Has anyone had a lump in their breast removed? (painful, procedure, time)
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Location: Moved to town. Miss 'my' woods and critters.
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Roma, I'm so very sorry to read your post and for what you are going through. I cannot even begin to imagine the feelings you have right now. I had a biopsy once and that scared the heck out of me at that time. Mine was negative. So, again, I am at a loss of what words that I could say to give you comfort. Others here have said it better than I can. You are one special lady and have so many friends on this forum that will be praying for you. I will also. Bless you. Keeping a journal does help. I know.
I was so hoping everything would be okay for you, and I'm really sorry you received bad news today. It must be terrifying. I hope they caught it early. There are some good advances in treatment these days, and it's only getting better.
14 years ago, I had to have a needle biopsy. It turned out alright, but it scared me to death. I have to get a routine screening mammogram next week, and I'm frightened.
You're brave to be facing this head on. Please keep us posted.
I got the results and they are not good. I do have cancer. I have "invasive ductal carcinoma" breast cancer, the most common breast cancer.
I have to decided now if I want to do the mastectomy or lumpectomy. I have breast implants so the lumpectomy means I have to remove the implants for radiation. I have to get my lymph nodes biopsied before any of this to make sure the cancer has not spread.
I can't believe this. I'm in shock.
Roma, I am so truly sorry. I am not even sure what to say. I see how many people on here really care about you. I am sure that helps some. I just wanted to wish luck in whatever you decide to do. I will be sending you good thoughts your way.
Roma, I don't usually come to this forum, but for some reason did today and found your post.
To those diagnosed, I'm sorry. I know what it's like to hear the big "C" word as I lost my dad, then my FIL 6 weeks later to it. Now, 2 years (almost 2 years to the day of my dad passing & my FIL diagnosed) my MIL has been diagnosed with IDC.
I've learned a lot about cancer being dad's care taker, and with my MIL being diagnosed did some research.
From what I know, you need to have a dye test. It is very important to get one as they need to find the lymph nodes, injecting dye helps them to see them and which is the 1st and next down the line from what I understand. My MIL just had this done, they found it did spread to her nodes, removed 2 or 3 last week as well as the lump. She's doing well, she called here the day after and sounded great according to my hubby.
I don't know what it's like to have to go through the tests & proceedures but I have had back surgery & know how nervous I've been. Hubby also recently went for a test to find out why he had blood in his urine & was so stressed about them having to put a tube in his privates; but he was fine and said after that it wasn't as bad as he thought. It usually never is. If you are going to get a needle, you know from having shots that a needle might hurt; it's usually the fear of that needle in this new spot.
I've been through all sorts of stuff awake and with twilight. I usually don't remember the proceedure after it's done.
Do your research- this is the best advice I can give you. If you are not up to doing research, have someone in your family do it. With breast cancer it seems there are various stages of diagnosis, from finding the lump, biopsy, then after they do the dye test & lumpectomy. From what I'm reading hormones also affect which treatment you'll qualify for. Treatment may be different for someone such as me who has not gone through menopause then for my MIL who has. The ACS has a page here (http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_2_3X_If_breast_cancer_is_suspected_5.asp?rna v=cri - broken link) that explains the hormones, tests, then on the right the staging.
I can tell you from my experiences with my dad that not all cancer centers are the same. When he was sent to the Cancer Institute in NJ, I wanted to make sure he was at the best, but the best was in NY, NCINJ was the best here, so we stayed. My dad had a 14% chance of survival and had it not been for the treatment we wouldn't have had him for the next 8 months. At one point, he was switched to the local cancer center (Fox Chase) and passed within 3 weeks. The difference in care? Night & day. My dad had a PICC line, he got a fever (always got a fever after 7-10 days of the PICC being in) after they took it out his arm blew up. Dad begged the doctor to admit him, he wouldn't. Had we still been with NCI they would have admitted my dad.
I can not stress enough to research where you want to go. Most of the cancer sites have lists, and for us the NCI was on all of them, while the 2nd place was only on the American Cancer Society. You can research on the NCS site who they give grant money to in your area. Usually the higher the grant, the more work they do with cancer from what I've seen.
Get a 2nd opinion - Before starting treatment, you might want a second opinion about your diagnosis and treatment plan. Usually it is not a problem to take several weeks to get a second opinion. In most cases, the delay in starting treatment will not make treatment less effective. To make sure, you should discuss this delay with your doctor. Some women with breast cancer need treatment right away.
If your doctor has given you a plan, getting a 2nd opinion now is a good idea to make sure this is the treatment you need. If the 2nd opinion agrees and suggests the same plan, you can either stick with your 1st choice, or move to the 2nd. If it was me, I would make sure that one consult I had was a University type as they usually are the leaders and know the newest ways to treat.
With all of the reading I've been doing since my MIL was diagnosed, you have a good chance that you will beat this. You are going to see that a lot of people that you meet have also been through this. Please keep in mind that treatment varries and the treatment given to you in 2008 may not be what someone else with the same type of cancer went through due to advances in treatment.
If you are given Chemo, keep in mind that not all chemos are the same, so if you know someone that was treated for a different type of cancer, chances are you will not have the same side effects because the drugs are not the same.
The Komen site has a forum, I've just started reading there, it seems one forum is busier then the others, here. If you are not up to posting or reading, have someone in your family do it. Someone needs to know the terminology and various questions to ask. Maybe someone else has a better list, but one can be found here. There's one that mentions clinical trials; this is what gave my dad more time. Had he not done a CT we would have lost him sooner. Chances are with the diagnosis you have, you may not need to think about that, but please keep it in mind if at some point things change.
I have a few other things I learned that the NCINJ ended up doing after they saw how it worked for me. I have it typed out but have to find it. I will post it in another reply. Hopefully it will help those of you diagnosed.
Oh and hugs to all of you. Cancer has affected my life & my childrens life. I may at some point have the same leukemia my dad had as I was exposed to the same chemicals but am hopeful that by then, they will know more and be able to save me. It is my dream that one day no one will ever have to hear the "C" word again.
Please try to keep your spirits up as it can make a world of difference.
Things I've learned after being the main health care proxy for my dad.
Dealing with cancer (or any illness) is hard, very emotionally draining and time consuming. There's things I learned along the way that I wish I would have thought of in the beginning.
Go to Staples or Walmart:
1. get a canvas bag, my favorite has a long handle, easier to sling over my shoulder than holding in my hand. I found one at Walmart in the craft section for under $5
2. While your there, some white binders, I picked up the thinner one for every day carrying, and some thicker ones to store older medical info in.
3. Clear plastic sheets, these were great. I loaded the binders with them, whenever a Dr handed us paperwork, it went into the binder, into a clear plastic sheet. I didn't have to worry about punching holes in the paper, and it didn't get messed up either. If you see the ones for business cards, those are nice as well since every doctor you see will hand you one.
4. Dividers or page tabs so that you can easily seperate the various plastic sheets. You will see as you go what you will need to put as the headers.
5. Post it notes - various sizes. I always found a use for them. In the beginning, I used them to seperate the various stuff in my binder.
6. Pen/pencil case that attaches to the binder. Your supplies will always be on hand.
7. Pens, (blue, black, red) pencils, I liked the mechanical ones, didn't have to worry about a sharpener, highlighters, paperclips.
8. Thumbdrive - this was a life-saver some days, especially if your leaving a laptop at the hospital. I was able to type up an update in word, save it to the drive, then take it home with me.
9. Blank CD's (1 or 2 is fine) as some tests can now be saved to a CD.
10. Small photo album or binder photo pages. Grab your favorite family photos and carry them with you. If you are ever in the hospital over night, they can be tacked on to the cork board in the room. Makes it a little easier seeing the pictures of people you love, you don't feel as alone.
11. Ribbon. I used ribbon to hang cards in my dad's room on the days he was admitted. I hung them on the wall in front of his bed so that he could see them.
12. Get copies of test results & put them in your binder.
13. Paper - various sizes. I had a regular sized one for notes, plus a 5x7 type one as well as a small pocket notepad. Depending on the situation, I at one time used every one.
14. Prepaid cell phone for the person that was diagnosed.
At one point, my dad had his own tote bag, this included his own binder that had copies of his insurance cards and another with his drivers license & insurance cards. When he went for treatment 3 times a week, he had to give his insurance cards to be copied. It was easier to hand them a copy.
You also might want to think about a living will and tell someone how far you are willing to go with treatment / life saving if it comes to this. You also want to designate who your contacts are. Most hospitals these days will not give out a lot of information over the phone and the person/people you chose should get to know the doctor treating you. This will make it easier to get information if they know your voice.
Write it down - be sure to write everything down. You want to make sure you have not only the correct diagnosis, but also the spelling. The doctor is more then happy to spell things for you. It stinks to go home & want to research only to find you do not have the correct spelling & can't find it.
Ask questions. Do not be afraid to ask questions. Write down everything you want to ask when you think of it. This is where those various sizes of paper come in handy. There is no way you will remember every question you have.
While researching, you can either print the info & place in a large binder for the home or you can save the page to your computer. I used to save them and transfer them to the thumb drive so that when I had access to a computer, I could continue reading where I left off. I also saved favorites to the thumb drive.
These days you can save your favorites online. If you have gmail, they offer and online bookmarking site. They also offer online documents which is nice. You may also want to keep a journal, there are sites that are specific to cancer or you can use a site like Windows Live.
If you can have someone give updates to people you love it will make it easier on you so that you don't have to worry about it. Hand it off to someone else.
Keep your spirits up!
The cancer center dad was treated at loved my binder / tote bag idea, ended up having tote bags printed with their logo. I can't tell you how honored I felt and still feel over 2 years later.
Edit - if you do the tote bag / binder, we used to take it with us no matter where we went so that it was always with us. This made life easier if we were out & a doctor called. I could grab the bag, go to the section I needed & continue my conversation. This was one reason why we had 2 bags going as my dad had his, I had mine in case were were not together when a phone call came in.
Another thing (see this is why I had paper with me lol) If you have access to a small tape recorder that helps as well. It can work dual purpose as you can take it with you to doctor appointments and record the visit plus, if the person with cancer is in the hospital over night, they can use it as well.
My dad and I would talk, he's tell me his wishes / thoughts. Having a tape recorder to record these conversations leaves no question as to what the person wishes.
Oh Roma! Just keep your head up and remember Breast Cancer has a high cure rate!! Also when considering having your breasts removed, check out the re-structuring once removed...Will they do this and does your insurance cover it?
Also,,,will a lumpectomy verses a mastectomy effect your treatment after? Will you have to do chemo or radiation if you have a mastectomy? I know radiation/chemo can be long and tiring. But if your breasts are gone, will you have to still do this?
Just some things to consider...
We are here for you Roma... Many hugs and I will definitly keep you in my thoughts and prayers.
Roma, I'm sorry to have read this and that you're dealing with this now...you're in my thoughts and prayers. Stay positive my friend, and remember you have a lot of support on here...
Oh Roma! Just keep your head up and remember Breast Cancer has a high cure rate!! Also when considering having your breasts removed, check out the re-structuring once removed...Will they do this and does your insurance cover it?
Also,,,will a lumpectomy verses a mastectomy effect your treatment after? Will you have to do chemo or radiation if you have a mastectomy? I know radiation/chemo can be long and tiring. But if your breasts are gone, will you have to still do this?
Just some things to consider...
We are here for you Roma... Many hugs and I will definitly keep you in my thoughts and prayers.
Excellent points.. I touched on the reconstruction in a DM to her & was going to go more into detail after we got home from running errands..
My sisters MIL had both of her breasts removed about 10 years ago. She was able to go to a psychiatrist, prove that having them rebuilt was important to her well being & the insurance paid for it. I don't know if they make you jump through so many hoops these days, but "Audrey" loves her new boobs and the last time I saw her 2 years ago, she still loved them. For her, there was lemonade after the lemons.
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