Lumpectomy Panic?

Has your surgeon spoken to you about oncoplasty during the lumpectomy? This process can reposition tissue within the breast during the lumpectomy so the defect is less noticeable. It is also potentially more likely to be covered by insurance if done at the time of the surgery rather than trying to address correction of a defect, say by fat grafting, afterward - although that is a possibility as well. I also find it helpful to think about the cm in inches, so what would be removed is roughly 2inx1inx1in - still a sizeable amount, but somehow seems smaller when stated in inches. You are so young, if I were I your shoes I would feel exactly as you do and would want to maximize the aesthetic, if at all possible. And, what an odd and disconcerting experience with the mastectomy lady - eeesh! What 9 year old needs that? I am so sorry that happened to you!

Wishing you the best and keeping my fingers crossed for a great outcome to your surgery and a long, happy future for you!

Hi Avidreader. I hope you are doing well after surgery, which I believe was yesterday. I had a lumpectomy followed by oncoplasty last year. No dents but the lumpectomy breast looks smaller without clothes. With clothes no one can tell. I saw a plastic surgeon who said she can lift the good breast; she thought that was all I needed to be more symmetrical. I haven't done it yet.. don't know that I will. I'm a 32 D or DD so pretty similar in size to you.

I had the same experience as you did. I have two tumors (1.9cm and 1.4 cm) and one is just underneath the nipple, I had NAC and before my surgery I did MRI which showed that there are still residual lump left under the nipple, but the other were gone. I discussed about MX vs. LX with the surgeon and she recommended doing a LX first to see if she can get a clear margin on the nipple so it can be saved. If not, another surgery will be needed to remove the nipple complex.

She also told me that there could be a defect there but it can be resolved by fat grafting or even a implant. During the surgery she took out 6cm x 4cm x3cm and now it is 11 days post surgery my breast looks perfectly symmetric, almost like nothing has changed. I am really happy with the outcomes and I got my pathology report last Friday, and no cells were found in my nipple and the resection margins are clear, no more surgery needed!

I had a lumpectomy. My thought was that if I wasn't happy, I could do a mastectomy later but once my breast was gone, it was gone forever. As time has past, I am even more glad that I made that choice. This is just me, but I would have had a hard time being flat, but the more I have learned about the problems with reconstruction, the less I think that I could ever go through that process (and it is a process, not a one shot and you're done type of thing). I also wanted as quick of a recovery time as possible, with the least chance of complications (which, like any surgery, the more extensive the surgery, the more chance there is of that). Radiation, for me, was the easiest part of the whole treatment. I had no bad SEs then or later. That breast actually looks 'perkier' than the other one. A friend of mine had BC about 35 years ago. Back then the only choice was a mastectomy. One reconstruction became widely available, she did reconstruct. She is a surgical nurse, so has seen the whole thing from both sides of the operating table. When I asked her advice, without skipping a beat she said, "If you have a choice, go with a lumpectomy."