Botched lumpectomy?

Hi All

I was diagnosed in Feb24 with idc, er/hr+, her-, 11mm. Had a lumpectomy and slnb 8th april, my appointment for results was yesterday 3rd may. As everyone knows the run up to this appointment is challenging and i was terrified to walk in there.

Frustratingly the results weren’t ready and noone had called to let me know, i was devastated. However then the consultant advised me that upon xraying the removed breast tissue that no cancer had been visible! She advised that this suggests that 1) the cancer isnt visible unless under compression or 2) theres a small chance that they have missed the lump completely…

Has anyone had this happen? im confused - how could a lump i could feel not be visible on xray? Or worse how could it get missed completely? I asked about a wire before the op which they didnt think was necessary. My lump was small after biopsy but i could still feel it…

Thet still dont have a date for my results and its almost 4 weeks, so i cant ask my consultant until then. Wish these questions had occurred to me yday but i was in shock

Any advise/experience welcome :pray: thank you x

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Hello. I too was expecting results on May 3rd after surgery on 9th April so our time frames match. They called me on 2nd May to say no results were available yet and have moved my appointment to the 10th May after their next MDT ( multidisciplinary team) meeting on Thursday afternoon. I felt bad with the appointment being postponed too. We all gear ourselves up for results day and feel disappointed when it’s cancelled. I feel your worry. So let us both keep fingers crossed for the next steps big hugs x

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Oh I’m so sorry that this has happened to you - I can’t answer all of your questions but perhaps if you ring the helpline on 0808 800 6000 after the weekend they may be able to explain and also guide you with the right questions to ask your team that will get you the answers you need. Maybe after that you could ask your BCN to clarify.

I’m on the SMALL trial and was initially randomized for removal of my 8-10 mm tumour under radiological guidance - it’s done in a similar way to the biopsies , under local anaesthetic and without any SNLB. This procedure failed ; it was obvious to me that it hadn’t gone to plan so and my Radiologist admitted that the marker had fallen away and then the lump had pinged out of her grasp and because I was developing a haematoma although she was pretty sure she knew where it was she was unable to see it clearly and abandoned the procedure to prevent complications to me. I was the first to have this procedure in my hospital and all the others since have been successful . Before pulling out altogether she put it a gel tag that expands once inside so that she could find it again. 8 out of 40 samples were actually positive and I had to wait a month for the haematoma to absorb enough to get clear images on mammogram. Then another two ( very difficult ) weeks for it to be agreed what I already knew which was that I still had a tumour . My Radiologist was also sure that it hadn’t been removed but there’s always a second opinion from another Radiologist who thought that it was clear - so then my films went to the senior Radiologist in charge of the trial who confirmed that the tumour was still there.

I would imagine something similar has happened in your case which has perhaps caused a delay and they are probably trying to reach a consensus on what to do next . I found it hard to understand how it was so hard to reach when it was caught so easily on biopsy but although I was under some compression during the procedure I had to be in a different position . At the time and for months after I was very upset and angry about all this . I’ve since been able to meet with my Radiologist and look at my films and my tumour was so small that I’m surprised it was seen in the first place and for various reasons I’ve come to feel that what happened was actually for the best but it was all pretty traumatic at the time so I really feel for you.

They don’t use guide wires anymore routinely in my area but the same Radiologist inserted a radio frequency tag about a week before my lumpectomy which allowed them to locate the tumour again. Second time around it was removed with clear margins under GA . I’m sure that next time they will put some sort of marker in to make sure that they get it.

Hope you get some answers and a plan soon
Sending hugs xx

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Hi, similarly my lumpectomy and slnb was 9th April, results appt was 2nd May, now postponed to 13th, the day of their next MDT, as they miss one with the Bank Holiday. It is frustrating but I do understand why. More time to try not to imagine the worst outcome and try to keep calm! Hope you all get reassuring results soon :crossed_fingers:t3::two_hearts:

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Hi everyone.

Same for me. My second lumpectomy was on 3rd April. I had a results appointment for 26th April which was cancelled as results weren’t ready. I am still awaiting results… hopefully this Friday 10th May they will be ready.

I feel for everyone going through this awful wait xx

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Thanks for the replies and sorry to hear a few of you in the same boat waiting for results - it really is torturous although im finding the sunshine extremely helpful! Hope you are too

@JoanneN thanks for all this information and your trial sounds really promising for the future of small tumour removal, thanks to people like you getting involved. Sorry to hear it didnt work for you first time, it sounds a pretty traumatic journey. It is hard for me to accept they may have completely missed it but ill need to wait for my results to really know for sure - i just wish she hadnt told me this until they knew for sure! Im definitely going to call on Tuesday for more information and to see what the outcome was if this has happened before

Im just hoping my surgey wasnt for nothing

Good luck to us all xx