breast cancer

ismary

My mother had a radical masectomy with reconstruction 3 weeks ago. Her nipple looks very black and I am worried. I am also very worried of the possibilities of chemo or not. Her doctor is not sure right now and was taking her info to a panel for a second opinion. Her cancer was in 2 lymph nodes and was 1.5 I feel very worried, very anxious....

mssue

Dear Ismary,
You have every right to be worried,It is almost impossible not to be.But you or her should probably be making notes of everything that you want to ask the doctor upon visiting him.
The black part on your Mothers breast could possibly be just dead skin-I know that sounds gross! But when I had my surgery I had a similar experience with the skin.My surgeon explained that during the mastecomy after they remove the breast they scrap the skin to remove any possibly infected tissue,sometimes they scrap a little too close and remove the small blood vessels which without there is no blood flow to the skin so it dies off. Like I said I know it all sounds gross but the good news is that they can probably do a small skin grapht.And while all treatments carry their own side effects-in the long run the benefits far outweight risk and pains. Let us know how things progress-I hope this helps but please talk to the doctor and do a little research.It is much easier to make a well informed decision when you know what is going on-and don't be afraid to ask questions-it is the only way to find out what U need to know.Prayers and Hugs,
Sue