just diagnosed

joharod

my friend is age 43 and just got diagnosed with bc. She has been to 4 different MD and all have several ways to approach her case. They go from letting the cancer grow for 6 months or have surgery now or a biopsy. Where can she find in the Hudson County area of New Jersey, a reliable and trustable MD who can guide her through. If it does speak Spanish will be very helpful. She is willing to go to NYC if necessary as long as she gets the right orientation and help. Anybody can give me a hand. She is already thinking that she is going to die and she has a teenage daughter and a younger one.

sundermom

I don't know any specifics about your friend's BC diagnosis, but letting the cancer grow for 6 months seems completely ridiculous to me!  A biopsy is the only surefire way to diagnosis BC so if your friend hasn't had one that would be the place to start.  The biopsy results will be able to provide information about the kind of BC and information about other receptors that will be helpful to know in determining the right treatment. 

Tammy

edwards750

I was thinking the same thing tsundermann. Letting it grow? I had a biopsy like right after the radiologist suspected cancer. What kind of doctor would say such a thing? What could be the possible logic in letting it grow? So I would get the biopsy done asap so she knows what she is dealing with. We all understand what it feels like when you are dx...death sentence but that is no longer the case by a long shot. I think I would consider checking out another doctor.

voraciousreader

Could she possibly NOT have cancer... But they are watching a suspicious area? Perhaps she needs an interpreter because she speaks Spanish? I realize a diagnosis of BC can be frightening and confusing even for people who don't have a language barrier. Sounds like there's more to the story here. Thoughts and prayers to her.. And what a good friend you are!

bdavis

My BS is in central NJ, Susan McManus... as is the Cancer Institute of NJ in New Brunswick... McManus' number is 732.846-3300. I don't know if they speak spanish but they are reliable... and they only use University Radiology.

pixelsupply

I don't know the specifics however, have had similar thing happen to me...

When they say "let it grow" it is probably a benign calcification. Or a hyperplasia. Basically there is an area in your breast that has a clump of breast cells. That is not how normal breast cells grow. However, these calcifications could be completely benign, meaning they will not continue to mulltiply as a mutated breast cancer cell would.So rather than go through removing the calcification the one doctor may simply be saying "lets wait and see if it grows" 

That being said,  If I had a suspicious area in my breast I would get a biopsy. And then have that material be sent to other radiologists at other hospitals (so you have a few opinions) so they can see the tissue under a microscope.  If they find cancerous cells then you will know what to do...

bdavis

I say if it doesn't belong there, take it out... and benign masses today can become cancerous masses tomorrow... take it out...

citykitty

I live in Hudson County.  I go into the city for my bc treatment, but below is a link to a doctor my OB/GYN recommended.  I wasn't able to go to her because she didn't accept my insurance, but I have a very obscure insurance plan.  Your friend may have better luck. Sorry, I don't know about the language issue -- but I wonder if maybe American Cancer Society or some such organization can help with translation services? 

http://tobigreenemd.com/AboutDr.html

Edited to add:  This doctor is in Hackensack -- so not Hudson County, but still northern NJ.

My one piece of advice is to have your friend see a breast specialist.  When I couldn't see Dr Greene, my primary care doc referred me to a different surgeon for my biopsy -- one who I later learned performs a lot of breast surgery, but is not specifically a breast specialist.  Without going into details, I will just say if I knew then what I know now, I would have continued searching until I found a breast specialist who performs breast surgery at a breast center.  Thankfully I was able to get to one eventually, but it would have been better if I had started there.

Good luck and best wishes to you and your friend.  Feel free to PM me if I can help further.