Margins not clear following Lumpectomy

Hi,

I had my second surgery 6 weeks after my first. I chose to have a mastectomy as my tumour was 4cm and being small to start with the lumpectomy left me with half a boob. My margins that weren’t clear were posterior and anterior so I had to lose some skin, I also needed axillary clearance so decided to lose the lot in one go.

Hi Dulcibella,

Sorry that your margins were not clear. I was the same and I was frustrated by it. I don’t know what the optimal time is for re excision, but I remember having mine about 4 weeks later. I did consider a mastectomy but the consultant was not keen on this and neither was I to be honest. Also I had a partial mastectomy and used tissue from my back and I didn’t really want to “throw all that away” if there was another option. In the end I went for re excision and they got the last bit of it. Best wishes.

Thank you for your reply. Sending love xx

Hi Ruva, Thank you for sharing. Can I ask if your tumour was ductal or lobular? Sending love xx

You’re welcome! My tumour was 75% DCIS and 25% IDC. A total of 7cm was removed. 

Hi

I had a re excision 6 weeks after the first lumpectomy, the margins came back clear on that occasion.

Hope everything goes well  for you

D.D