Breast Biopsy results
says Invasive carcinoma, Ductal with mucinous features, Low grade, 1 of 3, Mitotic rate: low, Lymph-vascular invasion: not identified, DCIS absent, Additional findings: not identified. Pending still; ER/PR, HER2, Ki-67.
My PCP will get the results on Monday 5/11/26 (it’s Saturday). PCP is Multicare in Olympia WA. As of Sunday 5/10/26 Multicare is no longer in network with my Regence PPO. I’m assuming my PCP would want to refer me within the Multicare network.
How do I find a breast cancer specialist in the Olympia/Tacoma/Seattle Washington area that is in network with my insurance? What type of dr will I need? Breast surgeon/oncologist?
I’m scared. I’m 44 years old with a 19 year old and a 4 year old…
Comments
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Hi @kycancer
Sorry that you have had to join this not so exclusive club, but glad that you have found us.
First, take a deep breath. Take things one step at a time. Breast cancer is often very treatable if it's found early.
Sorry that you are in the midst of changing insurance….that's always a pain. Hopefully, your PCP will still call with the results and at that time make a recommendation on a surgeon or oncologist. At that point, you would need to make sure they are valid with your insurance. To be proactive, often you can go online to your insurer and they will provide a search feature that allows you to find specialists that will take your insurance. If you have difficulty finding this, usually on the back of your insurance card is a customer service number that you can call. They could likely help you find a surgeon.
Often the next step is to talk to a surgeon. However, if the tumor is very large, sometimes an oncologist will want to treat it first to attempt to make it smaller. In both of my dx, the surgeon was the next step, so I would start with that assumption. My 'guess' would be the surgeon would be knowledgeable enough to point you to an oncologist if they thought that would be needed first.
Being dxd is frightening. I was 47 at my 1st dx. I am now 69 and still doing fine. There are many of us that have been down this road. More treatments are being developed all the time. You can do this. Hang in there!
Take care.
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Hi @kycancer and welcome to the community! We're so very sorry for the reasons that bring you here, but we're really glad you've found us. As you can already see, this space is full of helpful folks always willing to lend support - we're all here for you!
You've received some great advice from @mandy23! Here's some more good information for you about what to expect with planning your treatment, who's who on your team, and finding the right doctors for your care:
We hope this helps and we're right next to you the whole way. You've got this! Let us know how else we can help!
—The Mods
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