Had bilateral mastectomy on 1/31/2024 with reconstruction, not expecting lymph node involvement. 2.3mm tumor in sentinel node only. I have been offered radiation or going in a study where I would have a 50/50 chance of receiving radiation or no radiation. Plastic surgeon has mentioned complications which could mean deep tissue reconstruction

It's tricky- some people may have other health complications that may have made it risky to keep them under anesthesia longer to wait for an in-house pathology report. We have had pink sisters here whose reconstruction options were more limited due to issues with anesthesia, or other health concerns.

Our center does a report on-site, but then also sends the tissue out for a second review, which can take a couple of weeks. I was told the two reports rarely vary- but it does happen occasionally. And if they vary, the team would get together to see if any changes to the planned protocols were in order.

It makes sense to proceed with the immediate reconstruction if all other indicators show no additional cancer issues. Doing the immediate reconstruction would eliminate additional stress, a second OR trip (and risks of complications) down time, possible loss of income, and of course, incurring additional expense, all patient considerations.

@Joyce- totally agree on the nurse's making the doctors look good. My work, pre-kids, was as the senior purchasing agent for a hospital. You cannot imagine how many times doctors would schedule surgeries that required specific items to be on hand that had to be measured specifically to that patient, and would race in a day or two before surgery, demanding that I get the items, or the surgery would have to be cancelled- (and this surgery was scheduled- when??) or would want me to backdate something so it did not look like they had waited- (umm, so you want me to make this look like you did your job, and I messed up mine??). The majority of the doctors were wonderful to work with, but those few...SMH

Barbara, I am right here with you sister. What I don't understand is how we can be smarter than them with all their years of education and experience. It was true when I was a nurse in practice too. We made the doctor's look good by all we did behind the scenes. My surgeon didn't close until she had the pathology report back and all I had was a lumpectomy.

I don't understand how women get reconstruction before the pathology report from the Breast tissue that was removed at surgery comes back. I never thought of this before with women who get immediate reconstruction. They send the mass and nodes out to examine so how does a surgeon do reconstruction before that report comes back?

No I think everyone was surprised, I had an MRI in December that did not show anything in the lymph nodes