never seen this subject

GreeneyedGirl said:

Me too~
and my wire location was 5 years ago~ i prayed my way thru it. Otherwise I pass out at the sight of my own blood. They did let me have an ativan~either right before or just after the procedure, then on my way to the hospital for the lumpectomy.

I also had that done, the
I also had that done, the doctor who did the procedure, numbed the area really well and told me that if I needed more numbing to let him know, although it would still be painful. He also made sure I was still numb before putting in the radioactive dye. Thankfully the mammo center is in the hospital so I just got wheeled all over the place and played with the wheelchair as I waited for the procedure, doctor and techs got a pretty good laugh as i was wheeling myself around the mammo center waiting for the procedure to be done. I saw the surgeon twice once before the procedure and another time before the surgery. They place a cone on the wire and did tell me not to play with it but by that time I was just ready to have the surgery.

LoveBabyJesus said:

Oh boy!
Yes, I got that done prior to my surgery last January. I think what made it worse for me was the combination of the procedure and the anxiety of NOT knowing what to expect or what was going on. I felt I was in the twilight zone, seriously. I was nervous the whole time. There were 3 people doing the wiring. The man inserted the needle, one woman was holding me down, and the third was watching the monitor to make sure it went through the evil lump. Yes, the entire experience is stressful. But also the "not knowing" part adds more anxiety to the process.

Me too
I had the procedure also prior to my lumpectomy. Had to go to Dr. Office morning of surgery, had a mammy and then they inserted the wires. Also had the blue die inserted. I was not numbed--they explained that sometimes that interferes. Hurt like #$#%$#%.Plus very nervous because of the unknown. After I was done with all that had to go to hospital for surgery--what a day!!!

I think this might be "normal" for a lumpectomy. This cancer stuff is sucky!!!

TraciInLA said:

Wire localization
We call it "wire localization" here out West, too. :-)

Wire localization is the procedure where they insert wires into your breast(s) before surgery that stay there until your surgery. Not to be confused with the blue dye injection for the sentinel node biopsy, which is an entirely different procedure, for an entirely different purpose.

Wire localization is (as far as I know) only done for lumpectomy, because its purpose is to "guide" the surgeon to the tumor once he/she gets in there. If you have a mastectomy, there's no guiding needed -- he/she can probably find your breasts without too much help. :-)

Hope that helps,

Traci

I had the wire, just one,
I had the wire, just one, inserted in me before my lumpectomy to pinpoint where my tumor was. They numbed me, so, I felt absolutely nothing. The tech was guided by the ultrasound and the titanium chip that had been inserted in me for the needle core biopsy.