Third surgery coming up..

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UpstateNYer
UpstateNYer Member Posts: 387
edited April 2019 in Surgery - Before, During, and After

Hi all. I had a lumpectomy with snb on March 20th. My nodes came back clear, but unfortunately margins were full of IDC and DCIS as well, so had reexcision on April 3rd. Went for followup today and margins STILL show some tiny amount of DCIS. These would never show on a mammogram or MRI scan. My options are: just do radiation and hope stray cells get destroyed, have another re-excision(would be my 3rd surgery), or do mastectomy. My surgeon feels that I should try another re-excision, even though the anxiety of another one is causing me a lot of angst. I guess if margins remain unclear, will do mastectomy anyway. Has anyone gone through anything similar? Opinions??? I know that I am probably in the minority. She has only seen 3 other cases like this (where someone needed a third surgery to get clear margins) . Lucky me.

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  • Ingerp
    Ingerp Member Posts: 2,624
    edited April 2019

    Upstate--I needed a reexcision in 2016 and I really think a lumpectomy, especially of a small area, is such a minor surgery I wouldn't hesitate to have it a third time. The reasons you chose lumpectomy vs. mastectomy initially are still valid, right?

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  • UpstateNYer
    UpstateNYer Member Posts: 387
    edited April 2019

    hello Ingerp, Yes, reasons the same and for sure the reexcision was a breeze for me as well. But.. what bothers me is needing it yet again. There is the distinct possibility that margins would come positive again. None of us has a crystal ball to determine what will happen. But will probably do reexcision anyway before having no choice but to have a mastectomy. I noticed in your profile that you had 2 separate diagnoses. May I ask why you were not given chemo initially in 2016? Did you have a low Onco score? I hope that I am not being too personal. Seems like you have really been through a lot. Take care and God bless. Pat

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  • Ingerp
    Ingerp Member Posts: 2,624
    edited April 2019

    Chemo is not typically done for DCIS. And that area wasn't even hormore receptor positive, so my only treatment was surgery and rads. I also didn't have an Oncotype last year because I was HER2+, and chemo is always recommended.

    FWIW, last year I told my BS to "go big"--like don't worry about taking a little extra tissue (the area in 2016 was *much* larger) to minimize the chance I'd need a re-excision, and I didn't need one. And of course I think about what if it comes back again in either breast. My baseline is to avoid mastectomy unless it's the only option. It might come to that point some day, but otherwise they can keep taking out chunks.

    Best of luck to you and you'll find throughout BCO that there's no such thing as too personal. We're all here to share our stories and help others.

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  • UpstateNYer
    UpstateNYer Member Posts: 387
    edited April 2019

    hi Ingerp. Thanks for your reply. It seems that you have been through a lot. You must be one strong lady. Good for you. I am glad that you did lumpectomies. You can always do mastectomy later on (but hopefully it won't be necessary😊). I also asked my surgeon to remove more tissue at second surgery, but not really sure that she did so. I do trust her judgement. I guess that I should be grateful that it is only dcis and not any idc in margins this time. Hope you continue to do well. I will keep in touch. Take care. Hugs. Pat

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