Hi Maryleigh,
Yes, I was diagnosed with DCIS but after I had my lumpectomy the pathology report came back that it was not "in situ" and that they needed to go back for more to get the clearance margins. In the second lumpectomy I also underwent sentinel node biopsy during surgery which was clear, thank god! I was put on Tamoxifen pre initial surgery and have been on it ever since. I also underwent 6 weeks of radiotherapy. Last week I had my first "mammoversary" which included a lengthy and thorough ultrasound check. All was clear but there are still those dreaded calcifications around. I've been offered reconstruction and reduction surgery which I have decided to take because I believe that in the process of doing this they will be able to remove at least some of those calcs along with all the other good reasons to go ahead with it.
I have always been told that it is the calcifications that are considered pre-cancerous. DCIS is just the least invasive of the bc kinds as it is considered to be contained or "in situ". It would however appear that even though one may be initially diagnosed with it being "in situ" it sometimes ends up that it is found not to be. Like in my case.
BTW - I have a breast surgeon who fits in the category of not wanting to perform a mastectomy unless she is really sure it needs to be done. She even told me the other day that she gets horrified when she sees all these young women going out and having their breasts removed because they are considered to be in a high risk category. In other words, she is very confident in the treatments that are on offer these days. Does this make our choices any easier?! Not one bit!
All the best,
Vicki
