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.
Interesting… I talked to my friend who had the same thing, and she said her breast was completely numb.
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.
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.
Could you wear a sports bra partially hiked up (or slipped down) out of the way on the affected side?
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.
There are also the well-tailored, sneaky, sociopathic, behind-the-scenes masterminds, often ex-KGB or -Spetznaz.
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.
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.
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.
Dang, you’re right.
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.
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.