Just got back my pathology. confused. worried.

michelleLg

I had my diep flap reconstruction Jan 13. I'm healing well and my Outlook has been good. Positive. The doc that did the mastectomy said he thought the tumor was hardly present and that there were a couple suspicious spots in the lymph nodes but he removed them. To myself I said. Ok. I can relax. Until yesterday. I don't know what to think. Here is my pathology. Do people survive this kind of diagnosis. ? Reading here boards really helps but I on see my of for another week and m full of questions. Here is my pathology, or the points I can remember. Tumor Originally thought To e 7x7. After neoadjuvant chemo. Actual size was 3cm. 12 mm clear margins. 8 /18 nodes. Doctor said her2 positive status was very eradicated and thought to be because herceptin was working. I start radiation in 2 weeks. Just started tamoxifen. Confused. So many thoughts.

MusicLover

Michelle, The weird thing is with breast cancer is that people with stage 1 and a tumor smaller then a cm some times have a recurrence and some others with similar diagnoses to yours never do. The whole thing is for us to live our lives despite our cancer diagnose.  Best wishes.

Annette_U

Sounds like you responded well to the chemo...I also had chemo before surgery and YUP! I will also wonder how bad was it and should I consider the stats before or pathology or after as a guide for survival......guess what! We are just gonna have to wait and see. Meanwhile enjoy life, get things done, travel, learn and have fun. As I have read here before.......you could still die choking on a nut before cancer ever kills you.

michelleLg

I love the die choking on a nut!! Lol! So true. You are both right. I guess I'm a big worry wart and I've lost control but I am always looking for similar stories to mine that did well but at the same time I know we are all different. Thankyou for your replies. My brain is still a mess right now and I appreciate the response♡

Momine

My dx was similar and my surgery was 3.5 years ago. So far I have not had any recurrence and I have recovered well from all the treatment. I know the crap can come back at any time, but until it does, I do my best to live well, which is all any of us can ever really do. Besides, there is always the chance that it does NOT come back, in which case, it would be pretty dumb to have wasted my life with worry. That said, I DO worry sometimes, it is human, but I try not to let it take over my life.

michelleLg

Thankyou for taking a minute to say that and to share your similar diagnosis. I'm so glad you are well and I'm looking forward to being in your shoes in the future. My youngest child is 2. I NEED to be here for many , many years!

hopefour

MichelleLg...welcome! Your doing great by reaching out and asking questions, seeking to understand and researching for yourself ( saw your other thread...don't have any insight on your question)!! Please know that where you are is such a time of fear for many of us....and with a lil one the fear is even worse for your desire to be there for your children is so consuming!

Time does ease the fear but it is a process for some. I would look at everyone's DX and year than figure out how long they lived....than figure out if I lived that long how old my children would be and so on....was exhausting! After time I just couldn't take the exhaustion of fear anymore and worked at releasing. Still have my moments, in fact last week was my 6 mos check up with my MO and 1 year check up at MD Anderson..I was in a funk all week, but all looks well and now I am back to living!! This for sure is not any easy DX to live, but you find your way and live well!!

I did personally chose to change my lifestyle, diet and such. For me this was a positive way to deal with this DX...not for everyone!! Give your sweet lil one an extra hug tonight and know you're doing everything you can to be here for your children....many many stage III sisters are many years out and doing great!!

michelleLg

I'm so glad to hear your 6 month went well! Watching your success truly inspires me, as do others here. I am guilty of doing the same calculating as you. Hard not to right? We are only human. I want to just enjoy my life...worry free of course but I know that in the back of my head I'm still worried. I just look forward to not every day! As for the other question I posted. I was a bit upset that there was so much info on not mixing the two meds and yet not one person on my team knew. I don't know the reason. Maybe there is one but I'm calling to get off paxil asap on Monday. Thanks for the cheer up. It's been a sleepless weekend and lot of chats on the phone it my best friend!♡

YATCOMW

Michelle (my daughter's name...love it)

My tumor was 8 X 6 with at least 17 nodes positive...in my skin...no clear margins and tumors bursting out of nodes plus LVI.... poster child for the worst stage IIIC.

But I am nearly 11 years out.... and doing well.

I had three young children that I worried most about and all I wanted was to be here to see them off to college. Well my last one goes this year.

It is tough in the beginning....I think we all went to dark places...it is hard not to...
But once you have more time on your side you will not dwell on the cancer as much.

Only advice I can give you is to keep yourself busy.... find a hobby that you enjoy.... make plans to do fun things and make memories----ones you will be glad you did ten years from now. My mantra: Don't let cancer take any more from you than it already has.

Have hope.... hope can conquer cancer.

Jacqueline

Rockym

michelleLg, it sounds like you have done everything right in regard to treatment. The next step is to heal emotionally and some of us have a hard time with that one. There are some good threads on how to get on with life after cancer. I was in touch with a lot of ladies who rocked treatment and then kinda lost it. PTSD, depression and even obsessing (I was in that boat for a bit) are very common and there is no shame. My advise is to talk with some trusted friends or a professional so you can move on a bit. I had young kids too at the time and we sometimes will freak because we are now including their future in our thoughts.

Anonymous

Hey Michelle, when you said the Her2 was "eradicated" does that mean you are now Her2 negative? In addition to radiation, you may want to look into clinical trials for more chemo. If you are now Her2 negative, you wouldn't qualify for the trial I'm in (TDM1 for Her2+ with residual disease after neoadjuvant) but there are other trials too. If I hadn't done the TDM1 trial, I would've done a Halaven trial, which from what I understand, is "ChemoLite" compared to what we've already done. I would also discuss the SOFT trial data with your onc and see if ovarian suppression+AI would be a better option for you than Tamoxifen alone.

To be blunt and honest, residual disease after neoadjuvant chemo is more worrisome for those of us with aggressive tumors than those with lower-grade tumors, since chemo tends to eat up aggressive cancers. It's CERTAINLY survivable, but I believe it's worth it to continue being very aggressive adjuvantly too.

michelleLg

Thankyou for sharing ladies. I needed this today at most!!!! Bad at usernames~ Thankyou for the info. I will come armed with questions when I see my oncologist in 2 weeks. I'm gung Ho for whatever I can do to help!!!!

Anonymous

Yatcomw: Just had to say I love your mantra. Can I borrow it? Shelly

placid44

Michele,

You might want to check with your oncologist about the ki67, or proliferation rate, of the residual tumor. My original tumor was 3.1 cm w/ ki67 of 70 percent. My residual tumor was 7mm with a ki67 of 17 percent. Ideally I would not have had a residual tumor, but at least what was left was less aggressive. Chemo killed the more aggressive portion

michelleLg

interesting point. I don't see my oncologist until march 6th and i plan on asking that as well. Such a wealth and overload of info! Thankyou!!!!😃