How did I get here?
Hi everyone, what do I say…I am in shock! I felt it was time I reached out to the community as I’ve been reading all your posts the past few weeks and now I really need support and reassurance. I am 56 and have a wonderful husband and three beautiful 20 something children. I had a routine mammogram in April (12 monthly due to Mum and sister both having BC in the past - both early and doing fine now) and diagnosed on 13 May with invasive carcinoma with micropapillary features, 17mm in size, ER/PR+ve HER2 2+equivaocal from biopsy and ultrasound/3D mammogram. A further weeks wait for HER2 ISH testing which was negative before surgery options were discussed. As I have size G breasts and the lump was apparently so small I opted for WLE with oncoplastic breast reduction as my Mum and sister had both had good outcomes with lumpectomy so I was confident with the reduction they would get good margins. Surgery was performed on 30/5 and I’ve recovered well. Here js the kicker…I went back for the surgery and sentinel lymph node biopsy results and first the surgeon tells me the tumour was 64mm not 17mm! Then he tells me there were mega metastases in the lymph node which was removed. On the pathology report it say ‘the lymph node is almost completely replaced by metastatic carcinoma with similar histological features’. The sentinel node was 28mm. Does this mean I have metastatic cancer? I am reeling…how did they get it so wrong??? And what now? The surgeon has said the next step is an auxiliary dissection which he has booked me in on 30/6 to do…20 days away! He said he needs to wait for things to settle properly after the last surgery with reduction. Meanwhile this cancer is travelling all through me… I am booked in for a PET with CT scan on Thursday which I guess they are looking for more metastases. Should I also be asking for a bone scan? I have not been referred to an oncologist yet, apparently that is after the next surgery but I really don’t understand why they wouldn’t be thinking to get me started on that now rather than waiting even longer. I just can’t comprehend the results I got yesterday. I have so many questions and I just feel like the surgeon is following a routine but I don’t understand why. After a sleepless night of anxiety through the roof I would love some words of advice from this amazing community. Thank you x353Views1like4CommentsNewly diagnosed DCIS
Hi folks - I just got my diagnosis this morning and am going through ALL of the emotions. Seeing my GP on Monday for referral to a surgeon, but this site is huge - any suggestions for where to start? My treatment is likely to be a lumpectomy - hopefully with no radiation treatment but that’s a possibility. Unlikely to be chemo. Details are that it’s an intermediate grade ductal carcinoma in situ with focal comedonecrosis and calcifications (7mm x 4mm x 6mm). ER positive, PR positive. Both auxiliary lymph nodes normal.245Views1like8CommentsFluoxetine and Letrozole
Hello folks, I'm wondering if there is anyone in this community with experience of low mood being exacerbated by Letrozole. I have been on Fluoxetine for many years but am finding after six months on Letrozole my mood has become very low. Does anyone have a similar experience and what have you done to alleviate it? I have an appointment with a GP to ask about it but would like to read about other's experiences and fixes.140Views0likes3Comments2nd operation DCIS
Hi all, Was diagnosed in Feb this year with high grade DCIS, 3 small tumours. Lumpectomy 3 weeks ago. Pathology report came up with not clean edges. The surgeon said I have two options, do another re-excision with most likely radiotherapy and endocrine therapy, or mastectomy. I have a family history of breast cancer. Has anyone been through this desición before? What was your experience like? outcomes? Thanks for sharing217Views1like5CommentsYoung mum diagnosed IDC and DCIS.
Hello! Im 37 and was recently diagnosed in November with early breast cancer - IDC (ER+, PR+, Her2-) and then following my surgery they also discovered DCIS. Plan is chemotherapy starting tomorrow and then mastectomy/recon 4-6 weeks post surgery! Looking for advice on: 1. What to take with me to chemotherapy tomorrow (will be there approx 5 hours as will be trying scalp cooling). Also what do people wear when using ice gloves/boots/cold cap? 2. Any advice on TC chemo and how you tolerated it (I’m doing 4 cycles). 3. Any tips on managing chemotherapy with 3 children aged between 3-7yrs and a husband who works long hours but very supportive. Thanks so much!117Views0likes1CommentMy ALND was a bust..
Hi everyone, this is my first time posting. I discovered my lump in late May while breastfeeding my bub, and am now two weeks post surgery for hormone positive breast cancer. Not the clogged duct I had originally assumed it was. It’s been an awful shock, as I know everyone will understand. So, I have just had a lumpectomy, a LICAP reconstruction on the boob, and level 2 axillary clearance. I’m looking for advice from those who have had an axillary lymph node dissection. I just had my post-op and it was a real mixed bag. Breast cancer out with clear margins (great) BUT seven nodes removed and … none cancerous. While that sounds like great news the problem is that they had biopsied one suspicious node prior to surgery and it had come back positive. So it appears that this positive node was missed. I’m now headed for a second surgery. My question is - for those of you who have undergone ALND- is it normal that they didn’t mark my positive node in any way so they knew where it was during the biopsy or prior to surgery? The doctors are saying they will mark it for the second surgery with magseed and it seems completely ridiculous to me that this wasn’t done initially, when my breast tumor (which was palpable so very obvious) was marked during biopsy. It just seems very slap dash to presume you don’t need to mark as you’re taking everything out anyway. I am wondering whether not marking or targeting when a clearance is planned is just normal procedure and I should just roll with this situation, or whether my hospital or perhaps the surgeon has not done something they probably should have ie mark the cancerous node. I have an appointment on Friday with the surgeon, and I feel knowing others experiences prior to that conversation will give me some peace of mind, or perhaps the gumption to at least push for a second biopsy alongside the magseed. I want to be really sure this time that they are targeting and marking the right node before I go for another surgery. Any shared experiences or thoughts from those who have walked this road ahead of me is appreciated. You are all so brave. This whole situation is very frightening.188Views0likes2CommentsRecent diagnosis and new to the group
Good afternoon. My name is Jenny and I was diagnosed with Grade 2 cancer in my right breast on the 17 April. I had lumpectomy surgery on 4 May and a PET/CT scan last week as cancer cells were detected in 1 of 3 lymph nodes and results are pending. We met the Oncologist last Tuesday and due to several risk factors, chemotherapy has been recommended as the next step and I commence on 12 June starting with fortnightly infusions for the first 8 weeks then weekly for the next 12 weeks. Radiation will follow as they were not able to get the level of clear margins with the surgery and no further surgery is possible. Then if all this goes onto hormone blocking medication for 5 years as I'm ER positive, PR negative and HER2 negative. I'm feeling OK negotiating the roller coaster of procedures, tests and waiting for results and adjusting. At this stage, I've accepted what is happening and learning to live my best life with this diagnosis now and in the future. Thank you for taking the time to read to my story and appreciate the insights others can give from their lived experience. Kind regards, Jenny433Views0likes8CommentsPreparing for surgery
Moderator moved @m_m11 post from activity section to main 'Discussion' page: m_m11 Good morning lovely ladies, I have finished my chemos and surgery is on 4th of June which is lumpectomy and breast size reduction. I’m very nervous and anxious about it, my surgeon said 6 weeks for recovery. Please share how recovery will be and recovery tips and thing I need to careful, is recovery will be painful? I’m very very anxious because never had surgery before. TIA159Views0likes4Comments