wire placement and wait time before surgery
On January 16th I had a wire guided lumpectomy and I'm still very upset. So upset I have refused to see the surgeon again, or any specialist what so ever. I no longer trust any of my doctors. I was scheduled for the wire at 7:30 am, and was told nothing to eat or drink 8 hours before. I felt every single bit of it, and it hurt like hell. It felt like someone sticking a hot poker into my breast and the stinging lasted for hours. Then they come up with consent forms for the injections my surgeon failed to mention. I understand this is normally painful, but I felt little to nothing of that, but in the beginning I refused to sign the consent, due to worries about the pain. I felt lied to and manipulated, since they kept telling me if I didn't sign, they'd have to cancel, but I would still be charged for it, regardless. Now I find out the could have done this while I was out? I had been told they could use a different local, since my breast reacted badly to the first one, when they did the core biopsy, but no one had actually marked me down to use something different. And again, there is even a surgical note that I had some type of reaction in the breast from the local used for the core biopsy. I was cold, and yes, it hurt. I was then left in a "recovery" area for 6 SIX!!! hours before they finally removed the lump. At this point it had been 10 hours since I had even had a sip of water, but was told I could have nothing until after the 1:30 surgery. By the time they were done it had been from 7am until 6pm. I was freezing, shivering was even noted in the surgical report. Has anyone else been forced to lay still for 6 (SIX!!!) hours waiting for the actual procedure? I have scoliosis and laying on my back is a painful, yet I was forced to do this until the surgery. I was under the impression that it would be no more than an hour between placing the wire and removing lump, but that's not at all what happened. This is how it was scheduled, so it wasn't an emergency that caused the long wait in between. I'm seriously considering contacting a lawyer. I felt that I had been put into the most extreme condition she could place me in, and had ignored my warning of not adding procedures on the day of the surgery, but had obviously done it anyway. My breast has caved in and is extremely disfigured. Has anyone else had to wait that long? I just finally got the pathology report yesterday, 2 and a half MONTHS after they were done. I see my PCP today, and I'm not sure I even want to see him. I'm so upset at how I was treated and how much I was deceived. What's the normal time they cut fluids for this surgery, and what's the normal wait time between the wire placement and the lump removal? How much more can I expect to lose of my breast since it is still caving in? And please don't tell me t consult my "cancer team", I don't have one. I do , however, have a visible lump on my toe, a lump in my throat and lumps all over my gums. I keep being told I have to see a different specialist for each problem, but I can't afford the co-pay for the office visit, and each one wants their own CT scans which are 200 a pop. I can't do them either? I feel stuck, knowing cancer is eating me up, but I can't afford to do anything of it. Again, my main question is, what's the normal wait time between placing the wire and them doing the lump removal?
Comments
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I don't know what the normal time is. I think I read somewhere that it can wait for quite awhile, as long as you're not doing anything that'll make it fall out. It's a tiny wire so they can just tape it up. I think I had about an hour wait, maybe more. It all kind of blends together as a really bad day. I was NPO after midnight, had to be there at 10 or so for the lymph node radioactive injection, and then went for wire placement after that. I think I was in the OR by like 1:30 or 2. I also had a traumatic wire placement. I was super swollen and sore from a MRI guided biopsy a few days prior, had a massive hematoma, and they felt compelled to use a MAMMOGRAM to place that wire. I was sobbing and traumatized it hurt so much. The local anesthetic for the wire was fine, but didn't do squat for the hematoma pain. Who puts a swollen hematoma into a mammogram? I complained to my surgeon afterwards and I think she felt really bad for me...she kind of cringed when I told her. I think she (just like me) thought they'd use an ultrasound to place the wire. It's apparently up to the radiologist, and mine was apparently not very thoughtful (and was a man, if it makes a difference).
I think fluids are standard at being cut at least 8 hours before surgery because of general anesthesia. They can't risk aspiration from anything coming back up. It's usually NPO after midnight the day before. So I had nothing to drink from midnight until about 4 pm. What sucked was having to be wheeled by the hospital coffee shop on the way to radiology.
Sorry you had a bad experience. :-(
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I've had a handful of wire-guided procedures (biopsies and lumpectomies). They were all pretty uneventful for me, and the wait times varied widely. In my personal experience, the bigger the hospital, the longer the wait. Small surgical centers were the quickest (but in both cases for me required walking outside and in public between radiology center and surgery room, with that big paper cup taped on).
The longest wait I had was about five hours between wire placement (7 am-ish) and surgery (scheduled for 10, ended up being at nearly 1pm). It was super annoying, but I was being kept updated by the staff. Surgeries before me were just taking longer for whatever reason. I did have my phone and my iPad and kept myself entertained. Because I always OVER hydrate for a good week before any procedure, I dont remember feeling thirsty. I was offered various calming medications (don't remember which ones) which I didn't need and refused.
The long wait between surgery and pathology (2.5 months?) is the more worrisome part of your story. That's a terribly long wait!
Don't let this experience drive you away from all health care providers. Just find ones you trust.
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