Seed Placement

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Two days before my surgery I was back at the imaging center for my “seed placement” and an ultrasound of the left axillary area. As I described in a previous post, seed placement is also known as radioactive seed localization (RSL). It is a technique used in breast surgery to pinpoint the exact location of a tumor. The seed (about the size of a sesame seed) helps the surgeon precisely locate and remove the tumor and minimizes the removal of healthy tissue.  

The radiologist used an ultrasound to insert the seed in the right breast. Because of the challenges in locating the tumor in the left breast, a mammogram guided placement was used in that breast. Essentially, I sat in a high platform chair and was wheeled up to the mammogram machine while the radiologist located the tumor and then inserted the seed via a thin needle. There were three ultrasound techs, the radiologist and me in the room—it felt like a crowd, but everyone seemed to have a job to do.  

Next, one of the technicians did the scan on my left axillary area. Thankfully, the imaging on the left side indicated normal lymph nodes. Before leaving, Rex from nuclear medicine stopped by with a handheld radioactivity device to ensure the newly implanted seeds were emitting a signal.  

I left this appointment in much better spirits than the last time I was at the imaging center. The radiologist met with me before the procedure unlike the last time and communicated the same concerns that my oncologist and surgeon had, so I knew we were all on the same page this time.  

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