Pune: A 40 year old woman with a slow-growing tumour in her right breast underwent a surgery in a city based hospital. Fortunately, the tumour was non-cancerous She has been postponing a regular check up for almost three years due to domestic issues. But because of the delay, the tumor increased to two kilograms. The patient was suffering with severe pain in her neck’s right side and was suffering from a drooping right shoulder.
Talking about the patient, Dr Anupama Mane, Breast surgeon from Jehangir hospital said the patient was in severe pain in as the right breast had become very heavy.
“We did her mammography, sonography and core biopsy. Cosmetically also her size discrepancy was obviously obvious. The weight was so much that the patient had drooping shoulders and severe pain in neck. The patient’s standing position was also inclined towards the right,” said Mane.
She further added that the patient was lucky as the tumor was non-cancerous.
“We had to operate and remove the tumor. Luckily, the tumor was non-cancerous so it did not spread. Had the tumor been cancerous, saving the patient would have been a very tricky job. The challenge was to remove the tumour and reshape the breast to give a good cosmetic outcome. Only removal of the tumour would not have helped since the breast had been distorted by the tumour. With the new technique of oncoplastic surgery, the tumour was carefully removed and the nipple areola raised to the correct level and the breast tissue was reshaped,” said Mane.
The patient was a homemaker and has two children. The patient had felt the lump in her breast three years back. However, she kept delaying visiting a doctor which resulted in the tumour growing to two kilograms.
“The patient confessed that as she was mother of two and her husband is continuously out of the station, she delayed visiting the doctor. Every day I come across at least one such woman patient who keeps her health as the last priority. This delays the treatment many times. Especially in case of cancer, it deteriorates the patient’s health,” said Dr Mane.
She further added that women often forget that if they do not give priority to their health they will not be able to take care of their family as well.
