On the day of breast cancer surgery

Meeting the team

You see your surgeon on the day of your operation. They will explain:

• what they are going to do

• the possible side effects

• where you’ll have scars

• what to expect after the operation

The surgeon uses a marker pen to draw an outline on your skin to clearly show the area of the operation. The marks may be on your breast and under your arm.

You will also meet your anaesthetist. They are in control of keeping you asleep during the operation by giving you an ​anaesthetic​ . 

You sign a consent form for the operation if you didn't do it at the pre assessment clinic.

The surgeon, anaesthetist and nurse can answer any questions about your operation you may have.

Before the operation

On the day of the operation you:

• stop eating for about 6 hours before your operation, but you can still drink clear fluids (nothing fizzy) up to 2 hours beforehand

• change into a hospital gown

• take off jewellery (except for a wedding ring)

• put on a pair of surgical stockings

• take off any make up, including nail varnish

• remove contact lenses if you have them

If you have false teeth or wear glasses you can usually keep them with you until you get to the anaesthetic room.

For some types of surgery, your nurse asks if they can remove the hair around the operation area. This is to help prevent an infection. They might remove the hair on the ward before you go for your operation. Or when you’re in the operating theatre.

Your nurse might give you a tablet or an injection to help you relax. This will be an hour or so before you go to the operating theatre. This makes your mouth feel dry. But you can rinse your mouth with water to keep it moist. 

Your nurse and a porter take you to theatre on a trolley if you’ve had this medicine. You can walk down to the theatre if you haven't had any.

If your breast cancer is too small for the surgeon to feel

If you have a very small cancer that is too small to feel, usually on the morning of the operation you might have a very thin wire put into the breast tissue. They do this in the radiology department with a mammogram or ultrasound scan. This helps the surgeon find the exact area that needs removing during the operation. This is called wire guided localisation or wired guide local excision.

Find out more about how a wire is put in on our breast biopsy page

Some hospitals might use small magnetic markers, instead of using a wire. Magseed is one of the magnetic markers in use. If you are having a magnetic marker you have this put in several days or weeks before surgery.

Having an anaesthetic

You have an anaesthetic so that you can’t feel anything during the operation. You have this in the anaesthetic room or the operating theatre.

All the doctors and nurses wear theatre gowns, hats and masks. This reduces your chance of getting an infection.

The ​anaesthetist​ puts a small tube (cannula) into a vein in your arm. You have any fluids and medicines you need through the cannula including the general anaesthetic. This sends you into a deep sleep. When you wake up, the operation will be over.

The anaesthetist might inject an anaesthetic into the area of the surgery so that you don't have any pain there when you wake up.

Waking up after surgery

After the operation, you usually wake up in the recovery room, before moving back to your ward.

Find out what happens after surgery