33 years old, no family history, shocked at diagnosis

I've decided to see my Oncologist before I make any decisions about my treatment.  I think it will make me more comfortable, and as of now, I have an surgery scheduled on Oct 6th -- but that's open to change pending my Oncologist's suggestions.

I'll let everyone know the outcome tomorrow.

Thank you all for the great advice!

Today I went to have blood drawn for the BRCA1 , BRCA2 test today.  Friday I saw the Oncologist who put in a predetermination to insurance to try to have them approve a bilateral mastectomy rather than the unilateral.  My surgery is scheduled for Oct 6th, but we won't know until Thursday if that is for one or both.  It will most likely be a modified radical on the left and a simpl on the right, with a port put in place as well as tissue expanders.  They tell me that I won't be that sore, but it sure does sound like I'm going to be!

6-8 weeks after surgery they will start me on TCH chemo, every 3 weeks, 6 treatments.  After that, I will continue to take Herceptin through the port every 3 weeks for a year.

I will update everyone on Thursday or Friday as to what insurance decides, etc.

I'm anxious to hear their decision.

Thanks for telling me about your insurance -- it does give me hope.  Everyone involved says that there's a very good chance it will get approved, so I've got my fingers crossed!  That's my biggest fear -- that although the mammogram and ultrasound came out clear on my right side, that there's something in there just waiting to screw up my life 6-10 years down the road!

I'm trying to stay positive!

Hi All!

The surgery went as well as can be expected.  They did a modified radical on the left, removing 19 nodes, and a simple complete on the right.  My plastic surgeon immediately inserted tissue expanders and was able to fill them to 250 cc each.  I feel that's a great start to getting to a C cup.  Of the 19 nodes tested, only ONE NODE tested positive.  This is great news, as it means I caught it just about as early as I could have.  I'm happy with the results!

My power port was inserted during the surgery, so I'm all ready and set up for chemo.  I will not begin chemo until my plastic surgeon gets my tissue expanders filled to a C cup, then I'll get started on myt treatments.  He said this would take about eight weeks.

I get my wrap and first 2 of 4 total drains taken out Thursday and I just can't wait because they are really uncomfortable!  The first few days home were total crap, but I'm good now and then pain is more of a discomfort now.  I can tell the swelling is going down because I have more "room" in my wrap to breathe.

I'll update after I see what's under this wrap.  I'm sure I'll be shocked!

Thanks for all the well wishes!

Hey Unklezwifeo:

I couldn't have the sentinel node test because of where my tumor was.  MD Anderson had a 2 month wait -- even for a consultation.  I've already had my bilateral MX and I start my chemo in 2 months.  My nodes came back 1/19.  My plastic surgeon only does breasts, and my oncologist specializes in breast cancers.  I feel confident.

Well the surgeon that did the Bilateral MX (the beginning of the SX) does NOT do only breasts, but has been specializing in mastectomies over the past 10 years, and I picked him because he has almost NO cases of arm swelling after removing lymph nodes (his part of the 5 hour surgery was an hour and a half).  However, it was not HIM that decided what surgery I was to have -- it was my oncologist.  I won't even see the general surgeon again for 2 years, when it's time to remove my port.  My plastic surgeon is managing my surgical care now.

I guess I don't understand the probing when the surgery has already happened?  I'm confortable with my decision, and 6 phone calls, with 5 of them with rude people, really turned me off to MD Anderson.  They said they didn't care the grade, etc of my cancer because it didn't matter, that it was "first come first serve" there, whereas here, my oncologist, general surgeon, and plastic surgeon were concentrating on ME.  I had the surgeon and oncologists's cell phone numbers.  That's the kind of people I wanted treating me.  The oncologist assured me there was no keeping my breast because of the likelihood of the cancer coming back, no matter what treatment I completed, and to obtain clean margins in my left breast, (a lumpectomy) it would have left me with little breast -- not enough to do anything with.  Lke I said before, the die test was useless because of where my tumor was -- IN MY AXILLA, and all three doctors explained to me that the die would have flooded the area, giving false readings on the nodes.

I'm very comfortable with my decisions.  I'll gladly answer questions about my procedure, recovery, and treatment, but I will not go BACKWARDS and talk what people think I SHOULD have had done.  It's not healthy, it's not positive, and giving people cause to second-guess their decisions is not positive support.

No, I flew off the handle a bit.  I'm a little sensitive right now (HAHA!) so my response was probably slightly off-putting.  I apologize for my bulldog attitude.

You know what a maze of questions and decisions we face after our initial diagnosis -- if it helps someone with their decision, then I'm glad, because this forum really helps me.

Lisa

My Oncologist has explained to me the chances of recurrence, especially with the aggressive type I have.  I think that's why he thought it best to have the bilateral.  He has not mentioned using radiation at this time, just chemo and hormone therapy, but I am aware of my risks.  He told me yesterday that with all things considered my cure rate falls somewhere between 80 and 90%.  I sure did want to hear 100!  LOL!  It's a day  by day thing, and I'll do whatever I need to do to stick around for my kiddos.

Drains are out!  Feels great!  One more week and I'll get my first fill and my steri strips off in a REAL SHOWER!

I can't wait!