Topic: If you have just been diagnosed....

Jeannie

your doc is right-- you really need the pathology after the surgery to tell you things like stage/grade---they can estimate it before surgery, but really it is more accurate once the pathologist has reviewed the slides.... you might be able to ask her what she thinks (mine said "this is early and it  appears that there is no node involvement ) and she was right, but the pathology report after the surgery is really the last word and the information that they base decisions on.  definitely ask for the oncotype dx test--- they can do that on invasive tumors and it helps make decisions about chemo....

 they can make some comment on the biopsy, but the pathology is the key.  

good luck with your surgery--I had a lumpectomy--the surgery was really easy.....

carole 

kundan, your posts are spam, and I've reported them.

Hi, Syd ~  So sorry that you're at such a frustrating and confusing point in your treatment, but I'm glad that at least the lumpectomy is behind you.  You know, if I was in your situation, I would do two things.  First, I would make an appointment with another surgeon to get 2nd opinion on the close margin.  The answer may lie partly in where the margin was, but it would be good to get another opinion. I would also ask your oncologist for an Oncotype-DX test, which will take about 3 weeks to process, but will analyze tissue from your tumor and give you a numerical score regarding the benefit of chemo to your individual situation.  You can go on the informational section of this website under "Symptoms & Diagnosis" and use the search box on that page to find info' on the Oncotype-DX.

One thing you will find in this journey is that not all doctors will give you the same advice or recommendations, so it's always best to get a second opinion when you have any shred of doubt about what you're being told -- especially if the doctor rendering the opinion seems confused or too casual about your exact pathology, which is kind of what I'm hearing in your story.

And don't worry about chemo if you need it.  No one ever wants to do chemo, but we all get through it, and there are great wigs available now.  (I'm wearing one in my avatar.)  Not doing chemo IF you need it would be foolish IF it can significantly reduce your risk of a reoccurence.  But the Oncotype-DX will give you those answers.

Take care, and keep us posted on your situation!    Deanna 

Syd ~  There are many women here who know exactly what you are going through and will be wonderful support for you.  You'll see as you navigate around this site, how much information and how many separate threads there are for women in different phases of treatment.  You never need to feel alone with the wonderful, caring community of women here!

I've mentioned it before, but for some reason this particular thread doesn't get a lot of attention from anyone other than very newly diagnosed women, so often doesn't provide the support other threads do, because most women posting here are new and still somewhat shell-shocked themselves!  So you may need to branch out to post specific questions and/or join threads that relate to your situation, whether that's surgery or chemo or radiation or whatever treatment step you're facing.  Also, when you first join BCO, you are limited to 5 posts within 24 hrs., so be sure to use them judisciously to avoid being shut out for 24 hrs, which can be very frustrating.

Take care, and let us know how that appt goes ~ Deanna

Thank you girls. You cant  imagine how much I appreciate your replies. Mary, as I saw on your profile ur diagnosis is very much like mine. Can you tell me, how it has being for you?

My mother has just been diagonised for duct carcinoma.Her FNAC report is as follows-----

"Smears show malignant epithelial cells aranged in clusters,acini or discretely.The cells show mild to moderate pleomorphism with nucleomegaly,nuclear hyperchromasia and scanty cytoplasm"

Can somone tell me how seroius is it?I am mentally shattered.Please help!

Hi, Renee ~  I'm so sorry about your diagnosis.  As far as what to ask, are you seeing a surgeon tomorrow, or your regular primary doctor?  If primary doctor, then by all means ask how soon you will be referred to a breast surgeon.  And do try to get a breast surgeon/specialist -- not just a general surgeon.  If you are already seeing a surgeon tomorrow, be sure to ask what kind of bc you have, and for a copy of your pathology report.  That way, we can help you with future treatment decisions.  Oh, and be sure someone goes with you tomorrow.  We all tend to tune out shortly into the conversation about bc -- like they're talking about someone else.  It's hard to wrap your head around at first, so having someone with you to listen and remind you later of exactly what was said is very helpful.  So sorry you're here, but glad you've found us, and please let us know how it goes.     Deanna

Hi Linda...I am also very new to this and can't offer too much other than I know how you feel.  Time has been really distorted for me...I had a mammogarm and ultrasound and the next day I was scheduled to see a surgeon.  He did a core biopsy in the office...results were OK but since my scans were so suspcious I was scheduled for a 2nd US guided biopsy in which the results came back positive for IDC.  I just got my results over the phone on Friday. 

One of the things that has helped me adjust was that every day I came on here and educated myself on the chance it actually was cancer.  When the nurse rattled off my type and hormone receptors I had some clue what she was saying.  Some days I was overwhelmed so would just check a bit at a time.

 Start keeping a notebook and writing things down and take the advice of the people on this board  who have been thru it.  This probably isn't much help but I could relate to your post because I was just there.  Please take care of yourself also and don't let your mind run too far ahead at this point!  My BP went up, I was getting headaches, I finally realized if I just take it a piece at a time it is a bit easier. 

 Let us know what your results are.

Wendy

Linda - I had DCIS.  If you have DCIS, it is a very early stage of breast cancer.  When I was dx, I did a LOT of research and got a couple opinions.  The good thing about DCIS is usually you have a little time to get answers.  My diagnosis was June 17th and my surgery (bilateral mastectomy) was August 12th.  Ask LOTS of questions and make sure you're see the proper specialists.  I didn't get this wire guided procedure.  I did a ultrasound guided biopsy (actually 2 of them). 

Good luck and keep us posted!

Linda - good luck!!!!!!!  :)

Hi everyone, I just joined the site. Found a lump a few weeks ago that suddenly appeared and was golf ball size. Had all the testing and it is Cancer per biopsy. I just found out today and the doctor told me per phone call. I'll be seeing her monday and go from there. I know little at this point except she said it was invasive, fast growing.

It has already grown sunstainally in the week I waited to see the doctor at the breast center after ultrasound and mamogram, I even told the doctor while she was doing the needle biopsy procedure, how I almost felt it growing... she said I was right, its a very fast growing cancer.

so...

I'm scared I guess, mostly from not knowing what to expect and fear of pain. Glad to find the forum where I can get more info. I'll know more Monday after seeing the doctor as to the specifics of my lab reports.

Thanks.

I have been looking at the section of this site. Guess monday I'll know more as I have no idea what stage or if my breast cancer has gone outside the milk duct

( she said I had invasive cancer of the milk duct, a fast growing cancer, which may explain how it got sooo big, so fast as its golf ball size or larger.... and I am one who checks my breasts monthly).

 which is now the big question if the cancer has moved into my body and to what extent and what will need to be done to kill the cancer cells. I hope I do not have to have a masectomy. The doctor already said I will need chemo and radiation... so I hope not the masectomy too, but will gladly trade my breast for my life !

I am glad I have a good husband and also good health insurance which will certainly help.

Since my lump is so large, I am fearful my prognosis will not be very good :( and that it may have already grown beyond the milk duct into my lympathic system.

Ugh......... This is all pretty shocking. I feel in shock.

Its good to find a site like this and there is so much info ! I am thankful for that

A mastecomy !!! that is just unbeliveable, that I may end up with one and in just a few days ! OMG, I just can't believe how fast things in life can turn around. Last weekend I was thinking about what kind of soup would be good to make and this weekend ... a mastetomy ... a very real and probable possibility according to the surgeon.

Surgeons reply to my asking if it looks like I will have to have one:

Most likely !...................... wow !

shesh... I think I need a drink.

The more I read the more worried I get as my tumor is far greater than 5cm, so that means I am a stage 3 or 4, not a 1 or 2, that is obvious...

It is the size of a small upple, up from ping pong ball size and seems to be growing a fingerbreath a week, as I have noted in the weeks waiting to get a diagnosis.

do I already have metastisis and node involvement?

UGHHHHHHHHHHH

It's all so sur-real, like a nightmare I want to wake up from.

We are not going to call family until next week after more test results come in. This is so sad as I finally got my life together and have a wonderful life... and it's going to be cut short.

Here is an article I read and it makes me wish I would have gotten my ovaries removed when I had my hysterecomy... as I never would have taken HRT. I could have maybe avoided this.

( sorry it won't post) but it says that women with non functioning ovaries and not on HRT do not get breast cancer, that BC is a hormonal thing. I was doing some progestin cream for a month or two...over the counter type in hopes of relieving hot flashes but stopped because it seemed to make my hot flashes worse.. I think that set my cancer off and got it in motion.

I was thinking I was hot flashing from menapause, and it could have been an early sign of cancerous chages in my body.

I believe I have ovary involvement as It's very painful in my ovary area. I guess the doc will check that out monday.

Everything I read... says things are not going to work out well for me... and the doctor said we MUST ACT FAST.. so I am just floored how fast this has all happened.

Thanks for the reassurance I'm not losing my mind DBL. It is good to know I am not only alone but others have reacted as I am.

As far as my surgeon, she is with a large and well noted breast cancer center in my area, an office that has been in practice over a decade, she used to be chief of surgery at a HUGE hospital as I googled her. She had 8 comments from patients, all good.

Yesterday I called an old friend ( she is literally old, near 80) who has BC, she has had it 6 years ( she did not have node involevement) she had a masectomy many years ago and I find she had her other breast removed this year !!! It has also travelled to her lungs now. She has had high dose and low dose raditation and many, many rounds of chemo she told me. She told me details of her experiences with all of it, losing her hair, to the actual chemo procudure, how it felt to have one breast. She said she has lost all her hair 3x.

She did make me feel much more hopeful about my DX, I feel I have some hope and not the "get your affairs in oprder now" panic I fisr felt when told I had BC.

The thing is, she is so old, so weak... and so much tougher ( always was) than anyone I had ever know, I can only hope I can be that strong. She said ATTITUDE was important, not not give in and take to the bed, start moping around and there will still be good days where I will want to go to lunch and this will all make each day more precious.

She is going on 6 years now after first finding her BC, although from what she tells, me... it is very bad for her now due to severe weakness and not being able to breath well. I do not know if she will be around much longer.

I see so many women write here on the site, the success they are having, EVEN THOSE WHO HAD STAGE 4 BC... and that forum thread was nice to read. (I thank everyone for sharing)

My panic mode is a little less today, I actually slept a good 6 hours although hands are trembling uncomtroably. It broke my heart yesterday to see my  husband crying :( and telling me how much he loves me... and how our time together has been so good... how we may not have much more time together, how he hates that he can't quit his job and just share each day with me.

Although I'm 50, we have not been married that long you see.

So I am dealing with this all emotionally right now. I'm sure next week it will change to physical concerns because I fear a radical masectomy, I fear to be told I have lymph node involment and it has travelled... as I have bad pain over one of my ovaries ( I only have one ovary) and I fear I am FULL OF CANCER in all my organs to feel this pain in the ovary area. ugh...

My husband is still sleeping and I'm up and the house is quiet. I have been crying this morning trying to pinpoint the exact feelings I'm having and there are so many. Fear of life altering physical changes preventing me from my regular activites of daily living, fear of severe pain, fear of becoming a huge burden on others, mostly my husband... fear of the unknown. I guess my crying is just fear... and terror.

I guess this will pass.

Was thinking worst case senerio, even then... I would have at least a few months, so there will still be one more christmas, I will still maybe see one more birthday, I will still have hundreds more days with my new husband.

:) I will never have to worry about painting the house again, rising cost of insurance rates, food and gas ;).. so there is a silver lining, in even the worst of cases I guess.

I will just have to accept I may not continue to be the highly active and physically strong person I always was. My mental toughness I guess is what is going to be challenged now.

hmmm.

I guess its all just soaking in now. My breast lump is quite large, each week in waiting on all these tests, growing a fingerbreath, not only can I feel it growing, it has sharp pains at times. I honestly thought it was a cyst. To hear it was cancer JUST shocked me. I barley knew what to ask the doctor as I was so stunned !

not a cyst? cancer ?????????????????? whatttttttttt ?

It helps so much to know I am not alone. I enjoy survivors stories on the site. It is most hopeful to read. Thanks all for sharing, and thanks for letting me vent my feelings.

and thanks agin dbl. I feel this surgeon is a good one, she was also reffered to me by my primary doctor who knows her personally and said she is awesome. Her resume sounds awesome and the surgeon ( a woman) is very down to earth and plain spoken. She is the one who did my biopsy and I feel comfortable with her. She is one of several doctors in this breast cancer center, all women...that has been open about 10 years ( or more) with her being on eof the docs working there.... and the surgeon herself has 31 years medical as a doctor, about 5 as chief of surgery in one of the biggest area hospitals and also the military !!!  It sounds like she is a good and experienced doctor.  

YES SHE IS A BREAST SURGEON !!!

On monday I will get my lab report and know more, and hopefully be more rational than emotional by then.

BUT PLEASE CONTINUE to make suggestions as I am not aware of whats next and even what to ask, so please keep on making suggestions !

Do you really think a second opinion should be considered? ??????? really?

why?

I live in a HUGE metropolitian area with many cancer centers, although most not specifically breast cancer centers, so you think another biopsy and surgeons opinion would help? or just delay and waste time?

???

bf & crs319 ~ All I can say is, you will get through this!  It is probably not the death sentence you are both fearing it is, but I know exactly where you're coming from.  I, too, had very similar thoughts in the beginning, and until you have more complete information and more interaction with a team of doctors who can assure you that you will be okay after treatment, it's very normal to "go there" with our thoughts.  And it's also very normal to suddenly feel that every little twinge and ache must be cancer, when, in all likelihood, they are just normal twinges and aches and have absolutely nothing to do with the lesion in your breast and are no indication whatsoever that you have cancer anywhere else.  Also, many of us have Grade 3 or "fast growing" bc.  That alone is not a unique or dismal prognosis by any means!   It just means that your treatment will have to be more aggressive than a woman whose bc is Grade 1.

bf, what you shared about your husband (we use the abbreviation DH for dear husband here) is one of the hidden blessings of getting this kind of diagnosis (dx).  You find out how much you really mean to the people who love you. 

And crs319, I'm so sorry about your relationship.  But as tough as what happened must be for you at the moment, from my more distant perspective, I think it's probably a blessing and will make room in your life for a real man to fill.  And pleeeeze... none of that talk about never seeing grandchildren!  From what I can see from your stats, you have a very treatable lesion and should be fine when you have finished treatment.  And it sounds like you have two wonderful children to encourage and support you, as well as the women here.   Deanna