Unlike a mastectomy, which involves removal of all or a large portion of the breast tissue, a lumpectomy is not considered major surgery and women who have a lumpectomy often go home the same day of their procedure.
You will probably be able to go back to work or your normal routine in 1 to 3 weeks. It may be longer, depending on the type of work you do and whether you are having radiation or chemotherapy. You may shower 24 to 48 hours after surgery, if your doctor okays it.
Stage 0 breast cancer treatment
Surgical options for stage 0 breast cancer include breast-conserving surgery (also called a lumpectomy) to remove the area of the breast with abnormal cells, or a mastectomy to remove the entire breast.
It's less invasive than mastectomy, a breast cancer surgery that removes the entire breast. Potential complications of lumpectomy surgery include infection, bruising and swelling (called lymphedema) in your arm or hand closest to the affected breast.
Many people go home on the same day as their operation. Others are in hospital for about 2 to 7 days.
Don't lift or carry anything heavy, or drive, while your scars heal up. After breast conserving surgery this is likely to be after about 2 weeks. After a mastectomy, it might take longer.
People who have oncoplastic lumpectomy surgery get a special support bra from their surgical team. Follow the surgical team's instructions. You can typically start any approved arm exercises the morning after surgery.
Lumpectomy is also called breast-conserving surgery or wide local excision because only a portion of the breast is removed. In contrast, during a mastectomy, all of the breast tissue is removed.
Typically, a lumpectomy is a short, outpatient procedure. Most patients receive general anesthesia, but care teams may also use an IV with a sedative, or relaxing medication, and a local anesthetic is used to numb the area being operated on. The procedure typically takes about 15 to 40 minutes.
Avoid strenuous activities, such as biking, jogging, weightlifting, or aerobic exercise, for 1 month or until your doctor says it is okay. This may include housework, such as washing windows, especially if you have to use the arm next to the affected breast.
If you've undergone a lumpectomy, the cancer could recur in the remaining breast tissue. If you've undergone a mastectomy, the cancer could recur in the tissue that lines the chest wall or in the skin.
Potential reasons behind this statistic include larger left breast size, more frequent self-screening of left breast, and right-side breastfeeding preferences.
Regardless of whether you choose to have a lumpectomy or mastectomy, the recurrence rate remains at approximately 10 percent in the treated breast and about 0.5 percent per year in the breast that has not been treated. The risk of getting a different cancer is about 2 percent.
Lumpectomy is performed under anesthesia; hence, the procedure itself is not painful. After the surgery and recovery from anesthesia, patients may experience pain, which usually resolves in a few days and can be minimized with painkillers prescribed by the doctor.
In general, 3-4 cm is considered to be the safe cutoff for lumpectomy in medium to large breasts.
Radiation therapy is painless. You may feel some discomfort from lying in the required position, but this is generally short-lived. After the session, you're free to go about your regular activities. Take any self-care steps at home that your doctor or nurse recommends, such as taking care of your skin.
Radiation after Lumpectomy
A course of radiation starts between six and 12 weeks after lumpectomy surgery. Most frequently, we target the entire breast (whole-breast radiation). In some cases, we also treat nearby lymph nodes.
Women who have tumors less than 2 cm across often undergo lumpectomy. For women with larger tumors, however, there was previously little evidence that breast-conserving surgery offered long-term benefits, according to the team of researchers led by Dr Harry Bartelink of the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam.
Lumpectomy (also called breast-conserving surgery, partial mastectomy or wide excision) is often done under general anesthesia. This means you're asleep during the surgery. In some cases, local anesthesia with sedation, or regional anesthesia may be used.
Your breast may look different after a lumpectomy. You may have a small scar or dimpled skin where the tumor was removed. Or the shape of your breast may change. If you're concerned surgery will affect your breast size or symmetry, talk to your doctor before your lumpectomy.
A lumpectomy is usually performed as an outpatient procedure in a surgery center. Usually, an overnight stay in a hospital isn't necessary, and most patients resume regular daily activities within two weeks.
For more invasive surgeries, you may need to sleep in your bra for up to two weeks. While wearing a bra can feel uncomfortable, this step protects the breast and surgical site to ensure a smoother lumpectomy recovery time.
Fabrics should be soft and breathable since your skin may be sensitive, especially at the surgical site. Special recovery robes, jackets and loungewear items often come with pockets sewn into the top to hold surgical drains. You can even find “brobes,” a bra-and-robe combination, with pockets for drains.
You may feel tired after surgery. This can be due to the stress on your body, any pain after surgery and the time it takes to heal. Having a general anaesthetic can also affect your energy levels. If you had treatment before surgery such as chemotherapy or targeted therapies you may still be feeling tired from this.
Most women can go home the same day after lumpectomy. For a mastectomy, you may go home the same day or stay for 1 or 2 nights, depending on the type of surgery. If you have immediate reconstruction, you will stay longer.