First mamogram ever

Pepsijax

After losing my husband 19 months ago to stomach cancer (55) after only a 10
month diagnosis , I was defiantly going to go and have my 50 year old mammogram . Low and behold , I was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer , no lump , nothing . Couldn’t believe it . I just couldn’t believe I was going to have to put my kids through this all
Over again. It was really hard telling them. Fast forward and I decided on radical treatment . Double mastectomy, during which I had sentinel node biopsy and ended up with axillary clearence / one node positive is it of 10. Now I’m considering the treatment plan. My daughter is getting married in 5 weeks so it’s all happening at once . I’m having some genomic test done to see if chemo will benefit me or if hormone therapy alone is going to be enough. Having to wait 2 weeks for this result is hard . Has anyone else has the testing done? 

Sister

Welcome @Pepsijax .  I'm sorry that you're here but pleased you've found us.  I never had the genomic test done as I didn't fall into the "grey" area but I know a number of women here have had it and I'm sure you'll get some responses from them during the morning.  While no-one wants chemo, if you find you need it, it is doable for the majority of us, and for some, it's not a big deal at all.

Pepsijax

Thanks sister. Of course I have to be that grey area ..just my luck .. but  so difficult to make these choices . I will do the chemo if they suggest it . Looking forward to hearing from others 🌸

Sister

Grey's good!!!

arpie

I am SO sorry to hear of both your husband's passing and your diagnosis @Pepsijax

Stomach cancer is a particularly nasty one.  My husband had most of his stomach removed in 2010 - many don't make it to 5 years - he's at 9 years just now - but following the surgery, developed anaphylaxis, diabetes & now dementia!  grrr.

What a bugger - your diagnosis - well done on doing the screening off your own bat & finding it early and doing the hard yards.

I think @kmakm had some sort of gene testing done .... she may be able to answer your questions.

All the best for your daughter's wedding ..... it's been a tough year for your whole family - so good to have something lovely on the horizon to look forward to.  Big hugs coming your way xx

Doesn't the waiting suck?  Good luck on the results.  Even if you do need chemo, I am sure it could wait til after the wedding & celebrations.

take care xxx

kitkatb

Hi @Pepsijax welcome to the forum.  I am so sorry to hear of what you have gone through the last couple of years.  But sounds like you have well and truly taken the bull by the horns with your surgery and upcoming treatment plans.  I haven't had the genomic test but someone will come on shortly who has.  As Arpie has said it must be great having the wedding coming up soon and take your mind off things because the waiting just sucks, hopefully you can organise your treatment for after the celebrations.
If you have any questions at all just fire away as we all get it.  Good luck with everything. xo

kmakm

Hi @Pepsijax. Welcome to the forum and sorry that you're here. I understand all to well the kind of clusterf**k you find yourself in. I was diagnosed with breast cancer 17 months after my sister died from it (click on my @name for a summary of my story). I hear you about telling your family the news. The absolute worst.

Anyway, I had the EndoPredict test. For me it came back as a yes to chemo as I was "clearly in" the range where it where it would have a benefit. Chemo sucked, but for almost everyone it's not the horror show that it once was. I didn't throw up once I'm happy to say. Some people even manage to work through it. Another of our members had the test recently and she didn't have to have chemo as a result.

So hang in there. Try not to cross bridges until you come to them. A wedding is a lovely thing to look forward to! The waiting is truly awful so focus on the good things. One step at a time lovely. K xox

youngdogmum

Hi @Pepsijax
Sorry you’ve joined us, but I’ve found this forum so welcoming and helpful in the last 5 weeks since I was diagnosed.

Something to consider down the track (I know it’s a lot to comprehend right now and the focus should be on your current treatment plan) but this also may help future readers...

Given my young age (27) at diagnosis I was automatically referred to a geneticist. I saw a geneticist last week and they asked about stomach cancer in my family. The fact that your husband died of that and you now have breast cancer may mean your children are higher risk for a mutation called TP53 (or TP54 I can’t 100% recall sorry) 
Anyway, I don’t want this to scare you, but the geneticist said if there’s a family history of both stomach and breast cancer risk is higher for this mutation. 
This is something you could discuss with your team in a few months when things have settled down and see if your children might qualify for testing.

Once again I hope this hasn’t scared you and I am not a geneticist! Just wanted to reiterate what I was told only last week. 

Best of luck with waiting for the results to decide, ask lots of questions here or just post feelings !!! 
 

Brenda5

I didn't have the testing and just had chemo. I didn't know there was a testing option or I might have not had chemo done. Your kids will think its great you got on to the cancer early. At least they will still have their mum for many years to come.

Pepsijax

Thank you so mich everyone for your words of encouragement . And ideas and experiences . I really appreciate listening to all the good advice from a. Variety of survivors . Thank you all xxx

Pepsijax

youngdogmum said:

Hi @Pepsijax
Sorry you’ve joined us, but I’ve found this forum so welcoming and helpful in the last 5 weeks since I was diagnosed.

Something to consider down the track (I know it’s a lot to comprehend right now and the focus should be on your current treatment plan) but this also may help future readers...

Given my young age (27) at diagnosis I was automatically referred to a geneticist. I saw a geneticist last week and they asked about stomach cancer in my family. The fact that your husband died of that and you now have breast cancer may mean your children are higher risk for a mutation called TP53 (or TP54 I can’t 100% recall sorry) 
Anyway, I don’t want this to scare you, but the geneticist said if there’s a family history of both stomach and breast cancer risk is higher for this mutation. 
This is something you could discuss with your team in a few months when things have settled down and see if your children might qualify for testing.

Once again I hope this hasn’t scared you and I am not a geneticist! Just wanted to reiterate what I was told only last week. 

Best of luck with waiting for the results to decide, ask lots of questions here or just post feelings !!! 
 

Thanks so much for that info. Was trying to work out how to respond to everyone’s message 

youngdogmum

@Pepsijax took me a while to figure it out too! If you type @ and then the persons online name it will highlight them  
you’re  welcome!  I thought it would be useful for your family. 

Pepsijax

@youngdogmum thanks