First surgery coming up
Hi, I have a lumpectomy and removal of lymph nodes coming up. I have been given lots of information about the surgery itself, but they haven’t said anything to me yet about managing afterwards ie what bra to wear (or not), what I will and won’t be able to do etc. Does this get discussed before I leave the hospital? Is there anything I should be doing beforehand to prepare? TIA.
Post surgery pathology
Hi there, I had a double mastectomy last week following a cancer diagnosis in April. I had sentinel lymph nodes removed as part of the surgery and am assuming the lymph node testing will infom the next steps/stage. I was disappointed to hear that the pathology on the lymph nodes will take at least 6 weeks due to a massive backlog in the Tasmanian public healthcare system. I'm curious to hear how long the wait is for lymph node testing in other states. I'd appreciate hearing how long other women generally have to wait please. I'm pretty anxious to know if the cancer has spread beyond my breasts, as well as to find out what the next steps are. Thanks for reading, Anna
Post mastectomy and auxiliary clearance concerns ?
Hi I am a 45 yr old post single mastectomy on my left breast and also full auxiliary clearance and was hoping for some advice from those who have gone through the same ! I am still struggling to be able to lift my left arm to a full reach and also have some weird sensations in different parts of my under arm and also my upper arm and from where breast was ! I haven’t left the house much and can feel my mental health heading down ! I’m just curious as how long it took others to be able to be at full arms reach after surgery and or any tips regarding this ! I am following the after drain removal exercises but still quite painful for me is this normal for 2 weeks 3 days post surgery ? Feeling quite lost with it all so thought would reach out to others for some or any advice ? Thanks a lot for taking the time to read !!Recovery after axillary clearance
I had axillary clearance 12 days ago with the removal of 13 lymph nodes. I’m a bit bowled over by the severity of the aftermath of the surgery, including nerve damage and cording. I’m most concerned about the size of my axillary wound swelling, which is quite large (maybe 8cm x 10cm), painful and hard. It feels like I’ve got a tennis ball under my arm. Is this kind of swelling normal and I wonder how long it might be before I see improvement? Thanks for any thoughts.
Reluctant about mastectomy
This is awesome that a supportive community like this is available. My mum was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. She has had an initial lumpectomy and now requiring a mastectomy. She's struggling to understand the necessity of undergoing this treatment due to being asymptomatic. I was wondering if any ladies here, particularly Cantonese-speaking were willing to share their experience in undergoing this type of surgery. I know my mum would appreciate talking on the phone to someone, if anyone is happy to share details or exchange emails. Thank you so much for your help in advance 🙏🏻 🙏🏻 🙏🏻 ☺️ ConstancePost‑Surgery Fluid Leak on One Side
I’m 48 and one week post–bilateral wide excision with right‑side axillary clearance for invasive lobular breast cancer on R) side. I still have one drain on the right, but my left breast (which has no drain) is leaking a large amount of serous fluid. It’s very uncomfortable, and the nurse has now placed a wound drainage bag post second visit to hospital and discussion with the surgeon. Has anyone else experienced this after surgery, and how long did the leaking last for you?
Lymph node visibility in imaging
Hello, I've been reading these forums for a few weeks and finding them very helpful - thank you to all that share their knowledge. I'm trying to understand more about lymph nodes and imaging. For my backstory... My ultrasound showed nothing suspicious in my lymph nodes. A month ago I had a lumpectomy for IBC (1cm ER+ PR+ HER2- grade 1) and sentinel node biopsy where they found spread to 3 of 4 lymph nodes including one with 0.3mm of extranodal spread. On Monday I had CT and whole body bone scans. Today the surgeon rang to say the scans were all clear however the next step is more surgery to remove 12-20 lymph nodes. This sounds like axillary lymph node dissection. I'll get the reports and paperwork next week to make better sense of it and then I'll chat to my breast care nurse. We're a bit puzzled over how my lymph nodes are so involved for such a small grade 1 tumour. I'm wondering whether my involved lymph nodes should have shown up on the ultrasound, and whether nothing showing up on the post-surgery CT is a useful sign that other nodes might not be involved. Does anyone have experience of lymph node involvement without it showing up with imaging? Or do they show up on some types of imaging but not others? Or did you have axillary lymph node dissection even with a clear CT scan?BMX with ALN removal and SN biopsy.
Hello to all you lovely folks on here. I've had 6 cycles of THCP and I'm having BMX this Wednesday, with axillary clearance on the left and sentinal node biopsy on the right. Has anyone had the same? And any advice for recovery? Were you able to go out for a walk or is it mostly housebound at first? I'm also dealing with heamorroids so a little worried about that. Thank you and best wishes to everyone going through this.
Indecisive
I am new to this group and beginning my journey. It is very reassuring to feel I can learn from other members experiences. Knowing that everyone’s situation is different and I am beginning to appreciate that there are a number of decisions ahead of me regarding treatment options. i was recently diagnosed with mass-forming, high-grade DCIS of the left breast. The mammogram detected a single 14mm lesion and an ultrasound detected a corresponding mass. So I understand that this is considered small in size. No hormone marker testing was performed on the biopsied tissue. I have been scheduled for a wide excision next week and my surgeon has given me two options: either have a sentinel lymph node biopsy at the time of the surgery, or wait until the histopathology report is back (after surgery) and then later do the sentinel lymph node biopsy if any invasive cancer is detected. I am having difficulty making a decision. I appreciate that if the biopsy is performed next week (whilst the excision is performed), I only then have one anaesthetic but if I choose the second option, I may avoid unnecessary loss of lymph nodes. Wondering if any other members diagnosed with a small high-grade DCIS have been given this choice and if so, what did you decide?
Lumpectomy vs mastectomy
Hey everyone, I finished chemo on the 4/4 and right after the Easter long weekend I was kind of ambushed with an early surgical appointment to sign the consent forms for surgery. I didn’t have my normal support person (my sister) with me and I don’t know how I feel about my decision. To give some context, when I was first diagnosed in October last year my opinion regarding treatment was to go hard and fast and just kill this damned thing so I can move on with my life. The surgeon wanted to initially do a lumpectomy and I refused and asked for a mastectomy. Then on a subsequent appointment once I had gone and done some research I asked the surgeon if he wanted to do a lumpectomy because I was going to have radiation and he said yes, that is would protect my lung tissue to keep the breast tissue. I then asked if I could have a mastectomy after and he said yes. Then in my previous appointment before Easter he said mastectomy and not lumpectomy, and there was a bit of confusion (and I felt I was being gaslit, not a term I use lightly) as I reminded him of what had been discussed previously and he told me I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to be making decisions (I am struggling mentally but with other issues, not the treatment plan as I understood it). So when I got to this new appointment, I tried to explain what had gone on and asked what my MDT had decided. The registrar I saw said they recommended a lumpectomy and clearance of 9 lymph nodes. The way he explained it to me was that it was better they take the most minimally invasive path as I wouldn’t likely get skin and nipple conserving mastectomy. That it was better to take a little with the option of more later rather than taking it all when it’s not considered necessary. I signed the forms at the time after stipulating that if I wanted one later that they could do that and he said without cancer it would be a low priority but yes. A week after this and I don’t know if the decision is sitting right with me- those who have had the lumpectomy and axilla clearance, how did you feel? And did you need to go back later and have revision surgery to take more margins or have the full mastectomy?