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pebee
pebee Member Posts: 317
edited June 2014 in Stage I Breast Cancer

In Feb, I went in for what I thought was a routine breast cyst mammogram - the first that I have ever had as I had large breasts, dense breasts, no history of cancer (of any type) as well as no risk factor.

Surprise, surprise, it was cancer.....

Couple of questions -

There are references to oncology reports - are these the same as pathology reports?

next.....

I am going through chemo first - I am taking Taxotare and Cytoxan to shrink the cancer and then, I will go through the lumpectomy and then the radiation.  I want the lumpectomy not to save the breast, but rather to avoid the reconstruction..... Has anyone else done it in this order?

And next

I do not see any info on ER+, PR- HerNeu2 - prognois.... Can someone point me in the right direction for info?

I am stunned - I did everything that I was suppose to, to avoid this.  No luck, and as always, I have to be different - so I am just a little off kilter - off the normal way to do things.  I am open to any discussion of alternative health practices as I am just not thrilled by regular medical doctors.....

Help - can someone point me where to go?

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  • XmasDx
    XmasDx Member Posts: 225
    edited April 2011

    Hi pebee,

    Sorry you are here for obvious reasons, but I think you will find this site very helpful, and the women on here are wonderful.

    I don't know about the chemo order but wanted to chime in with a good resource, I'm reading a book called "Anticancer:  A new way of life" and finding it very helpful.  It is by David Servan-Schreiber, MD.   In this book there are many suggestions of things you can do to support your body's natural responses even during chemo.

    There is an alternative/complementary medicine discussion forum on this site as well you would probably be interested in.  

    Also, dense breasts are a risk factor for cancer.  So perhaps you didn't know it (I didn't, and I am very dense as well) but you do have a higher risk if you have dense breasts.  

    I did reconstruction (DIEP) to avoid radiation and hormonal drugs, so I'm the opposite of you in that way.  But I have heard of women doing the chemo first followed by surgery.  

    Best of luck to you!

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  • wrsmith2x
    wrsmith2x Member Posts: 410
    edited April 2011

    Pebee,

    Not sure of the order but doctors from different areas of the country, and the world, do things differently.  I had lumpectomy then chemo then rads.  They may see something in yours that will benefit by going another route.

    As for hormone receptor status it should be on the path report.  You may have several copies of this document so make sure you get the latest one. 

    Sorry you are here but there is loads of good info here.  And great ladies who will help with advice as well as inspiration.  I wish you peace in your journey back to good health.  Namaste'.

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  • NatureGrrl
    NatureGrrl Member Posts: 1,367
    edited April 2011

    Many of us did all the right things and still got BC.  It sucks, and it lends a lot of credence to the theory that there are multiple causes for what are really multiple kinds of BC.

    I didn't have the same chemo but I did chemo, lumpectomy, rads... I was told I could do chemo first or mastectomy first, that my prognosis would be the same either way.  I fully expected to have a mast. anyway but chose chemo first because I felt I could deal with it better (after the shock of dx) than surgery. 

    Turns out, after I was done with chemo they couldn't find any traces of chemo in an MRI and then later in the margins of my lump or in the lump itself.  I will say, my surgeon still thought I should do a mast. but was willing to do the lump. instead.  Kind of a long story but to his credit, he was really glad I followed my gut on that one. 

    If you have questions or want more of my story please feel free to PM me. 

    Cancer sucks but you can do it.  We're all here to help.  Best of luck. 

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  • AlaskaAngel
    AlaskaAngel Member Posts: 1,836
    edited April 2011

    Hi,

    "Oncology reports" is a general term but could be interpreted as meaning the path report too. The initial path report often doesn't include all of the info because some of the tests like HER2/neu take longer to complete. So keep asking for that info if you dont' have it.

    Also, in comparing different people's situations, age at time of dx makes a difference; also, the majority of women diagnosed with bc are diagnosed when they are over the age of 50.

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