Blue dye injection -Please share your experience

Hey MazaDj​ ,

The pinch was really quick, it is like a warm sensation, yes it's a bit painful but honestly it was tolerable, and comparative to a blood test. It's the area that freaked me out but I had forgotten about it until I read your post, so that hopefully gives you some reassurance that it wasn't that memorable 🙂. I would let them know how anxious you are about it, all the people who do the tests are usually so compassionate and will do all they can to make it as pleasant as they can. I had mine the night before my mastectomy and was stressed about surgery, so I think I probably has adrenaline helping when I had my test! 

Through chemo my oncologist was good at offering up sedatives, that might be something to think about? 

Thanks for asking about my treatment. I had 4 months of chemo, double mastectomy and some revision surgeries as well as ovaries out. I'm recovering and you will too. You've got this! X

Hey MazaDj​ ,

I had this before my double mastectomy and reconstruction in March. It was an injection into the nipple. Then I had to swing my arm around to get the dye moving before the imaging. 

Honestly, I was the same as you and really anxious about it. It was truly ok though. You are totally up to it and I promise the anticipation is waaaaay worse than the reality. Quick pinch and done. 

Happy to answer anything you need, but truly you will be fine x

Hi​ ​MazaDj​ 
I had my surgery four weeks ago and I’m not sure if all facilities or procedures are the same so this is just my experience.   
Before I start, please be assured that the ladies who will be looking after you are marvellous and will explain the whole procedure to you before they do anything. If you tell them upfront that you are really anxious about the procedure, they will ensure that you’re comfortable with every step they take.   
I had my scan at an Imaging clinic before the surgery too. They showed me to a curtained cubicle and asked me to remove my top and bra and put on a gown with the opening at the front. Make sure that you don’t have any metal on your pants eg. zipper, or you might need to remove them too.  I was then taken into a room where the scanner was and I was asked to lay down on the bed. Before you do any of this, I suggest you ask them to show you all around the machine so you are familiar with it all.  The nurse injected a very small amount of the dye into my breast close to where the cancer was located. It was just a small needle and there was a bit of a sting but I didn’t look. I’m not fond of needles either. 🫣    
They then explained to me that the machine would move the bed into the scanner, feet first but my head was not inside which I was glad of because I can get a bit claustrophobic.  The nurse then explained that the scanner would be scanning my breast area so that they could watch the dye travel from the cancer site up to the sentinel lymph nodes in your armpit. For me, it took about ten to fifteen minutes for the dye to travel to the lymph nodes and they marked the area in my armpit with a texta of some sort to indicate to the surgeon where the relevant sentinel nodes were. I think the surgeon would have also used the scan images showing the dye in the sentinel lymph nodes..   
l found a graphic online of the sort of scanner at the clinic I went to, and as you can see, the head does not go into the scanner tunnel.  
I really hope I haven’t freaked you out further but if you’re like me, I need to know all the details beforehand and I think you’ll find it much easier than it sounds.   
Wishing you all the best with your surgery and a speedy recovery. xoxo   

Hi

I had my dye injected the morning of my surgery. I only had my surgery on Monday. It felt like a bit of a bee sting but it wasn't painful at all.