BC after BMX?

SoozyCue
SoozyCue Member Posts: 43
edited January 2019 in Second or Third Breast Cancer

I'm sure this has been asked before, but I'm not putting together the right keywords in search to find anything.

One of my reasons for choosing BMX when my surgeon felt a lumpectomy would be enough is because I have other medical problems with no end in sight and wanted to minimize additional appointments and x-rays. My understanding is that with a lumpectomy I would need ultrasounds or MRIs every 6 months, but with BMX and recon, only an MRI every 5 years.

Now, though, I'm worrying about difficulties finding and seeing any new tumors under implants. How common is it for women with a BMX to develop a recurrence or a second cancer? Has it happened to anyone? Do you feel that it was discovered in a timely fashion?

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Comments

  • 7of9
    7of9 Member Posts: 833
    edited July 2018

    I had recurrence in axilla. Scans showed nothing going on under implant (2 CAT scans). I caught it myself - swelling of armpit. It had been looking/feeling fuller for a few months but was written off as scar tissue, lymphadema etc... I had 2 ultrasounds scheduled and had to cancel 1 x because my son was sick and the other time they ran so over I had to go home to pick him up from school. Could have been caught sooner. Push for ultrasounds, say you have aches if you feel ANYTHING suspicious or just want peace of mind. So far I'm 2 1/2 yrs out after recurrence.

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  • SoozyCue
    SoozyCue Member Posts: 43
    edited July 2018

    Will do. Thank you.

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  • KBeee
    KBeee Member Posts: 5,109
    edited July 2018

    I had a local recurrence after mastectomy. My implants are under my pec muscles, so I felt it between the pec muscle and the skin. It was close to my original tumor site. Some places are now putting the implants on top of the pec muscles. In that case, you won't really be able to feel the recurrence since it may be under the implant. I do not think there are standards for how to assess for recurrence, so most places don't; they just assume you'll be in the 98% that does not have a recurrence. You may need to push for ultrasound or MRI

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  • ColleenS80
    ColleenS80 Member Posts: 271
    edited July 2018

    I’m worried about this too. I had lumpectomy and the path came back with three spots of cancer instead of one as expected, so the surgeon wants me to get a mast. But I’m afraid I’ll have a recurrence underneath recon and it will get way far gone before anyone can find it. At least with a lumpectomy I know they are consistently checking?? But I know recurrence risk is higher too. It’s a hard choice.

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  • OCDAmy
    OCDAmy Member Posts: 873
    edited July 2018

    Is there research that shows that it's harder to detect cancer with a pre pec implant?

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  • KBeee
    KBeee Member Posts: 5,109
    edited July 2018

    Since my implant was under my pec, the recurrence was between my muscle and skin...very easy to feel. If a recurrence is right iunder the skin, you'll still feel it with an implant on the pec, but if the recurrence is on the pec muscle, you won't. Mine was sitting right on the pec muscle, so I likely would not have felt it if there had been an implant there.

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  • SoozyCue
    SoozyCue Member Posts: 43
    edited July 2018

    That's what I'm afraid of. So maybe I should be going under the pec.

    That decision needs to be made before the mastectomy and the tissue expanders, correct?


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  • SoozyCue
    SoozyCue Member Posts: 43
    edited July 2018

    OCDAmy, I don't know about research. My surgeon said that it is harder, and I have read that several times here on the message board.

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  • KBeee
    KBeee Member Posts: 5,109
    edited August 2018

    ocdamy, I think the method is new enough that they do not have much data on it yet

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  • SoozyCue
    SoozyCue Member Posts: 43
    edited August 2018

    I did wind up going with over the pec, for the easier recovery. I am early stage, so the numbers are well in my favor and I'm comfortable that my doctors will be staying on top of ultrasounds and MRIs.

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  • Rrobin0200
    Rrobin0200 Member Posts: 433
    edited August 2018

    I had a bmx, and am followed by my bs every 6 months. I demand an ultrasound every time... I want to see what's going on-or not going on- in there. My bs is always happy to do it for me. It's for peace of mind, really.

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  • TessaW
    TessaW Member Posts: 231
    edited January 2019

    I had a radical BMX in 2014.

    May 2018 they discovered three cancerous tumors in the scar tissue. I had surgery to have those removed.

    Then in November 2018 they removed some fast-growing lymph nodes from my lungs.

    I have figured since I had the radical BMX that a recurrence of breast cancer couldn't happen, but apparently it can.

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