Just diagnosed

Mrsammieb

Hi everyone. My brain is going crazy right now. I went in for a mammogram and my lymph nodes were enlarged. They decided just to be cautious to do a biopsy since I have had thyroid cancer. Well I got the results this week with metastatic cancer consistent with breast cancer. Does this mean I have breast cancer? What does this mean? My worried meter is not sure what to do. I have a PET scan this next week. Will they tell me the results quickly? I am supposed to have a detailed MRI as well but it isn’t scheduled yet. I don’t feel sick. I have been reading your post and thank you for sharing your experiences. Are things going to move fast or slow? I am a teacher, is this something I’m going to have to leave during the school year or will this happen in the summer?

Anonymous

Just going to keep this short as I imagine others will chime in soon but -

When they said metastatic cancer, was that only based on a biopsy of your lymph nodes in your armpit? Or was it a biopsy of a different lymph node somewhere else in the body?

The cells are breast cancer cells that have moved on outside of the breast where they originated. There are a few rare cases where the breast tumor is not found or is very small.

PET scan will show if it is anywhere else (brain, lung, bone, liver most common). Is the MRI to be a breast MRI?

Speed will depend on how long it takes them to find the primary (if it exists) and then to find the receptors/grade and determine a treatment plan for you.

Stay with us and report back so we can help you out - you aren't alone!

Moderators

SondraF really said it all, and we just want to echo that we are here for you. Please keep us up-to-date.

Your question though about treatment now or in the summer, it is more than likely they will start you on a treatment as soon as they understand what it going on.

We're here for you