Just diagnosed with microinvasive ductal carcinoma

Apple3

Hello everyone,

My biopsy of some calcifications found they were ok but some other tissues that happened to be in the sample is a teeny tiny bit of IDC. So I guess I'm super lucky that they found it while still <1mm. I met with the surgeon the next day and she said they'll do lumpectomy in a month's time, have a month of healing and then 3 weeks of radiation and probably take hormones for 5 years. I'm trying to work out how big a deal this is going to be - will it just be some time off work for a day surgery and lots of appointments or am I going to be too tired to work or cook or look after my kid? I'm a single mom of a 1st grader and barely keeping my life together as I am already trying to kick depression. So a top priority is understanding what my limitations are likely to be during treatment so that I can make sure my son gets the practical and emotional supports he will need. I'm not sure if I can say to the surgeon (or whoever is in charge of this) "Can the radiation just wait until my kid is back in school in September, so he has a regular schedule?" I'm looking forward to reading other people's experience with this treatment to try to get a better idea of what is likely. Thanks

Beesie

Apple3,

Everyone's experience with surgery is different, but generally speaking, a lumpectomy is a pretty easy day surgery. I've never had a lumpectomy but have had several excisional biopsies, which is a similar surgery (but with no node removal). You'll be tired from the anaesthesia for a day or two and your movement will be a bit restricted so that you don't damage the incisions. But... with day surgery, patients are required to have someone take them home from surgery and after general anaesthesia, often you are told that you have to have someone stay with you the first night. And while you would likely have no problem managing things for yourself, if you have a boisterous child, you might want help, since you may be physically limited (no heavy lifting, for example) for a period of time.

Rads is usually given daily but doesn't take long. I had a mastectomy so didn't have rads, but from reading here I think some patients breeze through it but others find it tiring.

Hopefully others post soon with their experiences and advice.

AliceBastable

I had a lumpectomy. The one rule is no lifting anything heavier than a gallon of milk, I think it was for three weeks. I felt great afterwards and went out with friends for lunch two days later (pre-Covid). My radiation was delayed because I had an unrelated surgery that needed longer healing time. The radiologist and oncologist both told me it HAD to start within twelve weeks (minus the week for the radiation mapping set-up) - and when I tried to stretch that time, they were calling me to nag. That set-up appointment took about an hour, but the actual treatments were about 15 minutes, including time in the waiting room and changing cubicle.

kathabus

I did radiation for 6 weeks with 4 kids. They were 9, 8 and 5 year old twins. It was summer. I wanted to comment on the fatigue, because I had the same concerns....

I felt almost nothing the first two weeks. Maybe a tad tired by the end of the second week. You gradually get more fatigued as the days and the weeks go on.

The third week you might feel a bit tired, but it will probably be more like....I need to go to bed early. Let's order a pizza. Doing only 3 weeks I think you'll find it very, very manageable. And you get weekends off. From what I experienced, you will still be able to do everything you normally do. As stated above, it's just a matter of getting there everyday. I spent more time commuting than being there!

Good luck, and I am happy you found this so early. That's great!

Moderators

Apple3 - We are sorry that your recent diagnosis has brought you here, but glad you found it so early, and glad that you found us too! Good luck with everything, and let us know if you need help around the boards or navigating the main site. We're here for you!

The Mods

flashlight

Often they can work your radiation appointments around your work schedule. I changed my appointment time 2x to help out others with their schedule. Remember to stay hydrated. Try to freeze a few meals for a quick dinner. Best wishes.

edj3

Hey there, so glad this was caught really early!

For the lumpectomy, I found that the dinky little ice packs the hospital gave me were worth their weight in gold. I was deeply skeptical that icing would help and figured it would feel awful but I was wrong--it helped so, so much.

As others have said, with radiation, you'll spend more time getting undressed, lined up properly on the table and then getting dressed again than you will during the radiation treatment themselves. They are fast, surprisingly so.

Also, as others have said, radiation fatigue is real. I was positive that it wouldn't affect me, and I was wrong there too. Mostly I just dragged a bit. It's not the same as feeling sleepy, it was more that I was just out of gas.

Good luck to you!

Salamandra

I think it's important to start radiation quickly, BUT, in your shoes I might push for intraoperative radiation. That means you basically get the blast of radiation during surgery and are done.

They have good evidence for it being effective in older women, but it's not standard of care for younger women (yet). But my understanding is that it's a question of absence of evidence versus evidence of absence. I wonder whether your doctors might be open to having that conversation with you about risks and maybe using it if there is a real risk that the logistical demands of radiation as a single mother would lead to you dropping out part way, which is pretty much a worst possible outcome.

My impression is that most cancer doctors are pretty conservative and will push for the well established, well supported standard of care. But if they understand that it's not a question of standard of care versus nonstandard but of nonstandard versus no care at all, they are willing to consider working with people. You didn't share the rest of your stats but if this is really very tiny and low risk along all the axes (hormones, grade, etc), your doc might be more open to exploring IOR.

That said, I think it's also worth exploring making conventional radiation work. It can become part of a routine for the weeks that you're doing it. Perhaps can get medical documentation to take FMLA leave for an hour a day or whatever you need so that you can take the time out of your workday when your child is presumably already under other supervision/activity. Perhaps you can work with the hospital social workers to find supportive childcare options. Or maybe you have a friend who would love to do something to help you with this and is just waiting to be asked.

I think it's hard to predict the impact. For me, surgery was relatively low impact and so was radiation, but the hormonal therapy was a complete life-killer for a full year and a half until I figured out a med/dose that would work for me. Other women have no issues with the hormonal therapy, some women are unlucky and need repeat surgeries for margins (though that's unlikely and those are still generally very quick) or come back with a high oncotype score and end up unexpectedly needing chemo. The unknowns and uncertainty make this time periods very stressful.