Connect
← Return to Genetic testing...does anyone have the CHEK2 gene mutation?
Discussion
Genetic testing...does anyone have the CHEK2 gene mutation?
Breast Cancer | Last Active: Nov 1 4:41pm | Replies (73)Comment receiving replies
@deborahmontana
You know I always wondered if cancer was spread by the scalpel during surgery, but I was only thinking about my chest. Until I just read your message, I didn't even think about the lymph nodes. I had 6 removed for biopsy and now I'm wondering if she used the same scalpel for the mastectomies and the lymph nodes. If she didn't think cancer cells were on the scalpel then why wouldn't she use the same scalpel? Hmmm.
I think cancer in local lymph nodes is considered stage II, but others may have more to add about that. Ask your surgeon a lot more questions about that. I for one want as much cancer surgically removed from my body as can be. To me, it seems the more cancer cells there are, the more that can divide and spread. They also don't know how to treat your cancer unless they know the stage.
It sounds like you were really lucky with the reconstruction. That was a very visual description with the twisted bun. Eeek.
Dog ears, yes exactly, muffin top underneath where the bra would be on your sides under your arm pits. They weren't there before the mastectomy. It causes an extra 4" girth around my chest. I could wear a size smaller blouse without those. If I wear my prostheses then it's not so noticeable, but if I go flat, you can notice the bulges on my sides. For awhile I even got too thin, but those were still there. Troopers! Looks weird so I tend to wear loose blouses when going flat which is most of the time because the prostheses are hot, heavy and uncomfortable. Like wearing a backpack, but a front pack. I'm at least lucky that the skin doesn't fold over on the sides. It does for some women and causes a yeast infection in the fold and then surgery to remove the excess tissue is no longer optional.
Speaking of being disfigured, I also don't understand my incisions/scars. My surgeon did an inverted T cut on each side leaving me with about 22" of keloid scars total. I have never seen that cut in a photo. Photos I've seen online show maybe a 5-6" horizontal incision where each breast was and that's it. The next surgeon for my recurrence didn't seem impressed with the lack of flatness on the front of my chest either and flattened that one side more when the chest wall tumor was removed, but it still doesn't look good. Still too bumpy. My chest looks nothing like I imagined it would. I would ask a lot of questions about what it will look like afterwards. Ask to see photos of what it will look like. I was shown photos of what reconstruction would look like, but not what flat would look like. People with normal scarring probably have the scars nearly disappear with time. They kept telling me the lumps I felt underneath the skin, below the incision, post-mastectomy may be scar tissue so maybe my scarring disorder is to blame for some of that too.
No, I hadn't researched or even heard of Antabuse or Fenbendazole. I just looked them up for a brief overview. I do know that @leeann66 is in a stage III clinical trial for a new breast cancer drug Tropion for women with stage IV cancer who have tried other treatments and they stopped working. It seems to be working great for her last I read, but who knows when it will be approved. You might want to search her screen name for threads about it.
I hope you'll be on the other side of all this soon so you can get back to enjoying life.
Replies to "@deborahmontana You know I always wondered if cancer was spread by the scalpel during surgery, but..."
Connect
Hello Zebra,
"I'm wondering if she used the same scalpel for the mastectomies and the lymph nodes."
I never thought or considered that, but am a believer.
IF I cut up a chicken on a cutting board, I doubt you want me to use that same board and knife to then prepare a fresh salad. Right? You would want the board, knife and my hands absolutely sanitized - for GOOD REASON which does not require a degree in biology or pathology. Let's explore that more: The gloves and anything else which came in contact with tumor cells? Ughhhh...
IF a cancer patient were to ask one of these loud doubters if they would like an injection of cancer cells from someone else put in their body, I am pretty darn sure they would respond with an immediate "No."
Though 99.9% of all scientists and health care workers will flat out deny that cancer cells can spread via biopsy (digging around in a tumor), low and behold, I found a buried study by the NIH (National Institute of Health). The holy grail...of spreading cancer cells. There's no way these doc's and pathologist's haven't considered this. I TRIED to include the link, but this site won't allow. g o o g l e - N I H T u M or Cell Seeding
As a result of my own online research, it appears 80% of all biopsies are negative. I recognize that surgeons have few choices. This is the difficult part. Without biopsy, it would be unreasonable to offer mastectomies, especially women and men who have a small, but suspicious findings. So, what choices do surgeons and oncologists have? Few, if any. But, I also wonder if radiologists and oncologists do more biopsies than they should. My 84 year old aunt has had like 7 biopsies and none were found to be cancer.
Partial Success! My new oncologist is a human being first and a doctor second. He listened! Yesterday, he agreed to a mastectomy of my right breast with no biopsy. BUT today I learned that my insurance, which 9 years ago would have paid for a mastectomy on both sides, refuses to pay unless I undergo biopsy first.
It is my understanding that as I write this, the oncologist is attempting to set up a pathologist who would be immediately available to examine the tissue removed. IF the tissue sample/biopsy were to be cancer, then I would be taken immediately to OR and have breast removed/mastectomy. This oncologist is probably a 1% er'... who cares.
There is almost no explanation for anyone having a very small cancer biopsied (LCIS - DCIS - under 10mm), then removed with lumpectomy (later) - and years later after being told they were "cured" and "beat it," diagnosed with Stage IV. Biopsies must be responsible for spreading the cancer or cells naturally break off from the main tumor and move via lymph and blood (I believe that is Angiogenesis). Not sure if I spelled that right!
After my original diagnosis, I spent the next 2-3 years living in continual fear of cancer. It occupied my mind on and off, all day long every day. Very unhealthy, mentally and physically. I managed to put it aside for the most part and rarely talk about it. I would become stressed mostly in the month or two prior to scans/mammograms, etc. Then find calm again, until this recent suspicious finding, something I never imagined (other breast).
At best, this is a conundrum...
I believe it is wrong (per the study) for anyone in the healthcare field to claim cancer cells cannot be spread during biopsy. The cells are microscopic and even the needle or scalpel would have some attached, which would obviously migrate to other areas.