Stage I sisters... did you get any SCANS??

Char2010

Had a lupectomy yesterday for .5cm ILC mass with no lymph node involvement.  Will be getting pathalogy results in 3-4 days.  Surgeon told me that decision regarding doing Oncotype DX test will depend on pathalogy results and oncologist's recommendation.  What has been everyone else's experience with this?  Is this a "standard" test for early stage bc, EG+?

u32374

Ther is a thread on this site that will answer all your questions about the Onco type test.  I believe it may be listed under the major chemo thread.

I am one who ended up doing chemo... T/C X 6... due to my onco score.

Victorious_One

Hey, Harley and all.

At diagnosis, I got the works:  bone scan, PET, CT, breast MRI, etc.  My first onc was all about the bloodwork, so I saw him every 3 months and got a draw.  He also gave me my lupron shot at that time.

I moved out of state about 18 months after diagnosis.  My second onc was totally against blood work (too unreliable) and scans (earlier ID is believed not to change prognosis).  His strategy was to have me do a chest Xray once per year; a breast MRI once per year; and a mammogram/ ultrasound combination once per year.

Having been indoctrinated by my first onc, I switched oncs to one who does believe in blood work.  She also wanted me to have a vaginal ultraound (I declined:  I had good gyno care from my PCP and she didn't see anything to be alarmed about).  My new onc noticed that my numbers were moving around, so I had a full body scan at 3 years and 3 months out from diagnosis.  All clear (thank You, Lord!).  When I met with her, she said that stress could affect the bloodwork numbers (WHAT?!  MY LIFE WAS A STRESSBALL AT THAT TIME!!).  Whatever.  (Something screwy is going on with the text format here...sorry!)

I have now moved out of state again, and will see my new onc later this month.  It's a university research hospital, so I have no idea what they'll want me to do in terms of care.  From where I stand, the six month rotation of mammo/US and MRI is just fine with me.  I would also like another full body go-around near my five year mark just to be able to say that I'm all clear, God willing.

Every doctor does things differently.  Some go 'light' on stage 1 & 2 folks, so don't be surprised if your doc is that way. 

weety

Yeah, I asked my onc why I didn't get any scans and she said that with stage 1, even if there was any metastatic disease, most likely it wouldn't show up on any of the scans, as it would all be subcentric disease.

weety

Is "subcentric" the right word?   It doesn't sound right now that I wrote it.

Harley44

weety911

Thanks!  I am thinking that is why my onc doesn't do any scans for me... since it would be 'microscopic', and wouldn't show on the scans.

Maybe you mean 'subclinical'?  I dunno...

Anywhoo... YESTERDAY was my THREE year anniversary of my biopsy!  That is the day my surgeon took IT OUT!!   I'm celebrating!!!

Harley