Incision??

etnasgrl
etnasgrl Member Posts: 650
edited March 2020 in Surgery - Before, During, and After

I had my lumpectomy on Monday, along with port placement. My surgical oncologist told me to leave the surgical bra on for at least 24 hours and that I could shower on Wednesday. Okay, no problem.
Yesterday, I finally took the surgical bra off and was going to shower. The moment I took the bra off, I just stood in front of the bathroom mirror completely dumbfounded. The tumor was located at the lower left side of my breast, almost at the underpart of my breast. The incision is on my areola, less than centimeter to the left of my nipple. Way far away from the actual tumor!! As a matter of fact, I can still see the "X" that my surgical oncologist made on my breast, to mark the spot where surgery will take place, when she came into my room the morning of my surgery. Of course, I also have an incision where she preformed the sentinel node biopsy and that looks fine, but WHY would she make the incision where she did? That makes absolutely NO sense to me!
After surgery, she came out to speak with my husband and told him that the surgery went well, with no complications. No mention of finding anything concerning during surgery, and nothing to indicate that something unexpected occurred that would have caused her to make the incision where she did. I'm at such a loss!
When I had my lumpectomy in 2015, the incision was directly where the tumor was. I had assumed it would be the same this time. I am so confused!
She even mentioned during my consultation appointment with her that she tries to make the incision underneath the breast when the tumor is located where it is, so the scar would not be visible. Instead, she made it right at the center of the breast, where it is VERY CLEARLY visible!
This makes no sense.
I have my follow up with her on Tuesday. I have thought of contacting her before then, but even if I do, it can't change anything. The incision will still be where it is. My main concern is that she was able to remove the tumor from that location. She must have since she didn't give my husband any information otherwise, but wow. Just wow!

Devil


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Comments

  • SoulShine1969
    SoulShine1969 Member Posts: 3,047
    edited February 2020

    etnasgrl

    Yikes,I would have had the same dumbfounded reaction too. Hopefully there’s a good reason she changed the original plan and decided to go in through the areola. But you would think she would have mentioned that to your husband post surgery.

    If it were me I would definitely call her office first thing today. No sense worrying until your appointment onTuesday when you can get answers today.

    Hoping it all goes well.

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  • WC3
    WC3 Member Posts: 1,540
    edited February 2020

    It sounds like your surgeon did what is called a "hidden scar lumpectomy" where they go in through an incision on the border of the areola to make the scar less visible.

    I'm sure your surgeon would be happy to talk about it with you if you have questions.


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  • clavelle
    clavelle Member Posts: 6
    edited February 2020

    My tumor was located at about 3 o'clock, almost under my arm, but my incision is also by my areola. I did know my surgeon would make an incision there, but it was a little farther over than I'd expected. But I'm really pleased with it because (after fully healing) it's not very visible, and it's just far enough away from my nipple that I still have full sensation!

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  • AliceBastable
    AliceBastable Member Posts: 3,461
    edited February 2020

    My incision is also at the edge of the areola, and can't be seen. The best surgeons do this method to minimize visible scars.

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  • gb2115
    gb2115 Member Posts: 1,894
    edited February 2020

    I would be surprised if she missed the tumor, because you had a wire placement, correct?


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  • etnasgrl
    etnasgrl Member Posts: 650
    edited March 2020

    Thank you for all the replies, ladies. I feel much more at ease now. I have my follow up with her on Tuesday and will ask about the incision, but I believe that y'all are correct. She did it in such a way where there will be a much less visible scar. I do appreciate sharing your stories with me......THANK YOU!!

    Happy
    gb2115, no I did not have wire placement with this lumpectomy. I had the Savi Scout done instead. Much easier and more accurate than the wire placement. (I had the wire placement for my first lumpectomy and this was MUCH better!)
    https://www.ciannamedical.com/savi-scout/

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  • edj3
    edj3 Member Posts: 2,076
    edited March 2020

    Yes, it's called appearance sparing surgery. I too was very surprised, but now 9 months later, both that scar and the sentinel node scar are barely visible.

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