surgeon wants to wait 3 weeks for surgery?

Sd2906

IDC lump is 2.6cm, doctor is saying stage 2, er+/her2-

surgeon is recommending waiting 3 weeks to do a mastectomy, but we are worried that the cancer may grow and change the diagnosis and want to move faster. I understand that cancer sits in your body and grows for years, but that's not really comforting me. The biggest worry is if the diagnosis changes, we would really be devastated. It's an 8/9 with a mitotic score of 2 and my wife is only 38. Are we being irrational? we are seeing another surgeon today and get the MRI results tonight so that may change things.

btw, two oncologists have checked her and feel confident it hasn't spread. Does anyone have a story of the MRI telling a materially different story vs. the check ups from the doctors? just curious. Thanks!

Lula73

from what we've seen in the boards 3 weeks is pretty common if not considered quick. My bilateral mastectomy with immediate natural tissue reconstruction was 4 weeks from the consult, about 7 weeks from official diagnosis after MRI and about 3 1/2 months from the initial mammogram that started everything. No significant change in that time period.

So glad your wife had the MRI-it can show much more detail than the mammo and ultrasound to detect if anything else might be going on. This 3 weeks is going to go by very quickly. Once it's scheduled and treatment plan Is in place you focus will usually change - worry will still be there but it will get pushed back some so you two can put everything in place to prepare for surgery and recovery - there is a lot to do to prepare.

gb2115

My MRI told the exact same story that my mammogram/ultrasound did--though it did annoyingly add an additional biopsy that turned out to be just fine. I think I had about a month between finding the tumor and day of surgery. My surgeon had said that she gets uncomfortable (only with the most aggressive cancers) if it's longer than 6 weeks in between. I was 38 at diagnosis too. I did have a positive lymph node discovered with the sentinel node biopsy at surgery, that wasn't found in the imaging. It was a smaller number of cells though, so probably undetectable in the tests. My reason for sharing that is not to scare you, just know that if the diagnosis changes and you feel devastated (anyone would feel this way--I know I did), you do manage to get through it. I assumed a positive node was the end of the world, and almost a year later, things are ok.

Sd2906

thanks you gb. I am surprised you didn't have to engage in chemo with a positive lymph node. I was under the impression that you had to if it spreads there.

thank you lula. That's helpful. Again, surprised you didn't need chemo either. I guess we are still learning. I assumed lymph node presence automatically means chemo.

her lump is bigger too so maybe that's why to be honest.

keepthefaith

sd, your concerns may or may not be valid, but try not to let your fear take over. My biopsy and surgery were one month apart. In between I had additional testing done. It feels like everyone else is just going through life, taking their sweet time, while your life has been turned upside down. It is so hard to wait, but try to stay busy with your wife doing things you enjoy. Honestly, I doubt the time before surgery will change your wifes' treatment plan, but getting a second opinion is always a good idea. I hope all goes well moving forward!:)

swg

I'm waiting a month after diagnosis to have surgery (my tumor is 1.2cm). I have too much work, actually! I'm self employed so I need that month to make as much money as I can..to get through the post surgery recovery.

I asked my surgeon if she thought the delay would be ok, and she said studies show that a one month delay is common and you really don't have to worry about changes til 6 weeks. She said she would not recommend I wait past 6 weeks. But..ask your surgeon just to be safe

Outfield

Sd2906,

Just a question. Is there a reason the surgeon thinks you should wait, or is it just when they could fit her in on the surgical schedule?

Sd2906

it's partly both. Partly schedule, partly results from gene test. However, my wife is likely to go double mastectomy and the gene test will really just decide single or double.