if the right breast BC wasn't bad enough...

ebarb

if the right breast BC wasn't bad enough...

ebarb

The MRI showed a spot on my left breast and I just went for a mammo/ultra that showed not one but TWO spots in my left breast.  Going for an MRI guided biopsy Friday.  I am being very strong and I know that if the left shows BC we have a more definite path to follow but I just want to be doen with this!  Take them both off!  My right breast will require a mastectomy and if the BCRA shows positive I will opt to have both removed... I just need to catch a break and have a plan and be done. 

 Frustrated and overwhelmed,
Erin

squidwitch42

Erin,

The beginning of this journey is very difficult due to the unknowns.  I needed to have a mastectomy on the left, and did opt for a bi-lateral without any spots on the right by MRI.  Everyone deals differently, but are there some things that you can do to keep yourself in a routine?  I did my best to immerse myself in work, as well as swimming in between the breakdowns.  Whatever keeps you grounded in you, but I think we all can appreciate where you are.  You are in my thoughts, and I hope for a direction for you soon.  I too wanted to get that surgery date on the books and to get things moving as there was a month between diagnosis and the start of treatment.  Not easy...allow yourself all feelings, and please share. 

Traci

nene2059

Hi Erin!  This sounds just like my story.  I found a lump in my right breast which turned out to be IDC and when I had the MRI done during the pre-treatment testing a spot was found in my left breast as well.  It too turned out to be IDC, a separate primary tumor. I had a few freak out days but then it settled in and it made treatment decisions easy for me.  Chemo was a definite already due to my age (36) and two invasive tumors but if I had been on the fence about Bi-lateral Mx before this I was no longer.  I did chemo first and then had my surgery almost a year ago, June 30 to be exact.  I did immediate reconstruction and finished recon with implants in December.  It was a long road but so worth it.  The way I looked at it is that you read about so many having recurrence in the same breast or the other breast a few years later and it means chemo and surgery again.  We know our enemy now and can fight it all at once.  I know that it feels like getting diagnosed all over again and you feel completely out of control but give yourself a little time, IF it does end up being cancer on the other side, and realize that it does not affect your outcome.  One or two, it is all the same.  Treatment will depend on the bigger or more aggressive of the two.  My bigger tumor completely disappeared after chemo.  The smaller one, the little buggar found with the MRI shrunk but did not do away completely so bilateral mx put an end to that.  I guess what I am trying to say is that I have walked in your shoes and I am now over a year out from diagnosis (diagnosed Jan 2009) and doing great.  You will be too.  You can do this.  PM me if you have any questions that I can help you with.  Best wishes and take care! 

Anonymous

When I was diagnosed in 2007, I had a lumpectomy left breast and the MRI then biopsy found atypical cells in the right breast.  I also had dense breast tissue which means that they cannot really see anything.  In 2008, had another MRI more areas found so had the bilateral mast.  They found a 1.7 cm benign area that was not seen on any MRI.  Just fyi, if you have dense breasts, they cannot see anything completely.