ideal timing of injecting sentinal tracer

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HereToHelpMyMom
HereToHelpMyMom Member Posts: 38
edited May 2019 in Surgery - Before, During, and After

Hi All, Ive been posting a lot about my mom. (She is 80 and was just DX with IDC in her right breast (1.4cm, ER+/PR+, HER2-), mastectomy scheduled for next week)

Her surgery is scheduled for 3:00pm, but the radioactive tracer is scheduled Ans ENTIRE 24.5 hrs BEFORE at 2:30pm. Originally the nurse said the tracer would be the morning of, if the surgery was in the afternoon, and it was changed, but possibly by accident. Does over 24 hours seem too long after the tracer is injected?


Also, for the injection, is the appointment long? Do we need to wait an hour or two for her to be scanned.photographed, or something like that, after the injection? Everything I google describes a different experience! I keep forgetting to ask these questions when im in front of a Dr!


Thank You! Grateful for this community. Ive learned a lot from everyone's posts here lately.

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  • Cowgirl13
    Cowgirl13 Member Posts: 1,936
    edited May 2019

    It is common for the tracer to be injected 24 hours prior to surgery. Make sure your mom is given adequate pain measures prior to the procedure. Fortunately for me, I had everything done during surgery. I think its barbaric any other way.

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  • HereToHelpMyMom
    HereToHelpMyMom Member Posts: 38
    edited May 2019

    Hi Cowgirl,

    Thanks for the info. I already rescheduled it for the morning of the surgery. At the least, it will keep her occupied since surgery isnt until 3pm.

    What type of "pain measures". she isnt allowed to even ahev water after 5am that day, so my options are limited. Is the pain really that bad? The radioactive tracer is being done in the morning, but the blue dye is being given after anesthesia.

    Thanks again!

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  • ipenelope
    ipenelope Member Posts: 301
    edited May 2019

    Here to- my procedure of injecting the dye was done an hr before surgery. They might want it earlier for your mom as her body doesn't work the same as younger women so they might want plenty of time for it to get to the sentinel nodes. As to the procedure itself it took longer for them to check me in... it's a5 second needle poke in the edge of the nipple on the side that has the issue. The dye itself is not painful. If your mom can handle a needle poke she will be fine. What might help is if your with her at the time have her look the opposite way of the injection and talk with her to distract her.

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  • AliceBastable
    AliceBastable Member Posts: 3,461
    edited May 2019

    I was 68 last year when I had a lumpectomy. I had the radioactive tracer done about an hour before surgery. It was a little freaky but didn't hurt as much as I thought. The doctor who did it (I think one of the interventional radiologists) surface numbed it, then did the tiny shots for deep numbing, then the procedure. It was more pressure than actual pain, but still unpleasant. The radiologist was very nice and gentle and talked me through every step.

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  • Legomaster225
    Legomaster225 Member Posts: 672
    edited May 2019

    Mine was an hour or so before surgery as well.  I was already getting slight sedation at the time but I don't recall it being painful.  I think he may have put something on my skin before the numbing shot even.  I was kind of in and out of it I think because I remember saying goodbye to my husband,my mom and my sister and being wheeled away but not much after that. They could have performed the surgery in the parking lot for all I know.  Good luck to your mom!  She is lucky to have you to help guide her through this.

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  • Cowgirl13
    Cowgirl13 Member Posts: 1,936
    edited May 2019

    Legomaster, its great that you had the numbing cream before the numbing shot.

    HereToHelpMyMom: Make sure they use the numbing cream before the shot. It makes a huge difference to me when I have the cream before a shot. And don't let them talk you out of it.

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  • gb2115
    gb2115 Member Posts: 1,894
    edited May 2019

    My sentinel node tracer injection didn't hurt worse than a flu shot, but the wire placement did hurt a whole lot. I am guessing with mastectomy she won't need that done?

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  • Rah2464
    Rah2464 Member Posts: 1,647
    edited May 2019

    I remember when I had the node tracer injection that the nurses kind of made a big deal about the fact that I was in the hands of a certain doctor. He had a better technique that caused less pain apparently. He was very gentle and numbed me carefully before injecting the dye. It wasn't uncomfortable but made me wonder if sometimes it is based on who is performing the procedure.

    Heretohelpmom thinking of you and your dear mother, she is blessed to have you there to support her.

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