours before surgery I felt like I wanted to get up and run. Well... It was the easiest part of my entire journey so far. Much easier then the core needle biopsy, easier then a routine blood draw and as easy as mammogram. Seriously! I laughed with the radiologist when he told me he had already done one side. I had it done on both sides and only felt a small pinch on one side. Please try not to stress. You can do this! You are in my thoughts

lizzysmom, I also had everthing done while I was under anesthesia for my lumpectomy. I can't imagine it any other way. It makes me so mad that most women have to go through this without sedation.

I didn't know about the sentinel node biopsy shot until the day of. I was told it was going to be really really painful and that if I wanted to it was OK to swear :-). I thought yeah sure, should be fine, but OMG it really does hurt. I think that was possible the most painful part of my journey.

So glad it went well.

Adding FWIW...I felt like MO221...dreaded the radioactive tracer more than the UMX itself after reading how painful the injection is. I literally felt nothing. The nurse who administered it told me that 8mos ago our hospital changed the type of dye that's used, that it's more "breast specific" and that they've had far fewer complaints since switching. Before, she said some women would complain of it feeling like a bee sting while others were left in tears. Not sure what they use now, but I'm thankful that they're having better pain-free results! That was certainly my case!