Hidden Scars from Breast Cancer

Yes there are lots of hidden scars in breast cancer. I have discussed the emotional side a lot - which boils down to PTSD for some. But there is also the physical side. Every time you look at your body and see your cancer scars, you are reminded of  your cancer misadventure. Its only a scar that will fade over time but its still there.

Back in 1984, I found my first breast lump. Due to the limitations of surgery at the time, I had to have an excisional biopsy. And because of my medical history (three years after thyroid cancer) they had to be sure. (And if you are trying to calculate my age, I am still only 37). So I had a lumpectomy (aka excisional biopsy). And it was benign which was good. But it left me with a scar. A big fat red scar.

After surgery, I realized I had a bigger problem than normal in bathing suit shopping. I had this giant scar, 2" long, on the outside of my left breast that ran horizontally across toward my armpit. Bathing suit shopping is bad enough with the unflattering fluorescent lighting, holding your stomach in while you are trying to decide if it will fit when you really do lose those 10 pounds by June. Then you have to add in - will my scar show?

Seriously, it took me a good 10 years for the scar to fade and for me to stop worrying if  someone might see it sticking out the side of my bathing suit. It was a bit of vanity for me. But I already had a scar on my neck from thyroid cancer surgery that could not be covered up in a bathing suit. I really didn't need a second visible scar.

Now surgery is catching up to my bit of vanity. At Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, they have pioneered breast cancer surgery with hidden scars.

"Traditionally, the procedure would place an incision directly over the tumor, making it very visible. But Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center now offers another option.

"The more we can make the scar smaller, or put it in a place that can't be seen, the better for the patient," said Dr. Ted James, chief of breast surgical oncology at the hospital.

He started offering hidden scar surgery here last year.

"What the hidden scar surgery tries to do is to place the incision in a less obvious or visible location. Under the breast is one location. You can also make it around the areola, that's another place where you can hide a scar, and if the incision is very high on the outer portion, we've actually gone through the armpit," James said."

"Hidden scar surgery can take a bit longer than traditional procedures, but recovery time is about the same."

A lot of progress has been made in treatment of breast and other cancers but I really do like the idea of taking into account the fact that the surgical scars can be a less prominent reminder of our cancers each time we look at our bodies.

Thank you for making me feel insecure about my treatment

I hate these articles. This one discusses the lack of guidelines for what kind of clean margins are needed for whether a re-excision is needed after a lumpectomy. First let me say, thank you for upsetting potentially hundreds of thousands of women who had a lumpectomy and may or may not have had a needed second surgery or had a second surgery unnecessarily. This isn't something that really can be undone. If a second surgery was needed and wasn't done, there is probably nothing that can be done now. If a second surgery wasn't needed but was done, you really can't undo surgery.

Second, the general media is not the place to discuss undetermined medical guidelines. These should be discussed by the people who practice medicine, not by the patients. As a patient, we assume that we are given proper medical care. We assume our doctors follow guidelines and protocols. We don't want to hear about the lack of guidelines that may have led to improper care.

Also, I assume that the hospital where I am treated has its own guidelines and protocols something that is not discussed in this article at all. It makes us patients feel like we may have been mistreated. I know, as a professional patient and not as a medical professional, that the hospital I am treated at has established guidelines for what is the current protocol for chemotherapy or preparation for some lovely medical adventure. So is this article saying there are no guidelines followed anywhere?

So I am so 'not' comfy with my medical treatment after reading this. I will now go have some breakfast and attempt to think positive thoughts about something else.

Got to meet lots of doctors

Yesterday I spent ALL day at Lahey. What fun. In the morning I had an EMG to find out about hopefully unrelated tingling in my left leg - probably caused by bursitis or a pinched nerve. However in view of everything else that is going on, I need to have a follow up bone scan next week to make sure.

Then we met with the surgeon, radiation oncologist, medical oncologist, and social worker. Apparently the good news is they caught it early, it is small, and is positive for estrogen and progesterone reception which means it should react well to hormone therapy. Also good news is they took off the damn itchy steri strips. Then the bad news. The MRI last week picked up a suspect area that is also located in my left breast which needs a further look so I have another ultrasound and possible needle biopsy tomorrow - which means more DAMN itchy steri strips. If that is positive, I am a candidate for a mastectomy instead of just a lumpectomy. I should know more late this week or early next week. I have since found out that MRIs show false positives - pick up something that isn't really there. I have already had two mammograms and an ultrasound that didn't show this so it is possible that it doesn't exist. Power of positive thinking here. Either way I go back to the surgeon on the 14th for decision time as well

More stress, more waiting. Desserts is stressed backwards - I don't really like dessert that much. What other junk foods spell something related backwards?