Pre-op Procedures

The day did not start well. I woke up to news that my aunt wasn't doing well, and she died soon after. She was my mom's last remaining sibling. RIP Tita Med.

I had two pre-op procedures today. They're usually done the day of surgery, but because I'll be the first surgery of the day, the procedures were scheduled early to save time in the morning. Despite that, I still have to show up at 5:30 am tomorrow for surgery at 7:15.

The first procedure was to place a Savi Scout reflector in my breast. It's supposed to allow better accuracy in locating the tumor during surgery. In my case, because the tumor is gone, it's used to pinpoint the calcification that's left behind. The surgeon will then use a radar device to detect the reflector.

What I didn't know till I arrived for the procedure was that two reflectors would be placed to mark the edges of the calcification. There were two radiologists for the procedure. I think one doctor was training the other. 

A mammography machine was used for imaging. First my breast was compressed between two paddles. While it wasn't as bad as getting a mammogram, it was occasionally painful. I had warned the doctor before that my earlier breast biopsy was extremely painful. So I was given two shots of lidocaine. The first reflector was inserted, but the needle was left in my breast in case the reflector position needs adjustment. It hurt when the needle went deep, so I was given a third shot of lidocaine. Then the second reflector was inserted. Again it hurt, and I got a fourth shot of lidocaine.

Several images were taken while the two needles were sticking out of my breast. The position of one reflector had to be adjusted several times. Then the needles were finally removed. The whole procedure took about 35 minutes with my breast compressed the whole time. Brutal.

Next procedure was an injection of radioactive tracer to locate my sentinel lymph nodes during surgery. I was told the injection would feel like a bee sting, as if it's nothing. I've only been stung once in my life, and it was extremely painful and felt like an electric shock. Thank goodness for the four shots of lidocaine in my earlier appointment. I still felt the injection, but it wasn't as painful as it could have been.

The procedure took 20 minutes. I then had to kill time for 1 hour 40 minutes to allow the tracer to work its way to my lymph nodes. I was told to go for a walk to help the tracer. When I returned later for my imaging appointment, a gamma camera was used to detect the tracer. It didn't take long, maybe 15 minutes.

My breast started to feel sore on my drive home. Tylenol helped.