Forum Discussion
Pathology results: Good, bad and ugly
Just got my pathology results from my surgeon, at the same time as having 400ml of fluid drained from my seroma as the drain failed on Monday night after I got tangled with it in my sleep. And it has gone all red with an infection.
The nurse said not to worry as I would see the doctor today but the doctor said I should have begun antibiotics asap.
Results:
- Left sentinal node neg for malignancy
- Left mastectomy: IDC nos, G3, 22mm, ER-, PR- Cerb-B2 (2+) in high nuclear grade DCIS field up to 60mm.
- Invasive carninoma excised withclosest margindeep 5mm,
- DCIS margins have closest deep (.2mm) and superomedial (2mm) margins.
- Deep margin clearance of .2ml on DCIS
- Deep margin clearance of 5mm on IDC
They are doing an ISH test to determine my HER2 status.
Anyone know what Cerb-B2 (2+) means?
He said Chemo will decrease my chance of recurrence from about 50% in 5 yrs to something somewhat more acceptable.
So it is what I expected in a way cos my surgeon did say he thought Chemo very likely. But I still feel like i've been run into by a ten-ton truck. Not broken but a bit bruised.
The margins seem awfully close. .2 ml on the DCIS. but he seemed confident that meant clear so I must stop worrying about that.
Chemo is a different thing when it is a certainty rather than a possibility. Now I have to put my business on ice, and go to plan B.
So Ladies, I am about to join you in the next stage of this journey. and having your company and support is the most wonderful thing in the world.
11 Replies
- 4 years ago I had DCIS in right breast, this time I have similar symptoms in left breast plus a lump. I had surgery a week ago but need to wait another week for results. Have others had similar experiences in the wait time?
my beautiful Merlin who died 3 years ago. he was a fantastic companion for my daughter and I through many of our solo years. havent had the heart fo another yet.julie
Jessica my HER2 test initially came back as positive.My,oncologist explained that they do the ish test,as its not uncommon for this first one to be wrong,or borderline.My second one came back negative,which meant that I had my treatment plan changed.xoxo
Jessica my HER2 test initially came back as positive.My,oncologist explained that they do the ish test,as its not uncommon for this first one to be wrong,or borderline.My second one came back negative,which meant that I had my treatment plan changed.xoxo
Hi Merlin's Mum, I did google it last night and realised that this was exactly what my surgeon was telling me about when he said that my HER2 status was unclear so they are doing an ISH test to get clear results. I know now that that strange code is another way of referring to HER2 and the 2+ means that it is borderline. He said that until they get the results of the ISH test next Tuesday, they don't know whether or not my cancer is responsive to herceptin, and the oncologist will need that to decide what chemo to line up for me.
BTW tell me about Merlin. I have a beautifel sentinel cat called Lily, half burmilla and half siamese, who takes her task of companioning me and watching over me very seriously at present, esp since I came home smelling like she did after a stay at the vet's and similarly hacked around and stitched up!
Hey Jessica
I can't answer your question for you but I am sorry you have been doing it a bit tough and the news isn't what you would have liked to have heard. We know that feeling.
Chemo is one of the scariest things due to the unknown. After your first chemo day is over you will say to yourself what on earth was I worried about. As far as side effects if you can just try and think that all or most of us ladies on here have been through the effects and are still here to tell the tale. So the way I look at it is the cancer didn't kill us and neither did the side effects.
In saying that, we all know exactly what you are going through and it is really tuff so please don't believe I am making light of any of it because there is no lightness in view for you at the moment but you sound very strong, very intelligent and I am sure you will do well. You will do even better now that you have all your pink sisters here by your side every step of the way.
I hope someone can give you the answer to your question but if not ring up the breast centre you had your surgery and ask them to explain. Your breast nurses are there to help you and if they don't know the answers they should be able to find out for you.
Take care and chat soon, luv Mich xoxoxo
- I must be a bit weird, but I was kind of glad to do chemo. Maybe it was because I was determined to throw everything I had at the cancer. I don't know. I did actually have a recurrence, but fortunately for me it was localized to the breast and I thank God every day that I had done the chemo and if any little microscopic cells escaped then I had hopefully killed them. So,due to my recurrence I got to do chemo twice. It was scary, and at times tough, but it was doable and I have survived it twice. There are so many people on this site, with many different stories, but they are all here to help and support you. Hang in there. Paula x
I was like you in that the DCIS was the problem. The two tumours were successfully removed by the lumpectomy but DCIS was abutting all the margins. I had chemo and mastectomy to decrease recurrence too. I found it extremely difficult to read and understand my path report and had to get my BC nurse to explain it. To be honest I still don't quite get it.
I'm sorry to hear that you have been having problems with your drain. Hope it's all under control though and you are resting comfortably.
Even when you are prepared for chemo, it's still a scary thing as nobody can tell you how it's going to effect you. But in reading many of our Pink Sisters' accounts of their first time, it's not as bad as you imagine and that's what I found. You just have to take things one step at a time and you'll find your 'routine'. I imagined the first week was the steep climb up the hill pushing the peddles, the second was at the summit resting and the third week was the downhill coasting with your feet off the peddles ready to climb the next hill. Guess that why it's called a roller coaster :)
Sending you a hug.
Love Janey xxx
