Just Diagnosed

sunflower98

Hello,

I am 46 years old, about couple weeks ago I found out I diagnosed with Non -invasive zero stage BC.

That was bad news and kind of good news! The year of 2017 is the worst year in my life during summer I lost my dad to lung cancer and after 2 weeks I lost my lovely uncle and now here I am with BC. Still, I am thinking positive due to the stage of my cancer.

I surrounded with lovely housebound and son. None of my family living in the USA due to I came from the foreign country. English is my second language, sorry if I am not a perfect writer.

So for I visited couple doctors and they said I for far best treatment would be Lumpectomy and follow up with radiation.

Also, they asked me to do the Genetic test to find out my background, if its possessive I should do Mastectomy and if is not I could choose between Lumpectomy and Mastectomy. The result will be ready for 2 weeks.

Due to my situation, I need your help me to chose which treatment is better and safer for me, my concern would be the recurrence , so worry about the future and fear of cancer back. Some people suggesting Mastectomy has a less risk vs Lumpectomy.

Please share your experiences & suggestions.

Moderators

Dear sunflower98,

Welcome to the BCO community. We are sorry for your breast cancer diagnosis and all that you have been through this past year. We are glad that you reached out to our community. We see that you have not yet received any responses. Some days can be quieter than others. Here is some information from our Main Site about treatment for DCIS. Let us know how we can help you to navigate around the boards. The MOds

EastcoastTS

sunflower98:

I'm so sorry that you've had a bad year and find yourself here needing advice. However, DCIS is such a positive diagnosis, I would be grateful for that as well.

My diagnosis was invasive, so I chose BMX eventually after an MRI saw another area of concern. I also had dense breasts and could not see leaving myself to future mammograms when the one I had (3D, no less) while the tumor was sitting there showed nothing. But many here chose lumpectomy and do fine. My mother -- ILC/triple negative -- had a lumpectomy and radiation 10 years ago and is doing well.

I'm not the most experienced here to give you lots of info about lump. vs UMX/BMX, but I'm hoping others will chime in and provide their experiences.

Hang in there!!

Georgia1

Hi Sunflower. If two different experienced doctors recommend lumpectomy I think that is a fine decision. I chose lumpectomy + radiation because I have no history of breast cancer in my family, and my tumor was strongly ER+ so responsive to tamoxifen, which I will take as a daily pill. In most cases, lumpectomy + radiation has similar recurrence rates with masectomy. Do you have any information on size and whether it is HR positive or negative?

sunflower98

Hello Georgia 1 thanks for your suggestions and sharing of your experience. The size is at least 0.4 cm with the high nuclear grad (Grad 3) with positive HR.

sunflower98

Hello,

Thanks for the info and your support. could you please let me know how long took for recovery after BMX and did you had a second follow up surgery? should you have pill too?

Thanks

sunflower98

Thanks for your support.

Icietla

Hi Sunflower98. I am so sorry about your diagnosis and your losing Loved Ones this year. Yes, your disease being found at the earliest stage is encouraging. Please also know that you have Friends here who care very much about you and want you to be as happy and healthy as you can be.

I had bilateral mastectomy for my invasive cancer. I did not have breast reconstruction. For some time after my surgery, there was some continuous pain with frequent "zaps" of (more intense) breakthrough pain that came less frequently over time. My drains were removed the week after my surgery, and about a week after the drains removal, I was instructed on some simple exercises to help my arms recover their range of motion.

I have only very limited arm use because of old injuries, and I do not have good sense of calendar time, so I cannot tell you about how long it took for my chest to feel much better, nor how long it would take after mastectomy surgery for a person having ordinary arm use abilities to recover from that surgery.

Because your cancer tissue has hormone receptors, your Oncologist will likely recommend an anti-hormonal medicine for you to take for five or more years following your initial treatment/s. I take one of those medicines.

In the section titled "Lumpectomy: Advantages and disadvantages," this BCO article indicates that mastectomy would make the greatest reduction in local recurrence risk.

http://www.breastcancer.org/treatment/surgery/mast_vs_lump

If you think it would help you, the Imerman Angels organization may be able to personally connect you with a breast cancer survivor Angel fluent in your first language.

https://imermanangels.org/get-support/

Anonymous

Sunflower,

Your dx is actually very positive. If you have dense breasts (mammograms and other tests should tell you) you may want to consider a BMX. I had dense breasts and had what I was told were clear mammograms for 5 years, but there was a tumor lurking that my dense breast tissue hid from scans.

I eventually had a BMX with immediate reconstruction and my recovery time was in total about 3 weeks. I never had any pain or problems! I was in the hospital 2 nights and my doc told me I probably could have gone home the next day. The post BMX pathology report showed some mild hyperplasia in the "good" breast (the one that didn't have the lump) and again, the hyperplasia wasn't found on any other scan. So I was glad to get rid of the potentially problem tissue.

I know that some women have to take Tamoxifen with your type of dx, but you may want to check out the link that the Moderators shared above. It could help.

We are here for you! Hugs.

Mucki1991

I had a BMX and I suggest you do lots of homework on potential lifelong side effects before making a decision. There larger the surgery the bigger the risk. Also having a BMX does not guarantee no radiation it will really depend on what they find it don't find in pathology of the removed breast tissue. Just make an informed, researched choice not based on our opinions as you can see our experiences will vary and our opinions maybe slightly biased.

Best wishes for you and if you gotta be here stage zero is the way to go!!!!

beach2beach

Hi,

Glad it is stage 0. I tend to say go with your gut on what to do. I had invasive, it was 7mm and I was offered a lumpectomy with radiation. I choose a double mx and had direct implants. Similiar as EastCoast said, I did not want the future of 6mths surveillance especially after my left had been the one to give me benign issues, but issues nonetheless and the right one wound up having cancer and was not seen on mammo. I had very dense breasts. I had a sono that showed something.

I'm sure whatever you chose you will do well. I had an uneventful surgery and recovery. I had no chemo or radiation. As I am pre-menopausal, I take Tamoxifen daily to hopefully prevent a recurrence.

msphil

hello sweetie I was 42yr old n planning my 2nd marriage when we got diagnosis I wanted a lumpectomy But didn't want to worry bout recurrence so opted for mastectomy with reconstruction. Praise God I am now a 23 yr Survivor. So its personal choice. My prayers are lifted up for you and Us All here. msphi idc stage2 0/3 nodes. Lmast 3 months chemo before n after got married then 7wks dads and 5yrs on Tamoxifen.

sunflower98

Hello Icieta,

Thanks for all the information and your support. I only have one question, why you didn't have breast reconstuction in the same time?

sunflower98

Hello dear Claireinaz,

Thanks for the information. They are very usfule.

sunflower98

Hello Mucki,

Thanks for your suggestion. It's such a hard decision. More researching more confusion.

sunflower98

Hello beach2beach,

Thanks for your support.

sunflower98

Hello msphil

I am so glad you are doing fine. Thanks for your support.