How can my DCIS grow in 2 weeks?
Cazza_61
Member Posts: 1 ✭
Absolutely gutted. Diagnosed on 29th August with intermediate to high grade DCIS detected by regular mammogram. Advised 5mm calcification and vacuum biopsy performed removing majority of not all. Had lumpectomy on 20th September and attended post op appointment this morning to be told unfortunately I need to have more tissue removed...30mm as pathology came back as 35mm of DCIS with ER positive 80% PR negative. Surgeon said Breastscreen Qld got it wrong and I return to theatre on Friday. Could my surgeon be right and Breastscreen got it wrong, although I have copy of their letter stating 5mm group of calcification or could it have grown in such a short time? I'm new on this journey and can't get my head around it...
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I am So sorry to see you here & having to return for more surgery @Cazza_61 ..... and wishing you all the best for your surgery on Fri xx. Where abouts are you, roughly? (town/city? you can add it to your Profile & then members may be able to point you to specific supports in your region that may benefit your recovery & afterwards xx)
I'm not really sure how your surgeon can blame BreastScreen Qld for this result ... BreastScreen Qld's role in this, is to detect that there is a problem that needs investigating & probable surgery .... then it is out of their hands.
It is the surgeon's responsibility (with the aid of ultrasound or CT/MRI scans/Sentinel Node tests) to determine the actual size of the tumour and possible spread - & then to go in & surgically remove it with 'clear margins' .... Sometimes they find that the tumour is bigger than indicated on the scans/mammograms, so requires the removal of more flesh (or even the whole breast) needed to attain those clear margins. Sometimes it is done at the same time or as in your case, a 2nd surgery.
Your DCIS is unlikely to have grown 'that much' in the month between detection & surgery. I sadly think your surgeon is telling porkies & trying to shift the blame for the need of a 2nd surgery.
A company in Victoria called Optiscan has developed a 'wand' that is currently used in oral/dental surgery, that detects cancer cells in the remaining tissue during surgery - and they are doing 50 trials down in Vic with breast cancer patients, to see how effective it will be with breast cancer surgery! I hope the trials are successful, as it is really the only way of identifying that active cells have been missed during the surgery - and by removing more tissue, then & there! It should prevent the need for secondary surgery, such as yours on Friday.
I'd told my surgeon that if he went in & found it was worse than he thought - that I was prepared to have a mastectomy - I was lucky, it was small & only needed a lumpectomy.
Feel free to jump onto this post that covers a lot of information about BCNA & members - lots of posts to check out when you feel up to it - jump on board & reply. We even have some funny threads too (as we all need a laugh now & then!), as well as checking out our gardens, art & craft, pets etc xx There are some 'tick sheets' down the bottom, where you can 'self assess' re your mental & physical health - often it can be easier to fill them in & show your team how you are feeling, than talking about it.
https://onlinenetwork.bcna.org.au/discussion/23477/a-big-welcome-to-all-new-online-network-members#latest
take care & all the best for Friday xx0 -
Oh how distressing for you! I'm only new to all this (having radiation now after a lumpectomy), but I do know that with every screening test I had (two mammograms, two ultrasounds, CT scan and PET scan), every measurement of my tumour was different. With dense breast tissue apparently it is hard to pinpoint size exactly.
I am surprised the surgeon said Breastscreen 'got it wrong'...that would have been so upsetting for you to hear when you were still grappling with the horror of the diagnosis. I focussed on my mantra 'just deal with the next step' and 'just get it out'.
This saying helped me immensely...'Worry is like a rocking chair: it gives you something to do but never gets you anywhere'. Another thing you could do is write all your questions and worries down and give it to your surgeon for further discussion. It might give you some peace.
Take care...it's a scary journey.2 -
Hi @Cazza_61,
So sorry to hear of your diagnosis.
I was surprised too when Oct '23 BreastScreen WA gave me the all clear for next 2 years but 3 days later I had a chest CT for an infection which suggested a biopsy of the breast needed as a by-the-way. I wasn't worried (having been cleared by the breast screen) so finished some other heart tests I had at the time and a few weeks later had an ultrasound and a biopsy that found a 1cm possible cancer, then 1 week later turned into 2 cancers, a .7cm IDC and a 1.7 DCIS.
I asked my surgeon were they fast growing tumours to be missed in Oct. then picked up a few days later on CT, her answer was dense breast tissue (which I didn't know I had) often hides cancer on mammogram, but not to worry as I wasn't going to be having "that kind of mammogram ever again".
So as Arpie said, it's Breast Screening is only a guide that doesn't pick up all the details up. I was lucky to have had a great radiographer, but I think really only surgery with a good surgeon and a good pathologist can do that.
Wishing you all the best with treatment xx2 -
Mine was actually missed by BreastScreen too, @WhiteLight ... my GP actually 'felt it' a few months later, when I went in for a pap smear & she said she may as well check my boobs at the same time. I'd told her I'd had a clear mammogram earlier in the year ... but she checked anyway. Then she checked again .... and said she'd felt something .... I had dense breast tissue at the time as well.
I actually have my annual MG/US in 2 weeks - it is 7 years this month, since the BC detection by my GP.2
