lesion just on top of implant

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GoddessMorticia
GoddessMorticia Member Posts: 5
edited March 2020 in Not Diagnosed But Worried

Had a horrific experience with a core needle bx in 2016. RADNET ruptured my implant and severed a major lymphatic duct, took 18 months to deal with the mess and get a new implant.

Now I have other lesions in another area that are just adjacent to my implant. Two surgeons refused me open biopsy and tried to get me to submit to being shot with that gun again. I refused and am seeking vacuum assisted biopsy, which is manually advanced.

My medical condition is such [ I have had liver cirrhosis for 25 years, from a medication] that if I lose this implant, I may not get another. Does anyone know where vacuum assisted biopsy is available in NYC, or a surgeon willing to do open bx if an implant is endanged?

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  • djmammo
    djmammo Member Posts: 2,939
    edited January 2020

    Click here for Google Search

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  • Mareny109
    Mareny109 Member Posts: 34
    edited January 2020

    That's what scares the heck out of me about going for a biopsy. So you're saying with an implant there are certain ways they should otr shouldn't do it? Please enlighten me as I'm not going to talk to the bs until the 27th. I cannot afford a ruptured implant. But if I have bc , it would be nice not to die from it.

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  • djmammo
    djmammo Member Posts: 2,939
    edited January 2020

    Mareny109

    Not sure to whom you are addressing your question but I have biopsied a great many breasts with implants in place and have never damaged one so it is possible.

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  • GoddessMorticia
    GoddessMorticia Member Posts: 5
    edited January 2020

    I had a spring-loaded core biopsy in 2016. It ruptured my implant and since the area in question was near the axila, they severed a good-sized lymphatic. It took 18 months for things to heal to the point that I could get another implant. Company called Radnet. The actual radiologist who did the biopsy looked as old as Grandma Moses. Also they had me sign the consent, get into position, prepped me for what I thought was an FNA, then they brought out the gun, as I call it. Should have gotten up and run! Also told them my platelet count was 50,000; I should have had drugs to raise it, but they went ahead anyway. Had to speak to technicians, no physician. Ended up with hematoma the size of an orange, and severe permanent scarring in the area.

    They used to be a good outfit called Westside Radiology, I had no idea they sold out to corporate. Radnet is running a mill.

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  • Mareny109
    Mareny109 Member Posts: 34
    edited January 2020

    Thank you Djmammo. Do you recommend fna vs the spring loaded core biopsy?

    GoddessMorticia- Thank you for the explanation. I'm going to keep this in mind on the 27th when I talk to the bs. I want to see what this person is going to recommend. My biopsies are at the 1 and 2 oclock position on my rt breast. So the inside. I have under the muscle implants and didn't have hardly any actual breast tissue before. This whole thing is a nightmare. I'd love to know, but then in another forum someone said- well, most people that come to the not diagnosed but worried don't find out they have cancer. The rates I'm reading on false positives and negatives and the 70% that find out it's benign make me just want to say eff it. The cost for a poor person is prohibitive. The cost for an additional implant surgery- not in the cards. The cost to get a ruptured implant out- not in the cards. Losing our home which we can barely afford is not an option.

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  • djmammo
    djmammo Member Posts: 2,939
    edited January 2020

    GoddessMorticia Mareny109

    I shy away from FNA's as they often do not provide enough material for path to make a call on it. Of the few FNA's I have done I have always had a cytotechnician from the path lab on site with a microscope to tell me when I had sufficient samples, so I knew when to stop.

    I much prefer the spring loaded biopsy device (I never called it the gun in front of patients). I routinely took 5 samples with an 18g device which is thinner than most people use and always had plenty of material. I have never had a problem sampling close to an implant or directly sampling lymph nodes within the axilla itself all without complication. There are many tricks to approaching a mass and firing the "gun" without damage to anything. As far as severing a lymphatic vessel, these are not visible on imaging and there is no way to avoid them however I have never seen an obstruction or a lymphocele form after a core biopsy.

    With a platelet count of only 50K I personally would not have performed the biopsy, I would even delay a biopsy if the patient had taken Motrin within the prior 7 days.

    As far as having an implant damaged during a medical procedure you should attempt to have them pay for replacing it. Check with your attorney. The permit likely mentioned the possibility but it doesn't cover them if it was damaged due to negligence.

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  • GoddessMorticia
    GoddessMorticia Member Posts: 5
    edited February 2020

    Thank you very much! I found the biopsy I needed at Mt. Sinai.

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  • Aya0827
    Aya0827 Member Posts: 7
    edited March 2020

    @Goddess I also live in the city also had a horrific experience at a first facility and actually left without doing the biopsy as I did not feel comfortable - I ended up going to Weill Cornell where the team was excellent! hope it helps!

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