Not all of the gland removed?

[Trycer6]

So I had surgery on December 22nd and I'm pleased with the results so far, but one thing I've noticed is that about an inch and a half above my nipple and between my nipple and shoulder there are still hard lumps that I believe to be glandular tissue. They are quite a ways away from the nipple and my chest contour appears to be fine even though they are still there... what are these? Has anyone else had a similar experience? Should I get pissed at the surgeon for not taking out all of the gland?

[headheldhigh01]

are you sure it's not scar tissue?  it's very easy to confuse the two.  but you're right to try to ask questions first before getting pissed, you can always check with the surgeon too.  was it a fairly solid mass there originally, or softer?  usually the only time they leave any in to speak of is if they're trying to prevent a concavity in the surface. 

[Paa_Paw]

Since the lumps are not directly behind the nipple/areola there is not much chance that they are glandular tissue. The very recent date of your surgery makes me think you are being a bit in too much of a hurry.

Be patient, keep your follow-up appointments and allow a little time. It will be a while before you know the true outcome of your surgery.

[MrRossZ28]

I think they have to leave some gland tissue in to support the areola.. You sure its not scare tissue?

[Trycer6]

Yeah it feels distinctly different than the scar tissue - this lump feels kind of fibrous and painful to touch while the scar tissue is mostly like an inert solid mass.

[freefromG]

can you lift your arms above your head? are there any contour probs then? this may explain hard regions away from the nipple itself.

[decimal]

Trycer, it most definitely sounds like scar tissue. It felt exactly like yours - "fibrous and painful" too touch. I applied very tight compression over it. I basically, put in thick wads of cotton between the concerned spots and the compression vest, and within 3 weeks time the lumps subsided drastically.

At this point, since you are relatively very fresh from the surgery, I would advise against raising your arms above your head yet. Most doctors feel that stretching(even minor) the operated tissue while it is still raw only adds to the healing time and takes away from the optimum results. freefromG is definitely right that lifting your arms above your head will help in highlighting any contour issues. But at this stage, it could be too soon. My advise would be to wait it out till about 4 weeks. If there are any permanent contour issues, they will be still there for you to be able to see after 4 weeks, but at least you would not have strained your healing tissues for nothing.

[Trycer6]

Unfortunately, I don't think that my surgeon even noticed this particular lump until I told him about it in one of my post-op appointments  , which makes me fairly pissed off. Besides this lump, my surgery looks great. However, I had a problem a couple of years ago where a bunch of my lymph nodes got really swollen for no particular reason and stayed swollen until they were surgically excised... and this lump feels just like those lymph nodes. Moreover, I found on a lymph node diagram that there is a lymph node exactly where my swollen lump is. I'm a little worried it might be breast cancer because it's REALLY big and somewhat painful, but from what I've read virtually no teenage boys get breast cancer.

[Jan1010]

dude it could be a sist, or an infection.  maybe you need to see a pediatric doctor (if you say you are a teen) and not your surgeon.