Am I high risk?

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arizonatroll
arizonatroll Member Posts: 2
edited June 2014 in High Risk for Breast Cancer

I guess my purpose here is acceptance. My mom just passed away on 09/2/09, only 2 weeks post diagnosis.  She went to the hospital with pneumonia, had CAT scans and was originally diagnosed with Lung cancer, she died two weeks later.  When we received her death certificate it said she died from Metasis of Breast Cancer.  Yes we were shocked because mom always had mamograms and no one even mentioned breast cancer.  I called the hospital to see if it was a mistake and was told they can't put "lung cancer" as a cause of death there is always an underlying cause and since they put breast cancer than my sisters and I should be careful.  There are 5 of us girls so naturally we are concerned.  I'm still not sure that breast cancer is correct, does this seem right?

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  • mawhinney
    mawhinney Member Posts: 1,377
    edited October 2009

    I can only imagine how shocked you were when you read the report.  I would request a copy of the finaldetailed report from the doctor that signed the Death Certificate. Was an autopsy done? If so, ask for a copy of that report.  I would want to know what evidence they had of breast cancer.and what type of breast cancer. 

    I was told that most breast cancers are not inherited.  I have no family history of breast cancer, never smoked, and rarely drink yet I have breast cancer.

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  • leaf
    leaf Member Posts: 8,188
    edited October 2009

    What a shock! I agree: If she got an autopsy, I would ask for the pathology report. I don't understand how they could pick breast cancer out of the blue.  I am NOT a pathologist, but I have gotten the impression that when breast cancer metastasizes, say to the bones or brain, they can tell it is breast cancer (at least sometimes.)  I'm not sure if that is true.

    I do know that when breast cancer metastasizes, say, to the lungs, then it is still called breast cancer (breast cancer metastasizing to the lungs), not lung cancer.

    Mammograms certainly do not pick up all breast cancers.  

    You can also have an 'unknown primary', where they can't find the site of the original cancer.  That happened to a distant relation of mine.

    My condolances to your loss.

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  • arizonatroll
    arizonatroll Member Posts: 2
    edited October 2009

    I called the doctor who signed the death certificate.  Mom had several doctors and I think i'll call one more.  I just want to know. An autopsy wasn't done. 

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  • clariceak
    clariceak Member Posts: 752
    edited October 2009

    So sorry for your loss. 

    From what I understand, hereditary breast cancer can be signaled by having close relatives with breast and ovarian cancer.  It is also more likely if the breast cancer occurred before menopause.  I had relatives on both sides of the family that had both breast and ovarian cancer and other types, but tested negative on genetic tests.  I agreed with the genetic counselor that the negative was not a true negative, it just meant that whatever mutation was running in our family did not have a test developed yet.

    If you are concerned about a hereditary link you can research the number of cancer cases in your family and the age of diagnosis and then talk to a genetic counselor.

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