Good News Finally in the Week From Hell!

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KC71579
KC71579 Member Posts: 73
edited June 2014 in DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma In Situ)

 Hi Girls

My surgeon called me this morning with some good news (FINALLY!).  The MRI results are in (2 days late, but better late than never), and neither one of my breasts show any more cancer spots, and the armpits were clean (good boob nor bad).  That said, I will be at the doctor's office today at 4:45 for our discussion of the next step.  Maybe double mastectomy with immediate reconstruction.  I am just relieved that this test came back in my favor.  Wish me luck :)  Krissy

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  • coonie
    coonie Member Posts: 7,618
    edited February 2010

    Krissy....great news!! Sending you hugs and prayers for your journey!

    Hang in there!!!

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  • AlohaGirl
    AlohaGirl Member Posts: 213
    edited February 2010

    That is great news!  Hopefully from here the process gets easier for you.  For me the hardest part was finding out, waiting for results from MRI and BRCA testing to know exactly what was going on and making treatment decisions.  Once I was actually in the process of treatment (lumpectomy and radiation in my case) things were much better.  I hope it is the same for you.

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  • CAROLMARIE427
    CAROLMARIE427 Member Posts: 206
    edited February 2010

    Yay!  Good news for you.  Celebrate today before moving to the next step!

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  • jkz
    jkz Member Posts: 355
    edited February 2010

    Krissy good for you. Happy to hear your good news! Unfortunately I had an MRI on Tuesday and got the reslts on Wednesday. What I thought was a 1 cm mass turned out to be 7.7 cms and another mass was found in the upper right area with abnormal lymph. Not good luck is coming my way but I am happy for you :) Best of luck with everything :)

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  • KC71579
    KC71579 Member Posts: 73
    edited February 2010

    Hi Ladies

     So I had my doctor's appointment yesterday at 4:45 with my mind ready to have my breast(s) taken off until Dr. Adams informed me that my MRI showed that he got all of the cancer out in the biopsy.  He wants me to do a wide margin lumpectomy (with biopsy on 2 nodes) and have 25 treatments of radiation (2 mins a day, 5 days a week), all upon the fact that the pathology comes back clean.  If we did lumpectomy and it didn't come back clean by some twist of fate, mastectomy would be one week later.  I am 30 years old and he understands my fears about recurrence.  He gave me information to visit a radiation specialist, and the plastic surgeon before making my decision.  He told me that in my case, both would have similar success rate and the "wait 2 years" for children has nothing to do with radiation, but would be the case in either event because I should be a 2 year out survivor first.  I am getting married in July and I did want to start a family right away.  Now I understand that is not an option for me but my question now becomes what do I do.  Ladies who had lumpectomy and radiation, how closely do they follow you?  I am a worrier when it comes to my health, so I need to be followed closely enough to put my mind at complete ease.  He told me they would do that, visits with him, 2 MRI's and yearly mammograms, plus oncologist follow up.  Would frequent bloodwork tell them if my cancer came back at all in addition to testing?  Also, does radiation hurt?  My dad had radiation in the early 90's for prostate cancer and it ultimately ate away his hip.  My doctor said that now a days, radiation is a lot more precise and pinpoints the exact spot, especially for breast cancer.  And will it hurt my chance of having babies?  Any young ladies been through this and have success afterwards with having babies?  I know we are talking the top shelf, but I fear that I will become sterile some how.  I need some input and help deciding so anything that any of you can offer me would be appreciated.  My decision is tough and I don't want to make the wrong one.  My fiance and I were encouraged by my doctor to get the information and then decide.  Any links that you can send my way would also be wonderful. 

     Thanks ladies!!!  Also, when it rains it pours.  My truck got rear ended on my way to the doctor yesterday while sitting at a traffic light.  Dr. Adams told me not to leave my house this weekend after the bad week I've had. LOL  <3 Hugs to all my sisters!

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  • KC71579
    KC71579 Member Posts: 73
    edited February 2010
    JKZ I am sooo sorry to hear that Frown  Keep your head up...good luck is going to come your way soon.  I am sending prayers and good thoughts your way.
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  • lmnop35
    lmnop35 Member Posts: 35
    edited February 2010

    KC7: Congrats on the good news from the MRI. If you're like me, the good news "high" only lasts about an hour. Then I'm back to worrying about "what else". My dx is similar to yours, clean MRI, small tumor, most removed with the biopsy, but so far we believe it to be all DCIS. Also, I'm 35 and have been trying to conceive for several years. I spoke to my fertility doctor about the radiation and he had no reservations whatsoever about conceiving at any point after radiation was complete (from a fertility aspect). He said that radiation is very focused and if it's not on your abdomen, it's not going to effect your fertility. I know the oncologists will want you to wait and probably take drug therapies for a while before conceiving. I don't have the time that you do, so I'm not going that route. I'm also a major worrier about my health so I've pretty much decided on the bilateral mast. It has given me so much grief to even consider, but honestly this whole thing is nothing but grief. Unfortunately, for us, there are not that many women in our position. So it's hard to get opinions. Your girlfriends can try, but they simply don't know what this is like. Three weeks ago my perspective on life was very different.

    I do know you can be monitored and even treated during pregnancy if something else arose, which hopefully it wouldn't. I hate to say you just have to decide what is most important to you, but the fact is that you do. Do you want to breastfeed? There's the sexual aspect to consider. So many questions!

    I have made my fertility plans very clear to all of my doctors. Of course, they advise waiting with the lump/rad, but no one has expressed any concern about proceeding after the mast.

    Also, I saw my first PS today and I LOVE him and he showed me pictures that amazed me! If you get a good PS, the recon can look pretty good. You won't be posing for Playboy, but I think we can live with that :)

    Good luck! I know life suck right now, but people keep telling me it's going to get better.

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  • KC71579
    KC71579 Member Posts: 73
    edited March 2010

    Hi Ladies

     I had my lumpectomy last Wednesday the 24th.  My fiance and I decided it would be best to do side with the doctor and try the smaller surgery before doing mastectomy.  My results are in...all of my margins are clear except one, which is clear but only by 1mm.  So, I have a re-excision on that margin next Tuesday so that the doctor can make it 5mm (approximately a 10 minute procedure that I will be under a local for).  In the pathology, there was a tiny amount of DCIS left over, too small to even measure.  Both nodes were clean.  Doctor said that the pathology absolutely ruled out the need for chemotherapy.  So, I meet with my radiation oncologist tomorrow for the first time consult.  Naturally, I'm very nervous but happy to be moving forward.  I will be making it clear to him that we plan on having a family asap, as in as soon as our 2 year wait period is up and if I am still "cancer free."  Imnop35, I still can't get over the fact that we are so young with breast cancer, and as I come to these boards, I find more and more women our age.  This angers me, because all they make us do is CBE at our annual visit when we are young (and when it is too early to feel a lot of times), which makes me wonder if those diagnosed in their 40's had it in their 30's and never knew it.  I feel very lucky that my cancer presented with a random symptom (bloody nipple when expressed only), and that I was my own advocate after 2 doctors blew me off.  Because of my persistence, my doctor told me that in his opinion, I am 99% cureable having found it so early.  If I have any further troubles, mastectomy will be the next option though I am confident now that I will be okay. 

     I wasn't planning on posing for Playboy any time soon. ;)  I don't have the abs for that LOL!  But, I will say that my breast surgeon has done an AMAZING job with my lumpectomy.  I have a cut underneath my armpit that is rather large but you probably will never notice it in that spot, and the one on my breast is vertical and in the areola.  I am imagining that once this heals after my next procedure, it will look pretty good with the areola covering it fairly well.  Of course right now, my fiance calls it "the battlefield."  :)   I'm only a few days out of my surgery though. 

    Good luck with your procedure.  Let me know which one you choose and keep me posted on your progress.  I will keep you in my prayers and yes, they say it is going to get better so I guess we should believe that one. 

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