Radial Scar Excisional Surgery Questions/Mag Seed?

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radialsunshine
radialsunshine Member Posts: 3
edited February 2021 in Benign Breast Conditions

Hello! I'm 49 & a newbie to this forum! I've enjoyed reading alot of posts but finally have my own Q's I need help with :)

After an abnormal mamo mid-Dec, I was sent for diagnostic mamo & ultra of left breast where architectural distortion was confirmed. Of course I had no idea what that meant....'til the radiologist flat-out said it was either lobular carcinoma or scar tissue. I definitely freaked out & got the impression radiologists are blunt people, LOL!

One week later, went up on the lovely high table for stereo core biopsy. I'm ok with medical procedures but either the operating nurse gave me too large a dose of the numbing shot or I'm a bit more petite than most? I practically passed out from the epinephrine in it, the nurses all freaked out in the room! Felt like a combo between a heart attack & falling asleep? After I came to (felt like 15 mins but was more like 60 secs) I drank 4 bottled waters back-to-back! Who knew it would make me that thirsty!

My recovery was slow, but the worst part after the core biopsy was my mental state. I read that epi can cause mental confusion & anxiety. I was freaking out that first day. I'd love to know if I'm the only one who had this freak reaction to a routine numbing shot?!

Results came back as benign radial scar. My husband & I rejoiced but knew surgery would be next. They left a "titanium clip" in during the biopsy for possible surgery. My breast is still tender 4 wks later & I've got a small crater/pucker where the core was removed. Which leads me to my current Q's!

After meeting with a surgeon here in ATL, he ordered an MRI to confirm BOTH breasts were totally clear. Shockingly, they were. I know cancer can hide in radial scars so I'll have 100% peace after it's removed. I'm now scheduled for excisional surgery Feb 23rd. He said the morning of surgery they'd be inserting the wire to guide him, making the day longer than normal. I was mentally preparing for that....

'Til I got a call from his scheduling nurse yesterday, booking a "mag seed" insertion this Tuesday! She couldn't explain what it was, or if it was different from what I currently have. What's the difference between a titanium clip & mag seed? Will they swap them out? Does this mean no wire? Sadly, my surgeon is out of town this week so I was just hoping to gain clarity this weekend from experienced women! Is mag seed insertion just like a core biopsy? Do I need to prepare for almost-heart attacks & bottled water, haha? Has anyone requested a different type of numbing shot?

Finally, are excisional surgeries easy recoveries? I know radial scars are best removed & pathology will be sent out regardless.

Would love to hear people's experience with this process :)

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  • MelissaDallas
    MelissaDallas Member Posts: 7,268
    edited February 2021

    Hi Radialsunshine, and welcome.

    As far as the seed, I believe that will be in lieu of the wire. The insert a tiny “tracer” seed that will guide the surgeon and which is removed at surgery. I believe this is a much simpler and shorter procedure than the wire insertion. My wire insertion took forever, I started to feel “fainty” and then I had to ride from the breast center to the outpatient surgical center and sit in the waiting room with a wire sticking out, covered with a dixie cup taped over my breast.

    You definitely need to make the anesthesia people aware of your reaction to the dose of epi they gave you. The epinephrine is to control bleeding (in conjunction with another drug that numbs), so I don’t know what other drugs are available for that.

    I thought my excisional biopsy was a lot easier than the stereotactic one. I was in and home in a couple of hoursI had little pain-I think I took one pain pill, then Aleve for a day or two. You will have restrictions on how much you can lift until your follow up. You will likely be very bruised for a couple of weeks.

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  • radialsunshine
    radialsunshine Member Posts: 3
    edited February 2021

    MelissaDallas! Thank you SO much for responding so quickly! I appreciate your input so much. I really really hope this seed thingie is being put in so I can avoid the wire. The Dixie cup situation sounds sorta rough :) So clarify something: did u still have a titanium marker put in during the core biopsy, which was removed during surgery?

    My surgeon actually told me that my recovery would be almost easier than the stereotactic biopsy so your vote of confidence gives me hope he is right!

    Hoping to hear from more folks on the seed experience, too.

    Happy ❤️ Day!

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  • Harley07
    Harley07 Member Posts: 164
    edited February 2021

    @radialsunshine - welcome to the forum. Last fall I had a wireless localization prior to an excision biopsy. The doctor referred to it as an RFID. I'm not sure of the differences between the mag seed and RFID, but based on Melissa's description of the wire, the wireless certainly seems more comfortable. My experience was basically a stereotactic biopsy in reverse. Same equipment but instead of taking tissue out, they inserted the RFID and this was done a week prior to the excision biopsy. I believe the timing of the my RFID placement was based on the radiologist's availability and could have been at a time closer to the excision surgery had he been available.

    Good luck and please keep us updated.

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  • MelissaDallas
    MelissaDallas Member Posts: 7,268
    edited February 2021

    Yes, I had marker put in during stereotactic, then removed at surgery. Don’t remember if they place another marker before closing or not. I do have another titanium marker from a later ultrasound guided biopsy. It wasn’t removed because the pathology on that biopsy was benign. Markers are good things. They keep you from having the same spot biopsied again in the future because they can tell on imagingit has already been evaluated.


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  • sasamat
    sasamat Member Posts: 53
    edited February 2021

    I'm another one who basically found the recovery from surgical biopsy/excision easier than the recovery from stereotactic core needle biopsy (4 insertions over 2 sites). Maybe I'd say they were about the same severity, but of a different nature?

    Main thing is the surgical recovery was much more in line with my expectations than with the initial biopsies, which actually caused more bleeding and armpit symptoms than I expected, over many weeks.

    My husband once had a reaction that sounds like yours, when being numbed to have a cavity filled. I think his was a vasovagal syncope. Definitely something to mention to your medical folks in the future. (Although the good news is that he's never had that again since the one time.)

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  • radialsunshine
    radialsunshine Member Posts: 3
    edited February 2021

    Grateful, sasamat & Harley07! I definitely think my response could've been vasovagal. Weird word LOL but I am DEF gonna mention it to the mag seed insertion Tuesday.

    The best news is MY SURGEON CALLED TODAY, literally on a Sunday from his weekend vacation. He explained that the mag seed is diff from the titanium marker (which is only read by Xray), bc the mag seed acts like a beacon that tells him where to go when he operates. NO WIRE INSERTION needed on the day of surgery. 🙌🏼

    His hospital just got the machine that will allow him to do it - and tho I'll need a mamo on Tues to insert it (still have 2 huge hematoma's so fingers crossed I'm numb as heck), the mag seed will shorten my surgery by an entire half a day without that wire nonsense. PTL!

    Feeling so much relief.

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