Yesterday's mastectomy

LisR

Yesterday, I had a mastectomy and sentinel node dissection on my right breast.  I was diagnosed the invasive lobular carcinoma in late May and it has been a whirlwind of activity since.  I am so grateful to all of the Kaiser staff... each and every one of them have been outstanding.  It started with a routime mammogram, called that same day to come back in for magnifications, two days later I had an ultrasound guided biopsy, and then the diagnosis.  My tumor was small, but ILC is 'sneaky' and sends out projections.  Often, I'm told, it is not detected until it is quite large because there are no real symptoms until it reaches 4-5 cm.  I had no symptoms at all and so I feel blessed that they caught it so early.  I do go in for regular mammograms and encourage everyone to keep up on that! 

I had already had a lumpectomy that turned out to be benign in 2011 on that same breast.  If we did another lumpectomy, the Dr. said he would need to be very aggressive with the excision in order to get clear margins.  For cancers in-situ, I would definitely have gone with the lumpectomy, but with it being invasive I agreed with the mastectomy. 

I was of course anxious about the surgery, but I was even more concerned about the nuclear medicine part of it.  According to some of the posts on CSN, the injection for the radioactive agent is very painful, one person even said they cried for 15 minutes.  I realize that every body is different and we all have different pain threshholds, but I was so nervous for this procedure.  It turned out totally painless.   Someone mentioned they had multiple injections.  I asked about that and was told 'no way, one is all'.  Maybe they used to do it differently, or maybe there are other solutions/agents that some facilities use, but it was simply not the case here.  Also, someone mentioned they were given the shot directly in the nipple and with no analgesic.  Again, not my experience.  They gave me a small dose of lidacaine near the nipple and the radioactive agent was then injected in the same place.  They warned that the lidacaine could be a bit of a sting, but it was not a big deal at all.   I had to stay there about 30 or so minutes, gently massaging my breast to help move the agent toward the arm lymph nodes.  They let you go as soon as they see it heading toward the nodes.

My surgery lasted a little less than 2 hours and I was in recovery about 3 hours.  I came home the same afternoon about 5 pm, my doctor saying it is not medically necessary to spend the night, but if I preferred that, he would write up the order to do so. I prefer coming home!  I had a nice light meal, took half a pain pill, and went to bed at about 8:00pm. 

I woke up this morning at 5 am feeling pretty good!  We went for a walk around the block a couple of times and had our usual breakfast.  Gentle arm stretches throughout the day, and of course measuring the drained fluids from my 'bulb' have been the tasks for today.  I did take the half of my pain medication when I woke up, but I've now switched to Ibuprofen.  There has been no pain where the incisions are, surprisingly.  I did have a headache, a little shoulder pain, and some back pain.  The Ibuprofen worked better than the pain meds for those!  It may be that I still have some of the nerve block in me and maybe tomorrow will be a different story, but for today... no problem and no pain that can't be easily managed.

Just wanted to share that it doesn't have to be a painful experience.  We're already stressed enough because of the cancer diagnosis!  I am now waiting for the pathology on the nodes.  I'm hoping and praying the lab results come back negative, but if do have cancer cells in the nodes, I know I can deal with whatever comes next.  The biggest hurdle was getting over yesterday's surgery and now the invasive cancer tumor is gone!

Teach76

Thank you!

Dear LisR,

      Thank you for sharing your story.  My surgery was different, but I also found after 2 days that I could go to Ibuprophen.  The only issue of pain I really had was where my drains were tethered to me.  Of course, each time I moved the wrong way I had a twinge.

 

     Best wishes for a speedy recovery.  Looking forward to hearing more positive news from you!

Kathy

disneyfan2008

hugs

hugs

RozHopkins

I think this procedure must

I think this procedure must have changed, the sentinel node that is.  Mine was six years ago.  A few have said no pain.  When I had it, it was really painful, horrible (I didn't like to say just how bad before you had it) they did it three or four times, I don't know if that is or was the norm.  I am very pleased yours went well and you sound like you are doing amazing after your procedure.  Well done.  Mine was also invasive lobular, never found on yearly mammos as yours and us common, the lump just seemed to appear.  I had double mastectomy as in both sides.  The other side in early stage, with some 'activity' but a lot of it...........  Found when that breast had to be reduced in size to match cancer breast after reconstruction.  Luckily the plastic surgeon sends all material from either breast for testing after he does his reshaping.  

LisR

Update after the June 13 mastectomy/ sentinel node dissection

It is now the 26th of June, one more day and it will have been 2 weeks since the surgery.  I probably have more discomfort right now than I did the first several days... those nerve endings are not happy!  The armpit area is numb and where the nodes were removed is where it is most sore.  Of course, having to wear a jog bra 24/7 is an irritant too...I feel chafed but I understand that the compression will aid healing.  I can't really tell how the incision itself is doing, my steri-strips are still holding on so the feel and look is obscured by the tape.  They should fall off on their own one of these days.  

Overall, I am really doing well... I do hate being ‘down’.  I meet with the hematologist/oncologist in a couple of days to find out what’s next, based on the pathology from the surgery. 

 

It would appear that I really dodged a bullet.  I went in with no symptoms whatsoever for a routine mammogram and it has been an action packed month ever since.  My little 1 cm tumor (diagnosed and confirmed by mammogram, ultrasound, and MRI) actually turned out to be 3.8 cm according to the pathology after the mastectomy.    Guess that is fairly common with invasive lobular carcinoma.. .they are the 'sneaky' kind for a number of reasons, and hiding without full detection is one of them! It was explained to me that this cancer doubles every year and  that at 5 cm it pretty much would likely have engaged the nodes and then moved on to the rest of the body seeking new organs to mess with.  Doing the math, that means at almost 4 cm  I was within months (certainly within a year) of having a whole different prognosis.  Humbling.  The pathology also showed that after surgery there was a clear margin on the chest wall by 3 mm... that’s millimeters.  That seems like a teeny margin but apparently it’s enough and so I won’t need radiation.  The sentinel nodes were also all negative.  All fantastic news! I am so grateful that the radiologists who read my routine mammogram were suspicious enough to sound the alarm. 

I'll write back after the visit with the oncologist!