Learned today that I belongs to this group!

I'm sorry, InTwoPlaces.  Even though there isn't much difference between 2b and 3a..I'd still rather be 2b.  But, really....what has changed?  A number in your file?  I don't think your treatment options have changed.  I would think that with 7 positive nodes, rads was not talked about as an option.  

You'll be fine.  It's just a shock..the number.  You're already well on your way to being done with treatment and coming out on the other side of this.  Here is the link for BCO's staging page.

 http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/diagnosis/staging.jsp. 

I'm here 5 years after stage 3 Dx....its s***** but its not a death sentence. 

I can relate to how you are feeling.  I also thought I was a IIb-at least that is what I was told or at least what I think I heard.  When I finally admitted to myself and received confirmation when I asked my rad onc. I was freaked out for a while.  My tumor size was small (1.6cm) but I had 6+nodes and extra capsular extension.  Yes, we would all rather be stage II but I can tell you that many, many, many stage IIIers end up doing well.  When I was freaking out about being stage III one of my docs said, "I have had stage I and II people go on to get metastastic disease and I have many patients who were diagnosed as stage III who are fine years and years out.  We just never know who will recur."  

When I was first diagnosed my oldest daughter was only 8.  Just today we were visiting the high school she will attend in Sept.  My middle daughter (in 1st grade when I was diagnosed) will be going into 7th grade and my youngest (4 yrs. old when I was diagnosed) will be starting 5th grade.  I NEVER thought I would be here but here I am, like many other stage III women. 

Feel confident that by being a stage III you are in good company and many of us are ok.

Hi InTwoPlaces,

I know how you feel. I went from "it doesn't look like it's cancer" to Stage II to finally Stage III. In the beginning, I can't even say Stage III, I would say "early stage" like that would make it better. Did not change what I had but it made me feel better. After reading everything that I can about BC, I am not so concerned about the stage anymore but rather the treatment that I had and continue to have (tamox). I am only two and a half years from diagnosis but can tell you that things do get better with time.

Good luck with radiation! It was uneventful for me and so much easier than chemo. Take care.

Hi Ladies, I'm new to your team and happy to have one. I finally just got my diagnosis of IIIb. My entire right breast is the lesion (t4, N1, ILC - very sneaky) and this is while I was under the scrutiny of 3 breast specialists for 3 years while on HRT. It can happen. Dense breasts and everyone saying fibroid cyst disease. Guess what, you miss the elephant in the room when you think your looking at something else.

 Okay, I'm through the shock and ready for the big fight. I'm' a fighter so ready.

My question to anyone here, is it a good idea to get expanders or anything as prep for reconstruction at the same time I have my bilateral mastectomy?  Being on a path to having breasts again will help me in the psychological fight to beat this, but not if expanders or Diep flap or whatever options available will pose risks / complications in the adjuvent phase. I'll assume a 25% risk but am I better off just postponing reconstruction entirely until I'm past this entire phase?

I'm open to all input - Thank you in advance. 

@Katarina...I chose no recon but the original plan for me was expanders first.  My dr was relieved when I chose no recon, she said the rads can cause the surgery site not to heal well.  This is my only experience with recon...not much help but hope it did! Maybe someone who did it can chime in, I think there's a recon forum also.

It looks like a lot of us started out with earlier stages before finally finding that we are stage III.  It really is a huge jump from stage II to III.  I often read that those with I or II don't get why we need to differentiate the threads by staging as it doesn't make that much difference....we are all just women with bc.  Sorry.  Staging does matter when you are dealing emotionally with stage III and deciding on treatment options.  They are not really "options" at this point.   And yet, I lost a dear friends who was stage II.  So there really is no safety in any stage.

But, on the brighter side, I am now 4 years out.  There are a lot of stage III sisters who are coming back to tell us their incredible stories.  Yesterday, at work, I met a customer who was stage III and doing well 6 years out.  

I would suggest that you don't do too many searches on the net for stats at this point.  They are all several years old and can be overwhelming at first.  Let someone else do the homework for you while you are dealing with the reality.  There definitely is good news for us stage III's in the last few years! 

Pip / Kathleen --- the more I read the better approach sounds like forgetting about recon until I'm past the surgery and adjuvent therapy. I totally agree that the stages and prognoses constantly keep changing and it's really a personal, almost gut like decision. I just want to move forward with the bilateral mastectomy but don't want to do so without knowing that there were options, either chosen as course of action or passed up with educated information, and finding out later that I need 2x more surgery for recon. I like the diep flap approach anyway so probably expanders and implants are not what I should be thinking about.

Thank you again for all you support and information all. Nice to be here with you on this journey. Have a great day!!!

i didn't do recon either.

My BS wouldn't do immediate recon as she wanted me to be healed faster so I could get into Chemo quicker, and also we knew I would be doing Rads.

I could have got the process going after Rads, but actually it doesn't bother me having no recon. If I could "magic" a new boob on I would, of course, but I am happy enough with how things are now, without subjecting myself to more Surgery.

I'm still early in this game, had BMX in Jan. but so far I have no regrets about no recon and don't think I will.  I know things can change but I just want to get on with my life, I don't want to go through more surgeries and risk infections or other things going wrong.  Right now my attitude is, I want to live, as a IIIC whether I have breast or not doesn't seem important to me.  True...there's no right or wrong, it's a personal decision. 

I had my bilateral mastectomy on Monday and still waiting for the 'official" path report to come out but it's as many have noted, what they find during the surgery and after the path report is really the closest answer to where we are in this journey. Turns out my tumor was 12cm but I had only 3 nodes that were cancerous. They did an exillary node dissection so essentially removed all the notes from that area (15-20) exact count is sketchy until final pathology report is done. My Doctor is holding firm to stage IIIa at this point. I"m more curious about next steps in treatment. They are doing an onco type test to see if my cancer responds to chemo but results won't be known for 2 weeks or later. I did learn something intersting today as well. They have a tumor board at my cancer center and this board reviews and has alot to say about my treatment. It's a group input and not just my oncologist although he is ultimately accountable. Have any of you had this tumor review board process before?  I'm at a a community hospital which has it's own cancer center. I understand they are an advisory committee on adjuvent treatment. I'm just curious about the good or bad of it. Undoubtedly they influence my team of Doctors since they all are on Hospital staff. 

Hi.  I'm also pretty new to this.  I was just diagnosed 2/25.  I have not had the courage to ask what stage I am, but I believe it's stage 3c.  I know my tumor is 4.5cm and there are two smaller tumors as well in the right breast.  One is partly in the muscle.  Also know at least 2 nodes have cancer from fine needle biopsy.  MRI says it looks like multiple node involvement.  Not sure what that means.  Thank God no mets or cancer anywhere else on the bone or cat scans I've had.  Also not great on the tumor, it's grade 3 and Her2 +.  Doing neoadjuvant therapy.  Finished 2 of 4 rounds of AC then on to 4 rounds of Taxol and a year of Herceptin then 5 years of Tomoxifan.  I go from being optimistic to down trodden at the drop of a hat.  Trying to take it slowly.  Good luck to all of us.  This is a great website and I thank God I've found it. 

I do believe all hospitals have a tumor board and all cancers are discussed there.  I guess easier ones are more of a rubber stamp and ones where there are more questions or different types of options are discussed more.  It makes me feel a little safer as well.  Hope to be talking to all of you more on this stage 3 board as time goes on.  TTYL

Katarina, I had a large lymph node also I can't remember how big but it was as big as yours or bigger.  They took 2 out of 3.  I am 3 yrs out so you will be fine.  Good luck on your scans.

Katarina: I had 7 nodes removed, 6 were positive. They were clumped together, the largest mass was 3 cm. There have been studies done showing that with follow up treatment, the removal of lymph nodes is not as much a determining factor as once thought... can someone expand on this? 

Best of luck on your scans...

One love, Jackie 

Katarina,

one of my lymph nodes was 4.5 cm and the next one down was 3.5 cm.  I never found out how much cancer was in these two big ones (just that they were positive, no wording at all other than this) but I will tell you only one lit up mildly on the PET scan and then appeared benign on the CT scan. This same one appeared on the MRI as well.  But none were seen on the ultrasound (a large one was tested). My largest tumor was 1.6 cm so I was a bit freaked out that my lymph node was soo large. I did not have the extra capular extension. I am still new here basically, only three months since my last chemo.  I wish you well!