Back on the merry go round....
I am waiting for biopsy results done yesterday. Had DCIS back in 2016. Treated with lumpectomy and rads. Thought I was done with it. Annual mammo yesterday showed micro calcifications near original scar. Radiologist strongly feels it is DCIS again. Since this isn't the first time on this ride, I know that until the whole thing is out, there is no guarantee it is "only" DCIS even if the biopsy comes back as DCIS. Unless something has changed in the past 6 years, I seem to recall that there is a 20% chance that there can be an invasive component to it. I am having a hard time (again) with this. It took me a long time to recover mentally the first time around. And I have recently been diagnosed with an aortic aneurysm which is being monitored....supposed to keep my blood pressure low....yeah right. It has been through the roof since yesterday.
Since my left breast cannot be radiated again, it will be a mastectomy this time. Terrifies me. I haven't even had a chance to make my peace with the aneurysm and now this too?! Am in a very bad place mentally at the moment.
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I wanted to send you a hug. When I was first diagnosed, I got scheduled for a chest CT as pre-op screening. That found an aortic aneurysm (plus a bonus kidney cancer, lucky me!), so I know how you feel. Are you being followed by a cardiologist or cardio-thoracic surgeon? Make sure they're in the loop on anything like surgery or chemo or new meds.
The cardio-thoracic doctor I saw was kind of an Eeyore on my second annual visit even though It hadn't grown, so now my PCP keeps track and will send me back to him if it gets larger. So far, at almost four years, it's pretty much just sitting there. I had another aneurysm show up on a more recent CT, a little farther down, and my PCP says it's so tiny that it's nothing I need to even think about at this point. Okay, whew. My Dad had an aneurysm (abdominal) that his doctor followed for YEARS (like, 15 or 20) before he needed surgery - which he had when he was 88! I think aneurysms are more common than we think, but they're not found until people start getting scans for something else, or they burst, or they die of other causes. Maybe we're lucky knowing, since we can take certain precautions. I take a tiny pill daily that slows my circulation a bit, besides my regular blood pressure pill, and I'm not supposed to lift over 30 pounds. I'm happy to point and say "Lift that!" or get out of tedious heavy chores. 😃
Good luck and I hope your doctors can coordinate the best care and treatment for you.
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Saw a cardio-thoracic surgeon shortly after aneurysm was found incidentally. Plan was to rescan in 6 months. I felt very comfortable with the surgeon but have the hardest time getting any response if I have a question. I am very frustrated about that. I told my PCP about that issue and he has me being followed by a local cardiologist who always replies in a timely fashion. I left a message for the surgeon regarding possible future mastectomy this morning. I am going to let cardio know as well. The past few months have been so overwhelming....
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I've found that my cardio guy is not good at communicating, but he has a nurse practitioner who explains everything and is super responsive. I'd much rather talk to him, and he is the opposite of Dr. Eeyore.
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The actual surgeon was so easy to talk to. But impossible to talk to. I also like the cardiologist but I would think the surgeon has more direct experience with the aneurysm. So no problems having surgery with the aneurysms? What does yours measure? I had quite a to do about the size of it too with differing readings. Surgeon said 4.5
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Mine shows as 4.2 or 4.3, depending on who's reading the scan. My PCP says it's one of the more inexact parts of medical science, because scans can vary depending on your exact placement on the table, how hydrated you are, the particular radiologist's method of measuring - quite a few factors. I'm not sure if I'll have surgery. It will depend on my age when it's ripe, and what other medical things I have going on. I had my first two cancers in 2008 and my next two in 2018. So I need to see what crap 2028 has planned for me before I think beyond that year. My thinking is kind of fatalistically warped at times.
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