Diagnosed with dcis 2 days ago.

Djohnson

hi, I was diagnosed with dcis 2 days ago. They did not get clear margins of the duct. I have chosen a double masectomy and am comfortable with that choice. I am terrified they will find invasive cancer after the masectomy. I can handle the surgery but am totally freaked out that it might have spread. I am a parent of 4 adopted kiddos age 5, 6, 6 and 1

Moderators

Hi Djohnson, and welcome to Breastcancer.org!

We know it's an overwhelming time and there's a lot going on in your head, but try to take a deep breath and stay calm while you wait for your results to come back. To help support you, there are many wonderful members here who will pitch right in!

Check out the DCIS forum as well as the Surgery forum to talk with others in your situation -- there's even a April 2016 Surgery Sisters thread (if you're having surgery this month) and there will soon be a May 2016 thread too, if you're looking at surgery next month.

We hope this helps! Please check in and post often to let us know how you're doing. We're all here for you!

--The Mods

LisaAlissa

Lumpectomy vs Mastectomy vs BMX, considerations

Hi djohnson!

So sorry to hear that you need to be here. But I'm a bit confused. "Margins of the duct"?

Generally "margins" are discussed when the lump/tumor is excised...when they're talking about how much space there is between the abnormal tissue and the edge of the tissue that's removed. That is, how much normal tissue was removed around the abnormal tissue. The ducts are channels through which milk could flow that are shaped a bit like the branches of a tree.

A diagnosis is generally the result of a biopsy...maybe you had an excisional biopsy?

At any rate, two days isn't very long to get comfortable with the diagnosis, much less treatment choices. I won't try to talk you out of a DMX, but I would strongly encourage you to read Beesie's (a well-thought of member here) thread titled

A Layperson's Guide to DCIS"

while the thread was started in 2012, she has continued to update it, most recently, this last February (2016). It's a great thing to read to get addional questions to ask your docs.

Similarly, you may have thought of a BMX as the best way to increase your long-term survival odds. But that might not be true. For a long time, MX and "LX + radiation" have been found to have the same survival odds. But I've read that there are now some researchers who say that for some women , "LX + rads" has better survival odds than MX.

As you said you're terrified, and it's only been two days, I strongly encourage you to read Beesie's "Lumpectomy vs Mastectomy vs BMX, considerations post: https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/96/topics...

Each woman's decision will depend on her own view of the various considerations. But Beesie's post is helpful because it will help you think through list of considerations that may not otherwise have occurred to you (at least yet).

HTH,

LisaAlissa

Djohnson

LisaAlissa, they did an excisional biopsy and removed about 3 cm of duct. There were no clear margins on either side of the duct they removed. I am worried that the remaining duct will have areas where it has broken through. The dcis never showed up on any imaging - so they are not sure how widespread it is. The surgeon found it when she was taking out what she thought was duct estasia that had been causing me problems.