biopsy completed, lump still there - breast or lymph?

[zanybear]

40 y/r wh female tripe DDD size breasts; no children; family hx: maternal - grandmother calcified lump removed her only sister & niece fibroadenomas with great aunt of my mother's paternal side having had breast cancer with left massectomy; no paternal family hx.

pain left upper quadrant of left breast since Jan. 03; figured maybe pulled muscle but kept hurting. pain varies from sharp darting pain to warm burning pain & constant. saw PCP for annual gyn visit begin of 4/03; PCP found lump in area of pain 2 in. below undearm hairline when sitting with no bra; lump felt oval & hard, mamm & ultra done 5/03. mamm reports size 2 cm x 2cm x ? - my guess marble size; ultra was repeated with me palpating lump so show on ultra.  PCP referred to surgeon; surgeon states report reads atypical & assymetrical. tried to aspirate 3x's nothing. biopsy done 6/19/03. no results back yet(surgeon vacation see on 7/3); sister was told after biopsy 2 oz mass removed that appeared to be "fibroidlike tissue starting to change". upon changing dressing day after biopsy, the lump that had utrasound and attempted FNA is still present, still painful. And now feels like there are 2 lumps beside each other both feel like size of marble.  The incision is 3-4 inches below where lump(s) is located. Is this really a breast lump or possibly a lymph node? Was there another lump found, mistaken for the original lump & removed? Why does it now feel like there are 2? Getting really anxious.

[CCF-RN,MSN-JS]

Dear zanybear, It is very difficult to say what you are now feeling, possibly there is a fluid build up that is being felt as the 2nd lump?  It could also be that you are feeling an enlarged lymphnode, that has increased temporarily after the surgery.  Or if they were only doing a fine needle biopsy and not removing the entire lump, the lump would still be in place.  When you see your surgeon they will be able to answer you about what was actually done and hopefully reassure you that the correct area was evaluated.

[zanybear]

Also, the lump(s) is not cyclical; it does not change size before during after monthly cycle. Pain does not decrease or increase before during after cycle.

[surgeon]

It could be that the wrong area was biopsied; but it's also true that it's very common for the area biopsied to get quite lumpy for a while after surgery. I tell my patients it may feel like the lump wasn't removed for a while, for that reason. It needs followup when that happens.