New 'seed' therapy helps pinpoint breast tumors with mor...(ive days before surgery any time of day ...),Health

For patient Joan Hollers, 58, the pre-operative procedure was quick, easy and painless, she said.

After a mammogram had detected a suspicious mass in her left breast, Ms. Hollers consulted with Dr. Rao who decided on the seed procedure.

Dr. Ulissey numbed Ms. Hollers breast before inserting the radioactive seed, which gives off less radiation than the amount emitted by a standard X-ray.

I felt the prick of what felt to me like a tiny needle, said Ms. Hollers. I went home with a small Band-Aid and went to work the next day. Several days later, the Rowlett resident returned to the hospital so that Dr. Rao could remove the suspicious mass.

While the mass in the left breast has been eliminated, Ms. Hollers will undergo chemotherapy for a cancerous tumor that was found in her right breast and cant be surgically removed until the therapy is complete.

Despite the surgery and long road ahead, Ms. Hollers is optimistic.

When I got the news that I didnt have cancer anywhere else in my body I told myself, Im not dying from this disease, said Ms. Hollers, a mother of three grown children and grandmother to eight grandchildren.

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