Waiting for Surgery Date....SCARED

kells2357

I am newly diagnosed, IDC. On Monday the 8th. A date I will always remember now. Words I have always been afraid of actually..Female cancers have always run rampant through my family unfortunately. Both sides have been affected. My mother lost her battle with breast cancer in 2001. She was diagnosed at 43, and passed at 53. I am 43 now. For years I was scared to do the gene testing (and also financially unable to). Only pretty recently did insurance companies begin to pay for it, and consider it 'preventive' instead of 'preexisting'. I have religiously been getting mammograms since I was 30. Anyway, my gynecologist took the blood samples and sent them in. That was about 4 months ago. About a month later, I was in for my annual checkup, and he informed me that I in fact had tested positive for BRCA1, with a 48.5% probablilty. That alone was a lot to come to terms with. That is basically a 50/50 chance. So, after many days of thought and talking with friends and family and doing my own research, we decided to move forward with a preventive double mastectomy with immediate reconstruction. I even had my consult with the plastic surgeon.

It took a lot for me to be okay with that decision. But I was. It was better than getting cancer I thought. So, one of the pre-op tests was a breast MRI. A few days after the MRI was done, my doctor called me back and said it showed something that needed further evaluation. So he ordered a breast ultrasound. When I went for that, they ended up doing a biopsy right then. Well, Monday was when I heard the words. The C word. Yuck. I freaked out, left work, cried with my sweet husband for a couple of days. Had my first meeting with the general surgeon on Wednesday. He is wonderful. He spent over an hour with me. Talking, explaining, answering questions. This coming Monday the 15th, I have another consult with the plastic surgeon. After that, I guess the gen surgeon and plastic surgeon will coordinate schedules and I will know a surgery date. I haven't seen an oncologist yet, I have been approved and I know who the doctor is, they just haven't called me for an appointment yet.

It's crazy and miraculous at the same time to think that if I hadn't planned on getting the girls chopped off to PREVENT cancer, I wouldn't have found out that I already HAVE cancer! By the way, the mammo I had in August was 'perfect'......

I am sure y'all understand my emotions..You have or have had the same ones! This is my first sharing my of my story with other patients. I just needed to talk to others, get advice, be reassured that I am losing my mind at the moment lol. If any of you lovely ladies have time for a chat, or to share your stories and expieriences, I would love any and all networking :-)

Kelly

rachelcarter35

It sounds like you've caught things early, are being vigilant and are giving yourself your best odds. This is a great community for information and support.

WC3

Kelly:

Sorry you ended up here but I'm glad your cancer was discovered sooner than it would have been if you had not decided to have a prophylactic BMX.

I had a palpable lump when my cancer was discovered but a few years before I ended up doing some work at a breast cancer seminar. The organizer thanked me and I said "No, thank you. I am high risk so this stuff (what they talked about) was good to know." I probably actually had the breast cancer at that time and didn't know it even though I checked myself. It takes a number of cell divisions for a lump to become palpable.