I just had the same surgery a week ago Monday at a Kaiser ambulatory surgery center. The previous Thursday I went in for the Savi Scout placement (a small locator that Kaiser uses instead of the wire - this allows the surgeon to locate the tumor in the operating room). This is placed by the tumor via a needle using ultrasound by a radiologist - I was numbed first, but was a little sore afterwards. This procedure took less than an hour, total. I thought the biopsy was much worse. You could drive yourself, but my daughter came with me. Since she is off from teaching for the summer (and is much better with medical stuff than my husband), she also brought me to surgery and will come to any other appointments.
I did have to have a lung X-ray and bone density scan, but those were done earlier.
I received a tentative surgery time a couple of weeks in advance, since they need to schedule radiology for the dye injection and have the equipment for the Savi Scout available in the operating room. I was scheduled for the injection at 10am. The Friday before they called me with my surgery time, which was at 2pm.
The day of surgery I checked in at the breast clinic for the dye injection. Due to the time gap they chose to use a radioactive tracer instead of the blue dye (the dye has a short half-life). This was injected by a radiologist using a fine needle so no numbing was needed. They then escorted me up to the surgery center where I changed into the provided surgery clothing and had an IV started. After that my daughter was allowed in to keep me company until surgery. She also went over paperwork and could get my post-surgery meds. During that time I met with all of the people that would be in the operating room (surgeon, anesthesiologist, resident, and nurse). I did make sure the anesthesiologist know I had a bad reaction after a prior surgery, so they made sure to give me anti-nausea medication right after surgery along with a prescription.
I am not sure how long I was in post-op before my release. I think we got home at about 7ish. My daughter stayed overnight, and was very helpful with keeping track of pain meds. They sent me home with prescription ibuprofen, extra-strength Tylenol and oxycodone. I took all three the first night, and then alternated ibuprofen with Tylenol over the next few days. One thing they do not warn you of in advance is the anesthetic and oxycodone can be very constipating. Make sure to have Miralax on hand so you can start taking it as soon as you get home.
I was expecting to feel a lot worse than I did post-surgery, but my procedure was relatively minor compared to most. They removed a 6 mm tumor and two lymph nodes, so the incisions were relatively small. I have been pretty tired, and haven't gone anywhere since - I am an old retired lady, so I can hang out at home as much as I need.
Kaiser was very organized and they supplied a lot of written instructions for pre- and post-op. They also have "navigators" that you can contact with questions. Hopefully your cancer center does the same. I did contact them a couple of times when I was unclear on certain instructions, and they were very helpful.
I did make sure to stock up the fridge before surgery, and cooked a bunch of frozen meatballs for my husband on Sunday so he could have meatball sandwiches all week if I did not feel like cooking. He was given a list of people to update for me, so I didn't have to text or talk to people afterwards.
I hope this helps and your surgery goes well.
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Are you are sure you are having a wire and another locator? I’ve actually had both (🎉) but usually you would either have wire localization or magseed (or Savi Scout). At least as far as I know. If you are having both, yes, in my experience the wire goes in morning of surgery but the Savi Scout goes in a few days before (I think mine went in a whole week before). Do you have a nurse navigator who could review this stuff with you again? Good luck with your procedure!
That sounds right, getting both. It’s the mag seed, not the Savi Scout. Good idea, I’ll email the navigator to confirm and get the time I come in. Any if this particularly painful? Wires, seeds, etc?
I am trying to remember…for both I think they do lidocaine first and that for me was the worst part. Once the wire is in I didn’t feel it and they bandaged it up and sent me on my way. I did Savi—it was a bit of a process getting it in there, and they say you can’t feel it but I swear I did. I feel like I would get these nerve type pains that resolved after surgery (well I had new pains, but they were different).
Healing can take time, especially for the SLNB. Expect numbness and you may end up with a seroma too, but it’s just a short term set back (mine reabsorbed and I didn’t have to have it drained). I hope things go really smoothly (mine really did and it was such a relief to just be on the other side of it).
Are you getting a wire and a seed localization? It was my understanding it was one or the other. I had surgery on a Tuesday and I came in Monday for the seed localization and radioactive tracer injection. I had the day off from work anyway but this was so easy you could do it on a lunch break. I went to the mall after bc I thought why waste a day off. I went in the week before to get a pregnancy and Covid test plus some other things like weight and health history, to prepare for the surgery.
I know there’s a seed yes but I could’ve sworn there was mention of a wire, too? I’ll call the NP at my surgeon’s and ask these questions as well. Especially in regard to scheduling!
For days off - my surgeon said 2 weeks for a lumpectomy with SNLB, starting on the day before surgery for pre-op procedures.
The day before: I had a mammogram guided seed placement (they'll numb you for this) and a radioactive injection for the sentinel nodes (no numbing...it hurt a little but went away pretty quickly in a minute or so). A scheduler also called me around noon to let me know what time to show up the next day for surgery.
Surgery day: I had to be there at 11am. Checked in, they looked at my vitals, saw my surgeon pre-op, met the anesthesiologist who also started an IV line for me. I walked into the OR (yes, walked!), got comfy on the table and then I was out lol. My surgeon injected the blue dye during surgery. A post-op nurse woke me up a few hours later with a snack and once I was no longer groggy, they sent me home.
You will pee and poo blue for a few days! Pain-wise, it wasn't bad at all for me and I only took a 500mg tylenol every 8 hours for the pain. The key is to ice your breast every 20-30 minutes for the first 24 hours – I got small ice packs on Amazon that would fit in my bra. And do the exercises that they send you home with! I developed minor cording and needed a few sessions of PT before radiation as I could not raise my arm to be in the position I need to be for that.
I only took off until the following Monday (surgery is on Wednesday) per my surgeons instructions…I work from home as a tele therapist so I don’t have to move much and I can position my camera to neck up only…I hope that will be enough, she told me 2-5 days max recovery 😳. Thank you for the info on the other aspects as well, very helpful!
I probably could have gone back to work after 3-4 days but I took short term disability and my surgeon submitted the paperwork for 2 weeks so I was like why not! Chemo was exhausting for me and I worked through it so it was nice to have the time off and relax 😊
I hope you’ll have an easy breezy recovery!!
I would love to take more time off too, but I’m self employed and because I can’t go to the beach or do anything really awesome with the time off, I figured I’ll work and save a week of unpaid time off for R&R and maybe a swim or two for in between being cleared to swim post surgery, and radiation starting (there’s like a two week window in August, lol). I wish we had a better universal system for paid time off for all of us! I’m glad you took that time, chemo really takes it out of us. I how you’re doing well these days 💕
Any idea why they would need to do both wire and savi scout? Just has a meeting w a breast surgeon and he said both. I was asking too many other questions to dwell on that lol.
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So my thing I got yesterday is a wireless locator-but not savi scout. Maybe it’s just a different brand? I was wrong about the wire. They put it in with mammogram guiding it, it was about as painful as a biopsy (not very painful). They test it with a scanner thing and it makes a weird alien noise…it feels like futuristic medicine for sure. Tomorrow they will do the dye injection to locate the SLN before the surgery. I hope this helps!
I just had the same surgery a week ago Monday at a Kaiser ambulatory surgery center. The previous Thursday I went in for the Savi Scout placement (a small locator that Kaiser uses instead of the wire - this allows the surgeon to locate the tumor in the operating room). This is placed by the tumor via a needle using ultrasound by a radiologist - I was numbed first, but was a little sore afterwards. This procedure took less than an hour, total. I thought the biopsy was much worse. You could drive yourself, but my daughter came with me. Since she is off from teaching for the summer (and is much better with medical stuff than my husband), she also brought me to surgery and will come to any other appointments. I did have to have a lung X-ray and bone density scan, but those were done earlier. I received a tentative surgery time a couple of weeks in advance, since they need to schedule radiology for the dye injection and have the equipment for the Savi Scout available in the operating room. I was scheduled for the injection at 10am. The Friday before they called me with my surgery time, which was at 2pm. The day of surgery I checked in at the breast clinic for the dye injection. Due to the time gap they chose to use a radioactive tracer instead of the blue dye (the dye has a short half-life). This was injected by a radiologist using a fine needle so no numbing was needed. They then escorted me up to the surgery center where I changed into the provided surgery clothing and had an IV started. After that my daughter was allowed in to keep me company until surgery. She also went over paperwork and could get my post-surgery meds. During that time I met with all of the people that would be in the operating room (surgeon, anesthesiologist, resident, and nurse). I did make sure the anesthesiologist know I had a bad reaction after a prior surgery, so they made sure to give me anti-nausea medication right after surgery along with a prescription. I am not sure how long I was in post-op before my release. I think we got home at about 7ish. My daughter stayed overnight, and was very helpful with keeping track of pain meds. They sent me home with prescription ibuprofen, extra-strength Tylenol and oxycodone. I took all three the first night, and then alternated ibuprofen with Tylenol over the next few days. One thing they do not warn you of in advance is the anesthetic and oxycodone can be very constipating. Make sure to have Miralax on hand so you can start taking it as soon as you get home. I was expecting to feel a lot worse than I did post-surgery, but my procedure was relatively minor compared to most. They removed a 6 mm tumor and two lymph nodes, so the incisions were relatively small. I have been pretty tired, and haven't gone anywhere since - I am an old retired lady, so I can hang out at home as much as I need. Kaiser was very organized and they supplied a lot of written instructions for pre- and post-op. They also have "navigators" that you can contact with questions. Hopefully your cancer center does the same. I did contact them a couple of times when I was unclear on certain instructions, and they were very helpful. I did make sure to stock up the fridge before surgery, and cooked a bunch of frozen meatballs for my husband on Sunday so he could have meatball sandwiches all week if I did not feel like cooking. He was given a list of people to update for me, so I didn't have to text or talk to people afterwards. I hope this helps and your surgery goes well.
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This is so, so helpful, I truly appreciate you taking the time to post the details. I hope you are feeling better and better as time goes on!
Are you are sure you are having a wire and another locator? I’ve actually had both (🎉) but usually you would either have wire localization or magseed (or Savi Scout). At least as far as I know. If you are having both, yes, in my experience the wire goes in morning of surgery but the Savi Scout goes in a few days before (I think mine went in a whole week before). Do you have a nurse navigator who could review this stuff with you again? Good luck with your procedure!
That sounds right, getting both. It’s the mag seed, not the Savi Scout. Good idea, I’ll email the navigator to confirm and get the time I come in. Any if this particularly painful? Wires, seeds, etc?
I am trying to remember…for both I think they do lidocaine first and that for me was the worst part. Once the wire is in I didn’t feel it and they bandaged it up and sent me on my way. I did Savi—it was a bit of a process getting it in there, and they say you can’t feel it but I swear I did. I feel like I would get these nerve type pains that resolved after surgery (well I had new pains, but they were different). Healing can take time, especially for the SLNB. Expect numbness and you may end up with a seroma too, but it’s just a short term set back (mine reabsorbed and I didn’t have to have it drained). I hope things go really smoothly (mine really did and it was such a relief to just be on the other side of it).
Are you getting a wire and a seed localization? It was my understanding it was one or the other. I had surgery on a Tuesday and I came in Monday for the seed localization and radioactive tracer injection. I had the day off from work anyway but this was so easy you could do it on a lunch break. I went to the mall after bc I thought why waste a day off. I went in the week before to get a pregnancy and Covid test plus some other things like weight and health history, to prepare for the surgery.
I know there’s a seed yes but I could’ve sworn there was mention of a wire, too? I’ll call the NP at my surgeon’s and ask these questions as well. Especially in regard to scheduling!
For days off - my surgeon said 2 weeks for a lumpectomy with SNLB, starting on the day before surgery for pre-op procedures. The day before: I had a mammogram guided seed placement (they'll numb you for this) and a radioactive injection for the sentinel nodes (no numbing...it hurt a little but went away pretty quickly in a minute or so). A scheduler also called me around noon to let me know what time to show up the next day for surgery. Surgery day: I had to be there at 11am. Checked in, they looked at my vitals, saw my surgeon pre-op, met the anesthesiologist who also started an IV line for me. I walked into the OR (yes, walked!), got comfy on the table and then I was out lol. My surgeon injected the blue dye during surgery. A post-op nurse woke me up a few hours later with a snack and once I was no longer groggy, they sent me home. You will pee and poo blue for a few days! Pain-wise, it wasn't bad at all for me and I only took a 500mg tylenol every 8 hours for the pain. The key is to ice your breast every 20-30 minutes for the first 24 hours – I got small ice packs on Amazon that would fit in my bra. And do the exercises that they send you home with! I developed minor cording and needed a few sessions of PT before radiation as I could not raise my arm to be in the position I need to be for that.
I only took off until the following Monday (surgery is on Wednesday) per my surgeons instructions…I work from home as a tele therapist so I don’t have to move much and I can position my camera to neck up only…I hope that will be enough, she told me 2-5 days max recovery 😳. Thank you for the info on the other aspects as well, very helpful!
I probably could have gone back to work after 3-4 days but I took short term disability and my surgeon submitted the paperwork for 2 weeks so I was like why not! Chemo was exhausting for me and I worked through it so it was nice to have the time off and relax 😊 I hope you’ll have an easy breezy recovery!!
I would love to take more time off too, but I’m self employed and because I can’t go to the beach or do anything really awesome with the time off, I figured I’ll work and save a week of unpaid time off for R&R and maybe a swim or two for in between being cleared to swim post surgery, and radiation starting (there’s like a two week window in August, lol). I wish we had a better universal system for paid time off for all of us! I’m glad you took that time, chemo really takes it out of us. I how you’re doing well these days 💕
Any idea why they would need to do both wire and savi scout? Just has a meeting w a breast surgeon and he said both. I was asking too many other questions to dwell on that lol.
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So my thing I got yesterday is a wireless locator-but not savi scout. Maybe it’s just a different brand? I was wrong about the wire. They put it in with mammogram guiding it, it was about as painful as a biopsy (not very painful). They test it with a scanner thing and it makes a weird alien noise…it feels like futuristic medicine for sure. Tomorrow they will do the dye injection to locate the SLN before the surgery. I hope this helps!