Medically reviewed by
Dr. Donny Huynh
McLeod Oncology & Hematology Seacoast

For a woman, finding a breast lump is never good news – especially so during this coronavirus pandemic. McLeod Cancer Specialist Dr. Donny Hyunh describes how he and his team can help.

Here are the highlights of Dr. Huynh’s remarks:
During this COVID-19 pandemic, women should maintain a normal healthy lifestyle that includes refrain from smoking, moderate alcohol consumption and continue with a daily routine exercise.
 
If a woman finds a lump during the COVID-19 pandemic, self-awareness is very important, such as what kind of symptoms that may be associated with that lump? If the lump is causing a lot of pain, swelling or redness, she should seek immediate attention and talk to her doctor, which can be done be done through video conferencing or in person. If a patient has a lump but no symptoms, she can still call her doctor.  We can certainly schedule her for appropriate diagnostic mammography or biopsy.
 
For women with a history of breast cancer, there are certain well-breast health visits that can be delayed until after the pandemic. For women scheduled for routine mammography or ultrasound, those tests can also be scheduled for a point after the pandemic. For such routine mammography a delay between six to 12 month has no negative impact on the overall survival or outcome.

There are some instances where one might be concerned about that. For example, after surgery, if a woman starts to see swelling, redness, or pain over the surgical site, she should be concerned regarding infection, breast abscess and, possible, hematoma. Fortunately, for patients with breast cancer, an emergency or life threatening condition is quite rare.
 
Many different practices, including our own, have taken the step to utilize visits via telephone or video conferences to continue providing care for our patients while they don’t have to leave home.
 
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