First post, newly diagnosed!

slobiblio20

Hi people...

I am 54 and was diagnosed last week with DCIS high-grade (grade 3), segmental distribution, solid type with necrosis. I don't know much more than that; the pathology report was not very detailed. I do not even yet know the estrogen/progesterone receptor status. I'm supposed to have an MRI very soon and am meeting with a breast surgeon next Monday.

My partner (45) was diagnosed last year with intermediate-grade DCIS and underwent the standard lumpectomy/radiation combo, now on Tamoxifen. Her sister died (also in 2019) of invasive metastatic BC at age 41. While there's a great deal I don't know about my own situation, I do know that I want the most aggressive treatment possible. So I'm thinking bilateral mastectomy and would just prefer to go flat. I also had a CABG x 2 last year (2019-2020 have just been great years... wow!) which left me with permanent scarring. What's a couple more scars? I welcome any and all advice/guidance/thoughts. Thanks.

Beesie

Welcome, but sorry you've had to join us!

It sounds as though you have a good handle on your situation, thanks to having gone through this so recently with your partner. Not the best of coincidences, but it does mean that you are ahead of the game as compared to most people when they are newly diagnosed. You even know about hormone receptors, even if you don't know yours yet!

Lots of people here to offer advice and suggestions if you decide to go with the BMX. Check out the Surgery Forum and the "Living Without Reconstruction After a Mastectomy" Forum.

Good luck with the MRI - hopefully it shows nothing new. Let us know as the rest of the information about your diagnosis comes in.

slobiblio20

Thank you. The MRI showed extensive DCIS in the left breast (7 cm) and there are two suspicious areas in the right breast. So I will have an MRI-guided biopsy on the right one this week. My mastectomy (whether unilateral or, preferably, bilateral) will have to be postponed until May or June because my hospital is currently a COVID-19 "war zone". Ugh! This timing is just not good at all. But I'm trying to stay positive. It could be so much worse, I know. Anyway, in the meantime I'm being put on anastrozole while I await surgery. Thanks again for the informative and supportive comment.

PAKNC

I'm in the same boat with waiting. I was diagnosed in late March based on biopsy, and could not get scheduled to meet with a surgeon until late May due to the Covid-19 precautions.

I'd be curious to hear what happens with the right breast, I thought that DCIS did not typically strike in both breasts but I could be wrong. I also have some questionable areas on my right breast that at first, the radiologist wanted to check out in six months but then, after the left breast biopsy came back with DCIS, she wanted to do a biopsy of the right as well. I have postponed it until my late May appointment because I'll be getting the surgery done at a different healthcare system and want to have everything done at one place going forward.

Sunshine99

Wow, slobiblio20, you've really been through it, as has your partner. I hope as you get more test results and meet with the surgeon, you get the answers that you need.

Wishing you all the very best!