One year after diagnosis -now what??

jkath

My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in March of this 2010. She underwent lumpectomy, lymph node removal, radiation, was on arimidex (was horrible), and switched to tamoxifen. She developed lymphodema (a mild case, but it's a pain in the ass!!) and had implants (from the 80s) removed after radiation caused ruptures, etc. It hasn't been an easy year, and she's had some major lows, but I consider us fortunate in many ways. My question is this...she sees her oncologist today. What should she expect in terms of followup one year out? What tests are performed to insure that cancer is not present? MRI? Mammogram? Bloodwork? Her breasts were pretty scarred up w/ tissue, etc. that made a mammogram kinda tricky. Could anyone tell me what's standard followup and testing at this time? Thanks in advance.

dlb823

Hi, jkath ~Not sure why your question seems to have slipped through the cracks, but I'll respond at least to bump your thread, since it sounds like you may have already seen the oncologist.

Assuming her bc was early stage (which it sounds like it was), her onc will probably want to see her every 6 months, as will her breast surgeon.  That's pretty typical, at least for the first year or two.  My onc does some basic blood panels, including a CA27-29 to test for any increase in circulating cancer cells.  I also see my primary care doctor annually, and she does quite a bit of bloodwork to be sure my cholesterol, homocysteine levels, etc. -- both of which can get messed up with treatment -- are good.

As far as mammograms being tricky, many of us get MRI's as part of our follow up routine -- especially those of us who had ILC, which tends not to show up on mammograms.  In my case, it's every 2 years -- just to be sure the mammograms weren't missing anything.

Hope this helps.  It sounds like your Mother had a rough time of it, and even though her treatment is over, it will probably take awhile for her to put it behind her emotionally.  Our docs seldom tell us up front, but often getting back to "normal" isn't easy or automatic.  Your support and understanding will no doubt be a huge help to her as she processes and works through all that she's been through. 

Take care ~ and I hope her appt went well today.    Deanna