Looking at the 3rd surgery in 1 month
Hi all, I have been diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer with two less than 2cm but fast growing grade 3 tumor in mid Sept and had the lumpectomy surgery to remove the tumor . however pathology repor...
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Thank you Arpie. Your reply is super helpful. I am pretty new to Australia so i am not familiar the division of work for the breast cancer team. I understand the role for Breast Surgeon, Medical Oncologist, but not so much about a breast nurse or a breast physician. That's why I have never contacted my breast nurse in the first place. THanks for your suggestions. May I ask if it's common that no MRI or PET scan will be prescribed for early stage breast cancer? I just find the re-excision surgery a bit flying blind.
Terrific bradley .... we are all here to help each other xx
During your treatment & recovery, your Breast Care Nurse may well become your first person to contact with ANY query as they have so much knowledge from working with Breast Cancer patients - there is not much they've not seen, heard about or discussed with both Medical Team and the patient.
Go to this link and put in your Post Code and Breast Cancer & it should pull up any McGrath Breast Care Nurses in your area. You can call them and arrange a meeting. Make sure you get copies of both lots of pathologies, as they SHOW how much was cut out each time! Your Breast Care Nurse will be able to interpret it for you - and answer your questions xx. Obviously, the surgeon should have taken a bit more :(
https://www.mcgrathfoundation.com.au/get-support/find-a-nurse/
I am 8 years in now and have never had an MRI or PET scan yet re my breast cancer diagnosis - I was also Stage 1. If it was Stage 2, you may have one ... If stage 3 or 4 I am guessing it would be standard - but every team might have different ideas on it ...
Personally, I reckon EVERYONE with cancer should have a full body MRI when first diagnosed, to have something to compare it with further down the track, if there is a recurrence - and who knows, they may even find other things that they can prevent from getting worse, that wouldn't have been picked up otherwise! NOT having one doesn't make sense to me - as they DON'T have the full picture without one! Yes, 'flying blind' is a good term for it!
BUT there is a significant cost associated with an MRI ... and many patients don't like having what might be considered 'unnecessary' scans due to added exposure to the rays .....
But - you can always ask! They can only say Yay or Nay!! If it is Nay, ask why!
Take care