Surgeon missed the margins. 2nd surgery

Hi
I was diagnosed with dcis Stage 0 after a needle biopsy had my first surgery in December last year then the pathology showed a break in one of the walls of the milk duct so that turns it to invasive so I had to have a second surgery this February in my underarm for my lymph nodes which I was lucky they only had to remove one and it was actually cancer free just finished my radiation treatments and now I am following up this week with my oncologist to find out what hormone blocker I will be on. Honestly I was devastated when I was told I had to have a second surgery and now I'm done it's like time flew by so don't lose hope things will be all right.

I had lumpectomy and reconstruction the first surgery(4-4-23), my margins were clear but they want so many mm or cm(?) wide clear and mine weren’t. Second surgery a couple week later- both doctors oncologist and plastic had to be there. I’m at MD Anderson. I’m 60 and am in pretty good shape. But second surgery kinda knocked me down for a bit. You will do Great!

For me the surgery and radiation (15 treatments) were the easy part. The hormones blockers- I’m taking a break from my second one were tough for me. I had many many side effects. But some people have none. Good luck!

Hi
Which hormone blockers were you on and what was your dosage? My oncologist prior to surgery told me he would put me on tamoxifen 5 mg as I'm very hypersensitive to meds. So we will see how this goes. I am 65 I can't do the AI because I have osteopenia and a fracture in my spine t7. Amongst other health issues

This is why I just had a double mastectomy and called it a day . No problems since .It made me too nervous to worry about any risk of further growth of cells in the future . It is an individual decision as many women want to keep their breasts . I was 59 at the time.

I was on Anastrozole 1 mg....literally put me in a mental and physical tailspin after a couple months. Exemestane 25mg which after a couple months I couldn't sleep and just recently my hands were crippling so it was hard to hold a pen. I have been off it for 2 week and starting to sleep and hands not as bad. I'm going to try acupuncture in a couple weeks. Possibly go back on exemestane. My bones were good before I started, but retesting is not until June.

My first lumpectomy included removal of 13 lymph nodes. The drain was a pain, and the recovery long and painful (the road vibrations while being in a car had me using hydrochodone). Exactly 4 weeks later I was back for a second lumpectomy because clear margins had not been achieved, and at the same time I had a port implanted for chemo (stage 3). The second surgery and recovery were a piece of cake, so I didn't mind as it was worth it for clear margins. It happens. I never blamed my surgeon.

@freebird67
Yes, this also happened to me except it was my Oncologist who informed me that I needed an additional surgery when I had my first appointment with him, a month after my Lumpectomy. I was completely caught off guard!
My actual surgeon told me I had clear margins! So I got a second opinion and switched surgeons! This new surgeon was amazing but at the consultation he told me that, although it doesn’t happen too often, there was a chance he might not get clear margins and I may need a 3rd surgery. Luckily, he got it all though!

I totally feel the same. The oncologist is so bored with his job. I’m just a number. I feel like he doesn’t have time or has no interest in my concerns. My surgeon and her team were great. I am considering changing oncologist.

"I'm losing faith in the medical system fast. The nurse came in to schedule my surgery and said it happens like no big deal."
"I was upset mostly because I wasn't told this could happen.
Communication could be better."
"Then asked me.... do you have a problem with this ? Of course I have a problem with this, who wouldn't !"
"You have to be your own advocate."
*******
The quotes above resonate(d) with me. I have lost so much faith in the medical system. I grew up at a time when doctors made house calls. I believed that doctors had a "higher calling" than just collecting $ for office visits. I thought that they cared whether you lived or died, and they would not intentionally withhold information from you that you needed to know in order to be prepared for the worst, if, God forbid, it happened. I didn't expect that an oncologist would employ a bevy of P.A.'s ("the minions," I all them) whose entire job seemed to be keeping you from ever having a face-to-face discussion with The Man and giving you the message, over and over and over, for 17 months, that "the patient portal is not the appropriate forum for this question. You should wait until you have a face-to-face meeting with the ocologist," which, of course, they were probably instructed to make sure it did not happen. I was only seen by my oncologist in Illinois 2 times in 8 months, and, during those brief visits, he never answered the questions I had nor told the truth. I asked about an oncotype and his curt response (Dec. 2021) was "You don't need one." That remark, alone, is debatable in light of the fact that, when I finally got one from my 3rd oncologist in 2023, it was 29. When I asked about the side effects of Anastrozole, his response (in writing, since he never saw me in person if he could avoid it) was, "The only side effect of taking Anastrozole is a little stiffness in your hands and fingers first thing in the morning, and it goes away when you quit taking it." (Wrong!) I also question not giving the patient a chance to recover from a seroma, less than a week out of surgery, before putting them on Anastrozole, and having them take it throughout the 33 radiation treatments. Even the 33 radiation treatments, in retrospect, are questionable, since the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics told me, 3 days before I was to start the radiation, that they would not have radiated me at all, because, he said, "You're a woman in your 70s." (basically an age that they seem to feel is 1 foot in the grave.) (Try to maintain you are only 69 at the oldest, because, after that, it is questionable whether or not you'll be viewed as a viable patient with some life left in you. The "be your own advocate" is the most telling, because I have had to be. Today's medical mantra seems to be YOYO: "You're On Your Own."