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A diagnosis of breast cancer is a life-changing moment for more than 3000 New Zealand women every year.
If you have just been diagnosed, you will be on an emotional roller coaster and you're probably feeling quite overwhelmed.
We hope we can help - by helping you to understand breast cancer and providing you with information that will assist you to make the best decisions about your treatment and care. Below you'll find some tips on coping with a new diagnosis.
Unfortunately, side effects are part-and-parcel of any treatment for breast cancer. Be sure to tell your medical team about any side-effects you experience because there are often steps that can be taken to dramatically reduce the impact of these.
Below are some of the more common side-effects associated with breast cancer surgery and some tips on how to deal with them.
If you’ve had a mastectomy you will probably have spent one to three days in hospital. If you have had breast reconstruction or complications, your hospital stay is likely to be longer.
Immediately after surgery:
Waking up from a general anaesthetic, you are likely to feel groggy and possibly confused, but this soon wears off.
You will usually have some numbness in the chest, armpit or upper arm area. This may be the result of reactive swelling in the surrounding tissue putting pressure on the nerves or nerve damage during surgery. You may also feel some odd sensations in these areas – burning, tingling, itching etc. Tell your doctor about any side effects of surgery.
The Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition (BCAC) does not support the use of thermography as a breast cancer screening or diagnostic tool as we believe there is insufficient evidence of its effectiveness. We continue to recommend screening and diagnostic mammograms for the early detection and treatment of breast cancer in New Zealand.
The following detailed information on thermography was presented in the recent position statement jointly written by New Zealand’s National Screening Unit (NSU), the Cancer Society of New Zealand and the Breast Cancer Foundation New Zealand, entitled ‘The use of thermography as a breast cancer screening or diagnostic tool’.
BCAC recommends all women aged between 45 and 69 participate in the BreastScreen Aotearoa free screening programme. Under this programme, you are entitled to a free mammogram every two years. If you are younger than 45 or older than 69 you can ask your doctor to refer you to a private radiologist. You will have to pay for your mammogram.
BreastScreen Aotearoa
MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, is able to produce a detailed cross-sectional image of the inside of the body. It does this using a combination of a magnetic field and radio waves. There is no radiation involved.
It is most often used:
- to gather more information about an area of suspicion. A breast MRI can help to accurately identify the size and number of breast lesions or abnormal areas
- for women with a strong family history of breast cancer
- to monitor for recurrence after treatment for breast cancer.
Ultrasounds are frequently used to complement other screening tests.
They are most often used if an abnormality is seen on a mammogram. In cases such as this, an ultrasound can help to provide further information about the nature of a lump or an area of concern.
Ultrasounds are also more frequently used on younger women who have denser breast tissue. Ultrasounds can be more sensitive in picking up abnormalities in dense tissue than a mammogram can.
Ultrasounds are frequently used to complement other screening tests.
They are most often used if an abnormality is seen on a mammogram. In cases such as this, an ultrasound can help to provide further information about the nature of a lump or an area of concern.
Ultrasounds are also more frequently used on younger women who have denser breast tissue. Ultrasounds can be more sensitive in picking up abnormalities in dense tissue than a mammogram can.
A mammogram is essentially a low dose x-ray which gives a photograph of the breast that doctors can use to identify any abnormalities.
Mammograms are used as:
