Oh crumbs

mnkid

I just met with my surgeon for my post-lumpectomy/SNB follow up.  The good news is that the node was negative and the margins were clear.  The bad news:  The size of the cancer was pretty big and the margins were clear but narrow.  The cell grade is high.  I'm "young."  All add up to a pretty high percentage of local recurrence.  Right now I'm a 9 on the Van Nuys/USC scale. 

Now I wait for the onco-DCIS test results to come back in a couple of weeks.  Either way I'm looking at more surgery; re-excision or mastectomy.  I thought I'd just move on to radiation therapy and be done with it.  I've got a lot to think about and a lot to digest and two weeks to ponder it all.  Nutz.

LAstar

I'm sorry that your margins weren't wide enough to move right on to radiation.  If this discussion board prepared me for anything, it is the endlessness of treatment and the decisions regarding it.  How wide were your margins?  Did you have an MRI?  I had an MRI done between my lumpectomy and re-excision and it provided more information for my re-excision.  

mnkid

My margins were 1mm.  I asked my primary doctor about an MRI but she recommended against it as it can show a lot of false positive "stuff."  The mammography utilized by my Breast Care Center is digital/state of the art and quite sensitive on its own merits. 

Right now I think I'd prefer mastectomy over re-excision.  It's definitive.  Maybe I'll catch a break and my oncotype-DCIS score will come back demonstrating a low probability of recurrance.  I somehow doubt that though.  The thought of any more surgery right now kind of makes me nauseous.

LAstar

It's quite disappointing -- I'm just going through this too.  My MRI showed suspicious areas that the docs said could be inflammation from the lump, but the radiologist said that they lined up with my unclear margins.  I tried the re-excision anyway but it verified that the MRI did show uncalcified DCIS that is too extensive to remove with lump.  I even had the BS take more from one of my 2mm "clear" margins and another 1.3 cm of DCIS was found.  My re-excision was a cake walk compared to the lump or even the biopsy, so I don't regret that I gave it a try.  I couldn't make the decision to get a MX -- I had to be forced into a corner!  However, I was concerned about recurrence rates if the re-excision had been successful.  Once again, BC leaves you with nothing but yucky choices.

It has been hard to come to terms with all of this.  I feel like it is just sinking in that I even have cancer!  I thought having an early stage cancer was going to give me more of a free pass, but it gets me out of chemo and that's about it.  Otherwise, it is cancer, it is serious, and it has to be dealt with.  We have to keep our eyes on the goal -- to get rid of it.  I am going to find a professional to talk with about all of this.  I am a happy person with good coping skills, but this is difficult.  

crystalphm

This is a difficult thing to cope with. One one hand we are told this is a "good" kind of cancer to get if you have to get cancer. On the other hand, I had to have a double mastectomy and I have some lymphedema.

My attitude is pretty good, so i am just sharing with you that it is very normal to be wiped away by all that happens after the cancer diagnosis.

I am very pleased to see you are getting that onco dcis test, this was not available just months ago, so it is a wonderful progress and it will help you make the best decisions.

Bottom line, I am cancer free 2 years later, and this is quite a wonderful thing.