Prior to surgery results vs. after surgery results
Good Morning.
After a routine Mammogram, ultrasound and biopsy, it was confirmed I have stage1 Type 2 invasive Carcinoma non aggressive. The spot that was found was 5mm buried deep in the tissue of my right breast. It was in a place I would never have found it on my own. There is no lump. The ultrasound did not see any limp node involvement. It is ER+PR+ HER2- I am doing a genetic test. My brother has stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer. His genetic test came back negative. I have an appointment with the surgeon on Nov 30th.
one of my biggest fears is that they will find more cancer in my limp nodes during surgery that will change the stage and type. I can’t stop crying! How frequently does the cancer stage and type change after a surgery?
Comments
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Hi @startuptwins , I'm sorry that you have to join us here. While most people end up with surgical pathology similar to their biopsy pathology sometimes there are differences. Even when there are it often doesn't alter the planned treatment much. My tumor turned out to be twice the size it was on imaging and I had one positive lymph node which didn't show up on ultrasound. Before surgery my breast surgeon warned me that my lump felt bigger than it appeared so it wasn't a total surprise. The only treatment change was to add radiation to the nodes. In spite of the difference it is still considered early stage.
Once you have your surgery and a treatment plan to follow things are much easier to deal with. All the best!
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Maggie offers a good perspective on the situation. I had a positive sentinel lymph node turn up and the tumor was a bit larger than imaging showed. I have no data on how common or uncommon this is but for many, as Maggie noted, treatment often remains the same or similar. It is so very hard to wait with these concerns hanging over your head but as my mother used to say, Don’t borrow trouble!” Try to focus on what you know and not what is unknown. Not easy but worth cultivating.
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