my wife was told she had breast cancer at the start of march had the tests and had the surgery done by the end of march. we have had the results yesterday and they have told us that it has faild .she had the lump taken out plus the limphs 4 take for tests. the surgen said when he removed the limphs they did not look right then plus the lump on the scan showed it was only 15mm but when they opened her up they found it was more like 55mm. we talked to the hospital yesterday they told us that a second op is needed i asked why did they not take enough of the lump and the area around it and remove the limphs the first time i did not get a answer straight. my wife was listen to the doctor he told her it will need to go back in again all she said ok fine since she has found out she has breast cancer she has been calm all the way so far its like its not going in. i have had treatment for cancer my self so i have first hand exsperriance of it so far told 6.5 years ago and been in remission for 2 years so far its not one they can get rid of only try to control it and thats what we have done. i have got fears that the type of cancer she has got is not going to be just in the breast but deeper thats my worst fears the hospital we go to is stafford hospital i will add more results to here as we get on with the treatment
Hi Greatrix
Sorry to hear about your wife’s diagnosis, and the problems you haver had with the hospital. It seems that the initial tests were not well managed. In the case of my wife’s tests and diagnosis she decided from the start that she would have a full mastectomy in order to ensure that all the lump was removed. She has since lived with a prosthesis, and although it took some while for her (and me) to get used to it, we are now comfy with it and there are no side issues to worry about.
I work as a Partner Volunteer with Breast Cancer Care, and we always advise that the woman has the disease, and it is up to the partner to support her in whatever way she wants to manage it. Of course that does not stop you finding out more if you want to, but if your wife want to keep her knowledge on a fairly basic level, then it may be best to respect her needs in that respect.
If you are concerned that you are not being treated well, then you can always go back to your GP and request a second opinion.
We found it always paid to make a fuss, I even refused to leave my GP’s surgery until I had the letter of introduction to our surgeon. Not that I recommend that course of action, but it was how we felt at the time.
So MAKE A FUSS UNTIL YOU ARE LISTENED TO!
Best of luck to you both
Steve
Hi Greatrix,
I had the same surgery exactly 1 year ago.It sounds asthough your wife had a wide local excision and sentinal node biopsy.The surgeon removes the lump and up to 5 lymph nodes.The nodes are tested to see if the cancer has spread from the lump.If that’s the case a 2nd operation is carried out to remove the remainder of the lymph nodes.This means that if the lymph nodes are not affected,then the whole lymph node clearance hasn’t been carried out unecessarily.I’ve had 2 lots of surgery,chemo and radiotherapy and have returned to work full time.It’s hard work,but manageable.What helped me through this was the support of my fantastic hubby.
I wish you both the very best of luck.If you need any info, this site is a Godsend.A crowd of us who “met” here went to The Lakes a couple of weeks ago and had a great time,despite our strange hairdo’s and various ailments.