Surgery for Biopsy

I met with the surgeon yesterday and found that there is a 'lump' but it is so small that a needle biopsy is impractical. He said that the needle would be bigger than the lump and if he missed it and if there was any bleeding in there then he wouldn't be able to see it by ultrasound.

So we will do a guide-wire biopsy. Goody. That's the same procedure I had on my right breast several years ago. Not fun.

While my boob is squished in the mammography machine they insert a wire and make sure it is touching the lump. Then the surgeon follows the wire and cuts out a 1" by 2" cylinder of flesh (which should include the lump) to biopsy. They will also examine the surrounding flesh to see, in the case of cancer, if the cancer was contained in that cylinder or extends to the edges which would mean that a more radical surgery would be required to remove the cancer. That's what happened with my mom. The cancer cells went clear to the edge of the cylinder of flesh which meant it went beyond it in her breast.

The procedure is scheduled for next Tuesday morning. I was pretty depressed yesterday, not getting anything on my to-do list done and breaking into tears randomly.

I hate my boobs.