Canada IDC and me ( or what's left of my mental health)

gladis

Thank you So MUCH for being here. I come here for hours and read all of the most courageous posts -it's very helpful and may

be the only glue holding my sanity together.

My brain is like a giant bag of pop rocks. LOL

I've known about the Lump since...January,-it was palpable. :-( (RIGHT THERE)

It was Feb before I could get seen for a referral.

Then , March before I could get a needle biopsy .

The results came through on the 23'd of this month.

IDC, HR+, HER (-) and 1.5cm in my left breast and "Possible surgery" (back logged/Pandemic)

is Mid May Maybe.

What day does your BC decide to 'take a walk'?

I live FAR (Ferry 1 hr each way plus a 40 mins drive) from Radiation Therapy (and the hospital)

I'm thinking -just take em both, now ...please.

Thank you for listening out there....you are ALL way braver than me.

moth

hi gladis, welcome but sorry you find yourself here. I'm near Vancouver so I'm guessing we're distant neighbors.

So what you need to know is that a prophylactic mastectomy doesnt lower the risk of a metastatic recurrence. A lumpectomy is a much easier day surgery with a substantially faster recovery and lower risk of complications so if it's being offered, you may want to take that into consideration. You should know too that if you have a mastectomy and during it they find cancerous tissue in your lymph nodes, you'd need radiation anyway.

Chemo shouldn't be off the table unless you have comorbidities that exclude it. Normally you'd have something called the Oncotype test done in your tumor sample to determine the benefit of chemo.

Surgeons have differing backlogs - depending on what surgeon you select, you might be able to get your surgery sooner.

Radiation can sometimes be done on a shorter, higher dose schedule & the cancer agency can also sometimes help with temporary accommodations near the treatment center.

Hang in there, it get easier once the treatment plan is decided on.

gladis

Thank you Moth (air hug!)

(I read your posts all the time)

This was the surgeon my family doctor recommended.I'm not sure how to change him.

I practically begged for a surgery date (May 9) and spent hours on the phone with Van Health

Honestly, I never want to ever go through this again, elongated waiting is tearing my heart and family to pieces.

I've heard of Oncotype , would I have had to ask for this before the needle biopsy was done? (Is it too late?)

I moved from Kerrisdale about a year ago and live on the SSC!

Hi Neighbour! :-D

moth

After the surgery you'll be referred to the BC Cancer Agency & meet with an oncologist and then they will decide about ordering the Oncotype test. If they order it, the sample has to go to the US for testing & that adds its own delay so be prepared for that. There's a lot of hurry up and wait ... but it's ok, in most cases breast cancer is urgent but it's not an emergency. There's time to get all the info & data & make evidence based decisions.

You can change surgeons anytime (well, until you're in the OR lol) but you'd need an new visit & then scheduling which would probably put you back in the 3+ weeks which would put you pretty close to where you are now. But for future reference - like if you need a hip done or a gallbladder or whatever - you can check all surgical wait times in BC, call the surgeon's office directly to confirm if they have surgical space avail (they need OR space in whatever facility they work out of) and then ask your GP to refer to them. https://swt.hlth.gov.bc.ca/swt/

ttfn

gladis

Thank you Moth, I have looked at wait times on the site, called the Victoria office and more (and after listening to Adrian Dix laugh)

I've been expecting a call from the surgeon this week, alas ...nothing.

BUT, I did find out that my primary

may not have sent the biopsy results :-

( until this morning when I asked.

Sigh,

and again THANK YOU!!!

Have a beautiful weekend~

gladis

Hi wrenn,

I remember when I read your post from way back when and CHECKED (by searching for you in the member names)

to make sure you were still okay.

(Side note:Pls know, I'm not a stalker just shy of posting personal stuff but desperately trying to connect to what's happening and these threads are the fabric of my life right now. I moved here pre -pandemic leaving family, kids, grands, and all when my husband got a terrific opp at UBC. We know NO one here. UGH!!)

Also, "Wrenn"/Renn is the name of my favorite character in my fave author Margaret Attwood's "Year of the Flood"

She says "I'm really lucky" when her life is saved by being in quarantine and isolated during the waterless flood/pandemic. (Cool)

SSC is the Sunshine Coast (Gibsons)

My pups and I adored Kits the year we stayed there and went to the beach with the other pups (good times)

I'll check out the link you mentioned, so thank you for that too.

This forum is very special-thanks for your concern and time~

really.

elderberry

Hi, Gladis: welcome to the club for which no one wants to be a member but we will all be team players and support each other. This place was my lifeboat when I fell overboard. I hope the site gets back to its original user friendly status.

I remember some BCO member(s) living on the Sunshine Coast. If you go to British Columbians (can't remember the whole thread name) you might find that person. Cancer is isolating enough without being far away from most everything. It is okay to be a lurker. I sill do that when I decide not to post anything for myself. It goes against my grain but I have discovered you really have to be the proverbial squeaky wheel and be an advocate for yourself.

gladis

Thank you Elderberry (the very tea in my hand) :-D

I'm listening , learning and lurking and ..

.thanks, I'm also still (trying) learning to self-advocate

(w/out pissing

people off by accident!!)

There are some 'vexing' bumps with the login to post a reply...

hugs for taking the effort. I appreciate the welcome to this harsh journey .

gladis

Ha, I didn't realize that there was an update after 2011 intro- I thought it was defunct.

Cool beans!

Ooh, I was going to name my daughter her middle name (Kashmir) and I'm pretty sure she is glad I didn't. ;-D

Wrenn, that's just ...beautiful. I wouldn't of thought of that, good on you Mom :-)