2nd year Mammogram found Cacifications :-(

DebbieJo1950

I thought I could walk away from my mammogram yesterday with a 2 year cancer free history, but the radiologist informed me after taking 11 pictures of the breast I had Stage 1 cancer in,  that in that same spot was a large calcification and by the look of it, it met the criteria for consideration that I am having a recurrence of cancer.  She recommended a biopsy which I plan to do, but she scared me by saying that all recurrences are aggressive and this time I will have to have chemo and radiation with a full mastectomy.  Last time I had a Lumpectomy with Sentinel Node (5) removed followed by 7 weeks of radiation.  Now the waiting game begins.  I have to wait to get in to see the oncologist surgeon and then wait for the biopsy and then wait for the results, all this could take weeks.  Last time it took 3 months before I got to surgery and that is not going to happen again.  

Has anyone had experience with a recurrence and having to have chemo w/radiation and a mastectomy?  Are all recurrences aggressive in nature?

Thanks

Debbie

Jelson

 I would wait till I had a biopsy and spoke with a breast surgeon and a medical oncologist before I accepted that calcifications = recurrence = very aggressive = chemo! radiation! mastectomy!  

good luck with all of this and I hope what you have is benign benign benign

DebbieJo1950

Thank you for your thoughts, Jelson :-)  I hope you are right !

It's just all the waiting to get to the biopsy and then more waiting for the final word.

Debbie

edwards750

Debbi - I've never heard that about recurrences. Not saying the doctor is wrong but I don't know how you can make a blanket statement like that. Of course you are scared; I would be too. The thing is there isn't a one size, fits all BC. All you need to do is read the stories of the ladies on this forum to know that. I didn't think you could do RADS again. I was told if I had a recurrence it had to be chemo. I had 33 RADS treatments. I hate you have to wait so long. I think we all agree waiting is so unnerving. Once you have the biopsy you will know more. Try and keep busy and keep us posted. Diane 

wirdgirl118

I had a partial mastectomy with rad in 2005-2006. Recurrence in same breast along with Paget's disease, cancer of the nipple, sometime around 5 years after. Took a long time to get a diagnosis of the nipple cancer, as I had to find a new oncologist first. My old oncologist said the nipple scaling and flaking was not Paget's disease but a reaction to the radiation. Didn't he ever use Google images? Sheesh! Don't wait long if you don't have to, but also take the time to make sure you are comfortable with your medical team, all of them. I had a BMX and no chemo with my 2013 Breast Cancer event.

DebbieJo1950

Hello and thank you Edwards and Wirdgirl118 ~  

Met with my hmo oncologist surgeon.  We compared all my mammograms from 2012 to current date.  There is a big difference between the way my cancer presented itself in the 2012 mammogram and this one last Friday.  The one on Friday is cylinder looking with lots of dots all over the place, in both breasts too. In 2012 there was a large solid looking mass. Where one year ago, they were only a few calcifications, now there's a lot.  He said if I had never had breast cancer before, he would guesstimate that this is cancer.  However, he gave me two options.  One was to have a stereotactic biopsy, which my shoulders will not let me lay down that long and stretch out or have another Lumpectomy and remove everything in that ring.  The odd thing is that he will not be checking for lymph node involvement as this is only a biopsy. Then if it is cancer, he recommends mastectomy with the possibility of chemo.  You are correct Edwards, once one has radiation, they can never have it again, that was a big disappointment, not sure what that radiologist was thinking when she mentioned this.  I don't want to have another lumpectomy because my recovery time was rather lengthy.

So, I took all three copies of mammograms and mailed them off to the surgeon, out of my hmo, who performed the lumpectomy and node removal for a second opinion. He said he would take the three mammograms to his radiologist and then do a telephone consultation with me.  

The other thing that is bothering me is that the surgical suite is located in the basement of the hmo building, not in a hospital.  I feel very uncomfortable having anesthesia anywhere outside of a hospital setting.  Then this hmo surgeon wants to do the procedure within the next two weeks as he is going out of the country for a month.  Again, I feel uncomfortable with a surgeon leaving town right after my surgery as I needed to go back and forth several times after my last lumpectomy as I broke my stitches several times.  I don't want someone saying.... not sure what that surgeon did.

So, that is my update.  Thank you for listening.

Debbie

DebbieJo1950

Still waiting for my scheduled biopsy.  Last time it took me 3 months to get to surgery thru my hmo :-(

Debbie

april485

Holy cow Debbie! Is that the ONLY surgeon in your HMO? There must be more than one in your area that you can use. Hopefully you get this resolved sooner rather than later. Hopefully with a good outcome. Calcifications can be anything from DCIS to IDC so do not assume you have to have chemo. If it is DCIS, chemo is not an option because it does not work for DCIS as it is in place and no cells are in the blood stream for the chemo to kill...soooo, these doctors do not sound very knowledgeable if you ask me. Praying that you find out soon! Keep us posted.