Biopsy results: + for cancer but all in situ!

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CrunchyPoodleMama
CrunchyPoodleMama Member Posts: 1,220
edited June 2014 in Complementary and Holistic Medicine and Treatment

I've called the dr's office three times this afternoon and this time when I called, the results had just come in.

He said (exact words; I typed as he talked!): "The cores tested positive for cancer, but the encouraging thing is that out of all the cores, none of them are invasive; they all appear to be in situ."

I was freaking out because this is the best outcome I could possibly imagine. Dang, these three doctors scared the living CRAP out of me... I didn't think there was the remotest possibility it could be in situ (that's DCIS, right?)!

I'll paste the other notes I was typing while listening to him:

"fairly unusual for a mass to be in situ"
"very excited about it being in situ" (yes, he used the words VERY EXCITED!!)
"this changes things; normally you would do chemo before surgery to shrink it, but you won't need chemo now that we know this" (all I could hear was NO CHEMO so the wording there may be a little off)

I asked about the mass vs. the microcalcifications (I remembered he had said I might have two different types of cancer), and I couldn't really understand his answer but basically they looked at the cores to make sure they had samples of the microcalcifications. 

Next step is an MRI, and then I guess surgery... the scheduler will call Monday to set up the MRI and the next steps consultation.

I am shaking, I'm so relieved... I wasn't afraid of cancer so much as chemo (until after we've had a child), because I KNOW I'm meant to have a baby!! I had the phone on speaker while Dr. Fine was talking so my husband could hear (he took today off), and we were hugging and yelling "Thank you, GOD!!!" after I hung up... I really am so thankful to God for this (sorry, girls, I'm a Christian and have prayed SO much about this baby thing) and SO happy to have you all 

I posted here because I'm afraid someone might tell me I'm insensitive and that I have "Cancer Lite"... if I've said anything insensitive that I don't realize, could someone PM me right away so I can edit?? 

eta: crap, I forgot to ask him about ER/PR etc. and they're not answering at the nurse's line now. Oh well, I guess I can wait on that... I was afraid I'd have to go the whole weekend without the biopsy results so that's good!

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  • Jaimieh
    Jaimieh Member Posts: 2,373
    edited November 2009

    Julia I am glad that it is DCIS.  I hope that everything goes well.

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  • OneBadBoob
    OneBadBoob Member Posts: 1,386
    edited November 2009

    Great news Julia!  Of course B9 is the best, DCIS is certainly the second best!!

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  • shabby6485
    shabby6485 Member Posts: 679
    edited November 2009

    Hi Julia,

    Hoping that everything keeps going your way.  Have a nice weekend.

    shabby 

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  • nash
    nash Member Posts: 2,600
    edited November 2009

    Good news that it appears to be all DCIS! Even if it turns out that there are invasive portions, not all invasive bc needs chemo. Keep us posted on the MRI.

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  • rreynolds1
    rreynolds1 Member Posts: 450
    edited November 2009

    Congrats!  First God whispers so I would continue to do the life changes you have been working on to avoid something in the future.  Good news!

    Roseann

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  • Bren-2007
    Bren-2007 Member Posts: 6,241
    edited November 2009

    Hallelujah!!!  No such thing as "cancer-lite."  Any cancer sucks!  Just great news that it's DCIS. 

    Hugs Crunchy,

    Bren

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  • CoolBreeze
    CoolBreeze Member Posts: 4,668
    edited November 2009

    Congratulations!

    Did he say if it was DCIS or LCIS?

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  • althea
    althea Member Posts: 1,595
    edited November 2009

    I was hoping you'd get a B9 also, but I'm so glad you they're not recommending chemo! 

    I know you had a rough start here with some harsh comments from some.  I got some this week also when I offered suggestions I thought might be helpful in another section.  I got blasted for posting where I didn't belong and to stop the harassment.  It sure stings but I can't control how others react.  If it's how they feel, by golly, they're entitled.  Don't know what happened to manners along the way, but people are what they are.  I hope you get the best possible outcome, and this site really is a great resource, even with all its pits and shortfalls.  Comparing notes with others with a similar dx can be a tremendous resource.  

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  • desdemona222b
    desdemona222b Member Posts: 776
    edited November 2009

    OMG, Julia, that is such good news!  But being diagnosed with DCIS is rough, too.  You're going to be okay!!!  Laughing

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  • thenewme
    thenewme Member Posts: 1,611
    edited November 2009

    What a relief to know yours isn't invasive - whew!  It definitely makes things a lot easier to know exactly what you're dealing with, and like althea says, it's really helpful to share experiences.

    I apologize for any hard feelings I may have caused.  Stick around and don't give up on us. We can get pretty heated up and protective sometimes, but most of us honestly do mean well. 

    Congrats on getting past the fear and moving forward, and best of luck with your treatment!

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  • deni63
    deni63 Member Posts: 601
    edited November 2009

    Good for you! Hopefully you can now put your anxiety to rest.

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  • desdemona222b
    desdemona222b Member Posts: 776
    edited November 2009

    I am just praising God for this!!!  So happy for you!!!  Yippeeeeee!

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  • deni63
    deni63 Member Posts: 601
    edited November 2009

    Althea - your helpful suggestions are always welcomed here!!!

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  • dlb823
    dlb823 Member Posts: 9,430
    edited November 2009

    As you've said, if it has to be bc, I'm glad it's in situ.  You're going to be fine, Julia.  And you know, I can't help wondering if perhaps this has been one of the obstacles to your pregnancies?  God works in mysterious ways, and, who knows, perhaps you needed to develop and be treated for bc to get beyond the problems you've had??? 

    It sounds odd to tell you that I'm so happy you have insitu bc, but I guess that's just one of the weird things about bc.  It certainly can give us a different perspective on things. 

    Thinking of you ~ Deanna

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  • Jelson
    Jelson Member Posts: 1,535
    edited November 2009

    Wow! I am dancing the happy dance for you. Thank you so much for posting  your news. This is so much better than what you (and many of us) feared.

    Have a great weekend and keep crunching.

    Julie E

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  • bluedasher
    bluedasher Member Posts: 1,203
    edited November 2009

    Congratulations! I don't know if you remember that I mentioned earlier that a large tumor can be in situ. I've seen posts from a number of women on these boards with DCIS around 5 cm.

    They didn't have the ER/PR test result when they gave me the initial biopsy report. They can tell it is cancer by looking at the slides under the microscope but the ER/PR and HER2 tests are not something they can see that way. They do other tests to find that out. I found out the results of those a week after. I don't think they do the HER2 test on DCIS - Being HER2+ is only suppose to be important if it is invasive.

    So don't beat yourself up about forgetting to ask. They may not know ER/PR yet. Which are you hoping for? Hormone positive may mean a less aggressive tumor that can benefit from hormone therapy, but isn't hormone therapy a problem if trying to get pregnant? I don't know much about it since I was post menopausal and hormone negative.

    I don't see anything insensitive in what you wrote above. I hope that we don't have to compete to see who has the worst cancer. 

    Just a little note of caution here - sometimes when they take out a large DCIS tumor and do the pathology on it they do find a little IDC. If there is anything, it is probably small for the biopsy to have missed it and it doesn't necessarily mean that you will need chemo. Just mentioning it to say if you later hear IDC, try to remain calm and not jump to conclusions about what it might mean. 

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  • pitanga
    pitanga Member Posts: 596
    edited November 2009

    Julia,

    This is a very good outcome given the dire possibilities that were being weighed. Congratulations! Hopefully when you have surgery it will also show nothing but low-grade DCIS.

    About the estrogen receptivity, I think that is a test they cannot do with the tiny samples they get from a core biopsy.

    Hang in there,

    Lisa 

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  • konakat
    konakat Member Posts: 6,085
    edited November 2009

    Oh thank goodness.  And thank-you Deanna for pointing me to this thread!!

    What a relief!!!!!!  I was so worried.  You will have a chemo-free treatment and soon put this all behind you.  Celebrate!  Have a wonderful weekend!!!

    Elizabeth

    xox

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  • Sue-61
    Sue-61 Member Posts: 599
    edited November 2009

    WAHOO, great news. And being a nurse I want to talk to you about finding a high risk MD for the pregnancy issues......but LATER.....you have to do the breast thing first.

    again, wahoo wahoo

    Sue 

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  • konakat
    konakat Member Posts: 6,085
    edited November 2009

    BTW -- your post is fine.  Excellent, IMHO!  Please take the weekend off, don't even come to the boards.  Just enjoy the weekend doing something decadent with your DH.  Dance!  Do a Snoopy happy dance!

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  • desdemona222b
    desdemona222b Member Posts: 776
    edited November 2009
    I agree, kona!  Crunchy and DH need to take those poodles out and have a blast with them this weekend, dine out, and love each other!!! Kiss
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  • joanneasiata
    joanneasiata Member Posts: 719
    edited November 2009

    JULIA

    Im so happy for you  good news ah just enjoy your weekend GOD IS GOOD

    JOANNE

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited November 2009

    I know that it isn't the answer you'd hoped for, but it also isn't as bad as you'd feared.  Relax, enjoy your weekend, and you can deal with the next step come Monday.  I'm so glad that you didn't have to wait through the weekend to hear the great news that it's in situ.

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  • otter
    otter Member Posts: 6,099
    edited November 2009

    Oh, Julia... okay, it's not benign, but wow, what a relief -- it looks like it's not invasive, either! Sounds weird, but that is really good news... especially if it means you can avoid chemo.

    Big hugs coming your way....  {{{{Julia}}}}

    otter 

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  • Rabbit_fan
    Rabbit_fan Member Posts: 166
    edited November 2009

    Congrats on your good news/bad news, Crunchy.  You're on the road to putting the worst of it behind you.

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  • CrunchyPoodleMama
    CrunchyPoodleMama Member Posts: 1,220
    edited November 2009

    THANK YOU, girls!!!!

    From the way all the doctors talked to me, I knew it wasn't going to come out benign... in fact I had been told point-blank that it was probably invasive, so even though having a confirmation of cancer isn't exactly wonderful news, it really is a better outcome than I was daring to hope for.

    thenewme, NO hard feelings whatsoever... thank you!!

    althea, I'm so sorry that happened to you... I guess emotions run so high for all of us here, there are bound to be hurt feelings at times and defensive reactions when that happens. I've certainly learned some lessons through it all and hopefully we can all stay kind and sensitive even when we disagree (or if a crazy crunchy newbie comes on and says something dumb)! Laughing

    Did he say if it was DCIS or LCIS?  

    You know -- I don't remember now whether he used that term (I only remember him saying "in situ" several times) -- I had forgotten there was an LCIS. One of at least a dozen questions I am wishing now I had asked him! edit: oops, on that note, I should delete my diagnosis from my signature until I know for sure. I've had bloody duct discharge for a couple of months so my hunch is that it's ductal, but I'll be curious to know what the dr says about it.

    sometimes when they take out a large DCIS tumor and do the pathology on it they do find a little IDC. If there is anything, it is probably small for the biopsy to have missed it and it doesn't necessarily mean that you will need chemo. Just mentioning it to say if you later hear IDC, try to remain calm and not jump to conclusions about what it might mean.  

    That is good to know... heh, the last thing the board needs is me panicking at 1am again! Laughing

    And you know, I can't help wondering if perhaps this has been one of the obstacles to your pregnancies? God works in mysterious ways, and, who knows, perhaps you needed to develop and be treated for bc to get beyond the problems you've had???  

    That is quite possible -- there's a lot more to that, in fact, than I have time to write right now, but in a nutshell, I was in a very dark depression after our last loss, and was on a self-destructive path. I needed a wake-up call. And boy, has this ever been a wake-up call; it was the one thing that finally got me to snap out of my self-destructiveness. In the past, we were able to conceive once I "cleaned up" my lifestyle, got into a healthy weight range, etc., and thankfully I'm well on my way to that now.

    Thank you SO much for everything!!

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  • PS73
    PS73 Member Posts: 469
    edited November 2009

    Julia, phew.  I was so nervous logging on.  Keep us posted on all of the progress, and like it was said above, this is a great place for resources and friendship.  There is a thread dedicated to DCIS and (after you breathe, relax and spend time w/ the poodles and thaw), lots of insightful info is on it to check out.  There is still some stuff to take care of asap and cancer is never an easy road regardless of the dx but Im very relieved for you.

    I think Ill have a drink for you tonight at dinner (even though Im not supposed to)!!

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  • fairy49
    fairy49 Member Posts: 1,245
    edited November 2009

    YAY!!! Julia!! Have a flippin cocktail and praise the Lord!! I shall be having a non-alcoholic glass of champagne and toasting you!!!Kiss 

    L

    ox

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  • Nico1012
    Nico1012 Member Posts: 1,492
    edited November 2009

    Oh YES, Oh YES, Oh YES!!! ***SO HAPPY*** for this news!

    Most definately have a glass of something bubbly and enjoy the week end.

    You deserve it!

    Nico

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  • kbram
    kbram Member Posts: 185
    edited November 2009

    WHEW!!  I am so relieved for you......at least you know what you are dealing with now.  Plenty of women here to lend a hand and get you thru the whole process.  Wonderful!!

    Kathy

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