# Stereotactic breast biopsy Friday-- anticipation is freaking me out **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 17, 2015, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotactic-breast-biopsy-friday-anticipation-is-freaking-me-out/712919 "2015-02-17T16:22:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotactic-breast-biopsy-friday-anticipation-is-freaking-me-out/712919/81 "2015-03-19T18:39:21Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Was your breast numb for this procedure (like I assume it was for the biopsy)? Or was it “somewhat numb”? Or not at all? Somewhat numbed, but not as much as I thought it would be–not like for the biopsies. I didn’t cry, but I spent a lot of time holding my breath, hissing, or otherwise expressing pain while trying to hold still. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotactic-breast-biopsy-friday-anticipation-is-freaking-me-out/712919/82 "2015-03-19T20:17:56Z")
Interesting… I talked to my friend who had the same thing, and she said her breast was completely numb. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotactic-breast-biopsy-friday-anticipation-is-freaking-me-out/712919/83 "2015-03-19T20:27:43Z")
> [@Miss\_Mapp](#): > > Yeah, that was the worst piece of breast-torture for me too. My two biopsy sites were on the upper portion, about half an inch apart. The tech staff who was putting the needles and wires in kept saying “Don’t look down,” but of course I did take a glance at one point before she put some tape over the site to hold the wires in place. > > Wires–two pieces about 5 or 6 inches long sticking up out of the top of my breast and waggling around like two little antennae for some cyberpunk-Borg electronic implant. Decorated cheerfully with little pink-flowered bandages. Not just painful, but completely surreal. > > A little later, just before I went into the surgery, someone asked me if I had any false teeth, prosthetics, implants, or body piercings. “Only the ones you just gave me…” You’d think they would ask about implants before they started sticking wires into your breasts. :eek: Or, were they talking about different implants than I’m thinking about? ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotactic-breast-biopsy-friday-anticipation-is-freaking-me-out/712919/84 "2015-03-19T22:41:17Z")
> [@Honey](#): > > You’d think they would ask about implants before they started sticking wires into your breasts. :eek: Or, were they talking about different implants than I’m thinking about? I don’t think they did mean breast implants. I’d just had a mammogram while they were putting the wires in, so the technician could see exactly where the little metal clips from the biopsies were. If I’d had silicone bags or anything else in there, she would have seen that too. I think it was just a general pre-surgical question, but in light of my brand-new Borgified chest modification, it struck me as funny at the time. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotactic-breast-biopsy-friday-anticipation-is-freaking-me-out/712919/85 "2015-03-25T01:37:30Z")
Saw the surgeon today. She said my margins were good and all five lymph nodes that she removed were totally clear. YAY! 🙂 I have a lump/seroma in my armpit the size of a ping pong ball and it’s very sore. She drained it, but it filled up again before I left the building. She also removed a small (pinto bean sized) sebaceous cyst from under the same breast, and it’s infected-- not badly, but it’s in a spot where any bra will rub on it. So I’ve given up bras for the duration. Woodstock, here I come! The radiation oncologist said they have to examine the cells they removed to see if I will need chemo. It will depend on how aggressive the cells were. I guess if they had Russian prison tattoos, spiky hair, carried razor blades, and said fuck all the time or something. If I do need chemo, I’ll do that first, then radiation. If not, then I’ll start radiation in about a month. The cyst infection has to be completely gone and the skin totally healed over. All things considered, I dodged a bullet and I’m grateful. ---
**Author:** ![FeAudrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7feea3/32.png) [@FeAudrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FeAudrey)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotactic-breast-biopsy-friday-anticipation-is-freaking-me-out/712919/86 "2015-03-25T02:53:59Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > … So I’ve given up bras for the duration … Could you wear a sports bra partially hiked up (or slipped down) out of the way on the affected side? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotactic-breast-biopsy-friday-anticipation-is-freaking-me-out/712919/87 "2015-03-25T03:27:07Z")
I’ve tried several sports bras and post-surgical bras and the band hits precisely where she removed the cyst. Hiking it up doesn’t work, because my breast is there. If there were a bra with a band that hit at the bottom of my rib cage, that might work. Also ALL of the surgical/sports bras I got are high cut under the arm and rub exactly where she removed the lymph nodes at the front of the armpit. It’s even been challenging finding shirts and t-shirts with armholes big enough so they don’t rub on the lymph area. I’m thrilled about my outcome and not really complaining, but I’m interested in how others dealt with this relatively minor matter. ---
**Author:** ![FeAudrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7feea3/32.png) [@FeAudrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FeAudrey)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotactic-breast-biopsy-friday-anticipation-is-freaking-me-out/712919/88 "2015-03-25T15:18:24Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > It will depend on how aggressive the cells were. I guess if they had Russian prison tattoos, spiky hair, carried razor blades, and said fuck all the time or something. There are also the well-tailored, sneaky, sociopathic, behind-the-scenes masterminds, often ex-KGB or -Spetznaz. > [@](#): > > … band hits precisely where she removed the cyst … Might taping some sort of protective plastic dome over the incision work? Something from the kind of packaging that is so impossible to remove small items from could protect the wound. > [@](#): > > … ALL of the surgical/sports bras I got are high cut under the arm and rub exactly where she removed the lymph nodes at the front of the armpit. I didn’t feel your pain, because I was lucky enough to have a (ONE!) sports bra cut low enough not to hit that spot. > [@](#): > > It’s even been challenging finding shirts and t-shirts with armholes big enough so they don’t rub on the lymph area … I’m interested in how others dealt with this relatively minor matter. Thrift shop silk shirts and blouses, especially in men’s sizes. You can wear them buttoned, or jacket-style over sleeveless tees or shells. Thrift shop, because they have been washed many times and are very soft. They are also, by that stage, fragile, and won’t last long. As they start to fall apart, you can use the pieces to protect new scars and as washcloths and toweling. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotactic-breast-biopsy-friday-anticipation-is-freaking-me-out/712919/89 "2015-03-25T16:58:07Z")
> [@FeAudrey](#): > > There are also the well-tailored, sneaky, sociopathic, behind-the-scenes masterminds, often ex-KGB or -Spetznaz. Dang, you’re right. > [@](#): > > Might taping some sort of protective plastic dome over the incision work? Something from the kind of packaging that is so impossible to remove small items from could protect the wound. Where she removed the cyst is no longer an incision, it’s a gaping, open sore/wound. The skin around it is inflamed, too. I’m just keeping it covered with gauze. Good suggestion on the many-times-washed thrift shop shirts. ---
**Author:** ![FeAudrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7feea3/32.png) [@FeAudrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FeAudrey)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotactic-breast-biopsy-friday-anticipation-is-freaking-me-out/712919/90 "2015-03-25T21:39:37Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Good suggestion on the many-times-washed thrift shop shirts. Glad to be of help. Note that I speaking strictly of silk. They will also be good when you are getting radiation, which requires a lot of babying of the skin in the treatment area. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotactic-breast-biopsy-friday-anticipation-is-freaking-me-out/712919.md?page=4)