Hello Kalisunshine,

Thanks a lot for describing your experience in detail. It will be very useful to anyone in the future who will be receiving the radioactive ion injection. I am sure they will be reassured after reading your message and will feel better prepared for it. 

Best wishes,

Lucie, the mod

Hi Kalisunshine,

Thank you for starting this thread, sorry to nudge in but I had the same injection in to my tongue for a node removal from my neck.

Like you I did not feel that much, I had four or five injections into the front of the tongue, it stung a bit, but once the needle was out it was fine.

When you are told that you have to go to the nuclear medicine department (not sure if its the same everywhere), it does sound scary but like you for me it was very quick to have the injection.

The best of luck to you.

Hi Space, thanks for adding your experience. Yes I also had to go to the nuclear department and then stay away from babies, children and pregnant women. So gave up the idea of spending some waiting time in Costa coffee and went straight to day surgery! The hope of the post is just to make information available and demystify the process as you have done, thank you. I am one of those who needs to know everything so figure there will be others like me out there too!  Good luck with your treatment too. X

Hi all, I had a Sentinel Node Biopsy last week along with a Wide Excision following the news that a mole I had removed from the right hand side of my chest was Stage 2 Superficial Spreading Melanoma.

I would confirm that the procedure to identify the nodes for removal is at worst, uncomfortable, for a few seconds.

Just got the dreaded 2 week wait to find out whether any further treatment is required.

Have just found this site despite looking at various websites for the last two weeks as newly diagnosed with oestrogen receptive breast cancer )DCIS .  I am having a lumpectomy next Tuesday (28th) but the day before they are inserting the wire to inject dye so the surgeon can see the tumour when he operates.  I believe they will do the sentinel node removal at the same time as the lumpectomy. But if the cancer has spread I will have to go back and have the Sentinel node removal after I see the oncologist pending on the results of the nodes they remove next Tuesday.  Sorry, I am not as clear describing it all as it is still relatively new to me.  I was not aware that the injection is radioactive.  This was not conveyed to me when I saw the doctor after the confirmation of the diagnosis.  What you have written has helped me a lot as I am preparing mself that I more than likely will have to have the second procedure done - knowing my luck.  How did you feel after the lumpectomy.  x ps. I am Stage 1A, Grade 2.

Hi Bernieb. I am sorry to hear that you have been diagnosed with early stage cancer. The good news is that at this point your cancer is diagnosed as DCIS which means it is contained within the breast ducts and does not appear to have spread further. I had exactly the same diagnosis as you at the end of May. When I had my lumpectomy I did not have the Sentinal nodes removed at that point because they felt it was unlikely that the cancer had spread any further but after the lump was removed and they did further analysis they found a small strip of invasive cancer cells that had broken through the duct and were sat outside the duct . I imagine it as a straw (the duct) with a pea sat inside it -this would be DCIS. The difference for me is that mIne now looks like a straw with a small hole in it where the pea has pushed through. When I was diagnosed with DCIS I did not register that this diagnosis might change after they had done the post operative analysis so it came as a bit of a shock, so be aware of that. If you do have DCIS then celebrate because you have the best type of breast cancer- if there is such a thing! Survival rates are great . The other thing to be aware of is that when they take the lump they take a margin around it, they will look at that too to see they have got all the lump. They refer to this as clear margins, if the margins are not clear they are likely to go back in again and take out a big more to ensure that they have all of the tumour. So back to your questions. What you are describing is dye to identify where ther Sentinal nodes are, so it sounds as you are having the nodes removed at the same time as your lumpectomy. I believe from what I have read that it is more common to have both done at the same time. I didn't have this procedure at the time of my lumpectomy I had it several weeks later when I had my separate sentinel node op. For me the blue dye was injected when I was in surgery , what I am referring to is another seperate procedure also used to identify the node which is an additional injection of radioactive ion. . So 2 different procedures but for the same purpose to identify the nodes. It seems that some hospitals use both methods in combination others just use one. . So I didn't have the wire procedure when I was conscious but the lady in the next bed to me did have and she didn't seem to have anything awful to say about it.. You describe having to go back and have a second node clearance, if they find that any cancer cells have spread to the nodes it is possible that you will have to go back and have what they refer to as an axciliary clearance this is when they take all or most of the nodes. This does depend though on how many of the original nodes they remove contain cancer cells. This is the point I am at now. I am waiting for the results of the analysis of my Sentinal nodes. I get the results on aug 11th. Then the course of treatment will be decided depending on whether it has spread or not. My invasive cells are classed as grade 2 (out a 1-3 staging where 3 is the most active) and my DCIS bit is classed as intermediate ( DCIS is described slightly differently either low , intermediate or high, which refers to the likeihood of them becoming invasive).. As this post Is long I will do another one about how I felt post lumpectomy. Whereabouts is your lump? 

Hi Bernienb. Forgot to say I am also oestrogen positive. I will definitely be having radiotherapy which is standard practice here after a lumpectomy and because I am oestrogen positive I will most likely have Tamoxifen to suppress oestrogen production. I am pre menopasal so have been told it would Tamoxifen up to menopause and something different after. But chemotherapy could be added into the mix after the results of the Sentinal op. It is such a long wait for results- I had the op on 13 th July. I am a bit of a fatalist I would rather prepare for the worst than hope for the best!  After my lumpectomy I felt exhausted- I had planned to go back to work after 1-2 weeks. In fact I went back for a staggered mornings only return after 4 weeks. My breast was sore and very tender to touch and I had various stabbing, shooting pains. I wasn't in agony and I took cocodamol and paracetamol which made a huge difference. The worst thing was the rock hard feeling of my breast, I didn't like to touch it! I went back to my breast cancer nurse for her to take the dressing off as I was nervous about doing it. By about week 3 the shooting pain had stopped, I did a lot of walking around holding my boob! Cold cabbage leaves helped! And also a cream called ouch. Once everything was healed I spent a lot of time moisturising my boob and gently massaging the hard areas. I am now 7 weeks after the lumpectomy , I have no pain at all, the nipple area is tender to touch but not irritated by my bra. Most of the hardness has gone just a small area where the lump actually was, I don't sit here totally aware of my boob any more as I was before. I am now able to drive over speed bumps and pot holes and not feel the need to cup my boob to support it. The best thing anyone bought me was a cushtie, a very soft sausage shape cushion which I used to support my boob in bed. Made a big difference. Think that's all for now please don't hesitate to ask if anything is unclear or I can help with anything else. Good luck with your op next week.

Thanks for replying Richie, so good to be able to add your experience to others experiences, I couldn't find info anywhere before I had my radioactive ion injection and was beside myself with worry. Hopefully this will help lots of others in the same boat. The wait is the worst thing I hope the outcome is good for you, fingers crossed.

Hi Kallisunshine. I hope you are doing okay and keeping well. Thank you so so much for your replies - this is the first time I have logged on since writing on this forum last week.  Had the radioactive injection on Monday last week then x-rays and then an ultrasound where the wire was inserted.  All went okay and was not too painful and just a few seconds when injection goes in - all fine.  Went in on Tuesday and had the lumpectomy.  Blue dye inserted and they removed three nodes.  Surgeon came round afterwards and said she thinks she has removed all of the mass - it did not show up on xray or mamogram during the op.  She said they have marked the mass so they will know exactly where to remove more tissue if the safety margins are too close to the edge.  From what I can gather reading my notes, 3 nodes removed - one negative, one neither hot nor blue, but one hot and blue - which reading between lines, means positive for cancer.  I go back on the 14th August so a bit of a wait, but am anticipating the worst, meaning chemo as well as radiotherapy and tamoxifin (I am 45).  It is also oestrogen receptive.  The lump was at 9 o'clock - if you are looking at my boob face on - and marked as a clock.  Do you know where I mean?  I am going to remove the dressing myself tomorrow as it has not come away.  I am a bit sore and it feels a bit strange as though I have pulled a muscle etc.  But I am trying to carry on as normal and not restrict movement in my arm.  Just a bit more worried as I can feel a very small lump in my collar bone and obviously mind going into overdrive, thinking the worst, but will telephoe cancer care nurse tomorrow and tell her my concerns.  My cousin rang me this evening - she has been in nursing for years and said to try and get a timeline for when radio and poss chemo would start.  She said it would help you plan for the weeks ahead, especially with the boys still off school etc.  I thought this was a really good idea.  I also want to say, thank you so much for your posts- they are just so helpful - you have no idea how much. Thank you and God Bless and I really hope you get on well at your next appointment.  xxx

Just following on - I spoke to the cancer care nurse this morning.  She said hot and blue would not denote cancer in the nodes, but just the position and whether the blue dye and radioactive injection has done what it is supposed to do.  She said it can be a bit hit and miss sometimes and that is why they removed three nodes.  I also told her about the small lump in collar bone.  She advised me to call into the drop in clinic on Thursday morning. They would do an ultrasound and if felt suspicious, do a biopsy.  Lovely, something to look forward too.  Also removed the dressings today - all looks fine and much neater than I envisaged so it is a small price to pay having scars etc.  I hope you are well.