Hi I had lumpectomy surgery today, the surgeon said surgery went well and they removed the tumor and lymph nodes for biopsy ( I had blue dye only) she then said she removed some other bits, what would that mean? I know you don’t know my case so cannot be specific but any information would be great such as , would it just be the marginal tissue or did she see another area of concern not picked up by the scans. My original mri and scans showed a I.4cm tumor with no auxiliary involvement.
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Its a bit shit of her to leave you hanging with ‘extra bits’ to my mind. I wished I’d asked lots of questions about my surgery when I got a visit from him after at my bedside. I kicked myself for not asking, I think they might take it as, if you don’t ask, you don’t want to know, when actually, I’d been back from surgery less than half an hour and was still a bit out of it having been given a morphine injection in recovery.
When I woke up from anaesthetic I felt like I’d had a dream about them discussing my surgery, and wanted to compare what happened with what was in my dream. Unfortunately, will never know if discussions between them could of filtered through my ears or not, as memories of dreams become hazy over time. I did get left with a feeling that there was more to it than just the tumour. This turned out to be the case as there was DCIS too, which had not shown up on any scans. Turned out they also did a cavity shave for a close margin ( so that could be considered as an 'extra bit).
Unfortunately ‘extra bits’ could mean anything, and you won’t find out until your post op results meeting - 2 weeks or more.
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Hi, yeah it was the same with me, I was still woozy and couldn’t keep my eyes open when she came to tell me, she could have just meant the main lymph node and some extra nodes, but like you said I’ll just have to wait and and see, did the dcis alter your treatment plan, I’ve suddenly realised that I know very little about all of this and it’s not like oh you have this and now it’s out, there’s all the extra gifts it keeps giving. I’m a big believer in knowledge is power and I deal with it much better when I know. Hopefully all will be okay, I do feel so much lighter in myself knowing that “girt” is in a lab somewhere being got at.
How far along are you on your journey?
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Hi, I’m 7 months on from radiotherapy, which is still giving me a variety of symptoms. Though you hope its going to be straightforward, glitches often change plans along the way. The only change I had was extra radiotherapy boosts, so had 19 fractions in all - probably expains the side effects since. No lymph nodes involved so didn’t have chemo.
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One thing I’ve learnt is that the initial plan at biopsy result, can change after surgery. Until the surgery is done (for those not undergoing neo-adjuvent chemo) nothing is set. Mammograms and ultrasounds have their limitations. My IDC was bigger than estimated, and I’ve heard this to be the case so often, it seems commonplace. In between surgery and results, its a ‘cross your fingers and hope’ situation. Hope that its all out, and hope that the initial plan remains the same, it’s not unusual to find there’s more treatment to be added, whether that’s chemo, or radio, or a need for further surgery. These things happen.
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Hi jobieejo
Thanks for posting.
It’s understandable you’re wondering what your surgeon meant when she said she removed some other bits.
As @etropy has said it’s difficult to know exactly what your surgeon meant by this. I wonder if you have a breast care nurse you can talk this through with. Whilst you will still have to wait for the full pathology result to get all the detailed information about your surgery, they can provide you with support while you’re waiting.
We offer a range of free supportive services for anyone who has had a diagnosis of breast cancer which you may be interested in. They include face to face and online courses and events.
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Kind regards
Val
Breast Care Nurse
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