Coltsneck

Hey Jorf,

Sorry that you have to go through this anxiety for the next 2 weeks.  Although words are of little comfort, please don't jump to conclusions that may not apply. Remember - there are other things that go wrong in the breast besides cancer and your doctors are being ultra-cautious because of your history.

I'll be thinking of you and sending good wishes your way in hopes that your results will be benign.

Also, before you go in for the biopsy, call the doctor and let him know that you would like to have at least the preliminary reading on Friday.  They can do that and even though it is not the official report you can get some idea of the findings.  Good luck!

Maureen

There's a very interesting book called "The God Delusion" and it is both insightful and encouraging to those who do not believe in God.  He covers many aspects of belief in God and he refers to aetheists as the new homosexuals - meaning that there are many aetheists in this country - far more that we realize - but they are compelled to stay in the closet for fear of being ostracized by the 'religious' folks.

 I don't believe in God - a fact that I tried to deny for many years.  But now I am at peace with that realization despite having been brainwashed through 12 years of Catholic school.

The oncotype test predicts your likelihood of DISTANT recurrence - the type that has a much higher mortality rate than local (same breast) recurrence.  I had Stage 1, grade 3, neg nodes, ER/PR + and an oncotype score of 15 (10% chance of distant recurrence). My onc gave me 'chemo light' - 4 treatments of A/C instead of 8. Then I had 33 rad treatments and now am on Arimidex. 

My attitude is better safe than sorry - I wanted to make sure I did everything I could to minimize the chance of recurrence.  Whatever decision you make, just ask yourself how you think you will feel down the road if you bypass chemo and have a recurrence.  Will you regret your decision? If so, then go with the chemo.  If the worst thing happens, at least you will know you took advantage of everything out there to fight off this terrible disease.

Good luck with your decision.

The only reason people want you to stay positive is so that you don't cry all over them and make them uncomfortable.  I've said, on occasion, "I am positive - positively mad and depressed and so would you be if you had to deal with this mess".  It takes people back but when they use such trite expressions you just want to scream at them.

Please have her see a doctor immediately.  I had a biopsy in 2001 and everything turned out negative.  5 years later (and after not having a mammo for 3 years) I found a small hard area in the scar tissue.  I had mammo and ultrasound - both were negative.  The radiologist was sure it was just scar tissue. However, he said that I should have a biopsy, because even though he was 99% certain there was nothing there, the fact that I could feel a change warranted further investigation. It turned out that there was a cancer in the scar tissue (Stage 1, neg lymph nodes).

Please don't hesitate to have it checked out.  It will likely be negative but better to be safe than sorry.

Good luck to your Mom.

Maureen

MRI is an important new tool in diagnosing breast cancer. However, like mammography, it is not fool proof and has a high rate of false positives, causing women to undergo further unnecessary testing. I wouldn't dismiss the benefit of mammography (even though it did not detect my breast cancer) but I would add that an MRI should be the standard supplement to a mammography.  We need both of them. 

My recent mammography found an enlarged duct which they 'believe to be benign'.  My surgeon suggested an MRI but my insurance company denied it as 'medically unnecessary'.  I am going for another mammo next month and will once again try for an MRI.  If I am denied, I am going to wait until January when I will enroll in my company's Flexible Spending Account.  That way, even though I will have to pay for it, it will be with pre-tax dollars. It's a lot of money, but better safe than sorry. 

The way I look at it, it may cost me $1500, which is about 1/2 of what it costs to take a 2 week vacation somewhere.  If I skip one vacation, hopefully it will mean that I'll be around for lot more because of better detection. In the meantime I will continue to fight my insurance company, QUALCARE, who really does not care.

KDholt

Thanks Amber, it is so hard to know what to do. Nothing is going to be 100%. I am already on tamoxifen(7 weeks) and so far so good. I also have already begun rads(1 week down 6 more to go). My onco told me my cancer was clinically not very aggressive and technically the tumor size kicks me out of chemo. I don't understand why he is pushing for the onco dx test except that he told me I'd be the first patient of his to ever have it done. I asked my onco radiologist if he thought I should consider chemo and he said no.

so I don't know how far i should push to have the test

kd - the value of the oncotype is that it calculates the risk of DISTANT recurrence (not a recurrence in the breast).  Distant recurrence is basically metastesis so it is important to know if you fall into the high risk category. If the risk is high, you would want to have chemo. It is an important piece of information - not the only piece but an important one - that an oncologist can use in determining the best treatment plan for you.  Also, if the risk score comes back low, it can give you much needed peace of mind about the future (not that we are ever free of concern about the future). 

My insurance company denied payment but the Oncotype people appealed the decision and eventually they paid.  Even if they didn't (the test is about $3,000) I would have had it done anyway and paid the bill over time.

To the original poster:  You tumor was a significant size (3.1 cm), Stage II,  so you have to be more aggressive in your treatment plan. I was stage I, no lymph node involvement, but had aggressive cells (grade 3).  I chose lumpectomy followed by 4 rounds of chemo and 33 radiation treatments. Now I'm on Arimidex daily.  Everyone has a different viewpoint on their health and lifestyle so you have to make your own decision. For me, it was important to do anything I could to minimize the chance of recurrence. Chemo was no fun, but it is doable and if I was faced with the same situation once more, I would make the same choices.  Good luck.

Mary-Lou
Pulaski, Va
User since: 8 Nov 2005
1330 Comments

Mary-Lou's Comment:

2 Mar 2008 02:25 AM

I just wanted to add,

I believe with all my heart that God walks with me each and every step of my life. I'm not perfect, by all means. And maybe it doesn't matter so much while I'm here on earth.

But I would rather believe in something that may not be real, then not believe and find out to late that it is.

Hell scares me more than any type cancer would by a 1000 times over and then some.

Coltsneck wrote:

With all due respect, Mary-Lou, just because you believe in God doesn't mean he exists.  I think your last sentence reveals more about the origin and continuation of belief in God.  Most religions are fear-based and that is how alot of undesireable behavior is controlled.  I'm glad you have a belief to hold onto and I am not trying to disrespect you with my comments.