December 3, 2018
I was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer, a lump the size of 1 cm. Very early stage. Supposed to b a very simple lumpectomy. The surgeon was supposed to take the lump with a little bit of margin. He took out 6 cms, which is a humongous amount of tissue for such a small lump, but still not manage to take out the entire cancer, because he did not take out enough from the correct location, instead took out too much from the wrong location. I already have a second opinion from another doctor, who is going to do my second surgery to remove the remaining cancer. This going to make my one breast much smaller than the other, and was totally unexpected. I was prepared for a removal of around 2 cms, but not 6 cms. If I have any additional cancers, there would not be much left to remove, so I would have to do a mastectomy. I find this very upsetting. How do I make the complaint to the hospital?
Luckily, it was discovered at Stage 1 - most malpractice cases are much, much later than that. The 1st surgeon may have "erred on the side of caution" by removing a margin greater than anticipated - he may also have seen more malignant tissue than originally noted on the radiology image, after the surgical site was opened. Radiology is not 100% accurate, and a judgment call may have been made at the time of surgery. Get a copy of your Operative Report - it should describe the reasons for doing what he did - and discuss this with the 2nd surgeon before bringing it to a lawyer.
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