My mammo came out good today

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Crescent5
Crescent5 Member Posts: 442
edited June 2014 in LCIS (Lobular Carcinoma In Situ)

I couldn't find the thread in which I wrote about it, so here it is. Every thing looked good, and I was extremely impressed that the radiologist read the films while I was still there.

The first mammo or MRI post dx is probably very hard for everyone. I was scared to death. This mammo tells me that the calcifications are not changing extremely fast. There was a question about that last fall since my regular mammographer got a new digital camera last year. We didn't know if these were new findings or just a much clearer shot of the old ones.

I've got dense breasts, so the mammo really was about the calcifications. I'll have an MRI this fall.

Testing is a bit stressful, but it's very nice to hear, "everything looks good!"

I also want to add that I had an appt with my BS immediately following. We talked a lot more about LCIS/PLCIS and one thing that struck me is that she said the vast majority of her patients with LCIS do not get PBM. She will do a PBM if I want, and she understands. I just thought it was worth mentioning.

It was VERY nice to leave that office with a smile for once. Very nice indeed.

Thank you for the support, ladies. :)

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  • Crescent5
    Crescent5 Member Posts: 442
    edited April 2011

    Thanks. I'm sorry that happened to you. For me however, I'm going to enjoy today's news and get my MRI in a few months (I had a baseline breast MRI 5 months ago, and will get them yearly). It was nice for a day not to be terrified. I think I deserve that.

    My problem is with calcifications, and MRIs don't read calcifications. I'm actually kind of pissed off right now. I had a little victory to celebrate, and now I feel like crap. I said in my OP that I was getting an MRI, so I'm not sure why I needed a lecture. I realize it's important to share information and stories (trust me I read all the boards), but sometimes people need to understand how to deliver a message. I'm sorry you've been through all of that, and I wish you the best.

    Diagnosis: PLCIS 11/16/10

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  • leaf
    leaf Member Posts: 8,188
    edited April 2011

    Woo Hoo!  You got a good mammo today!  Those are sweet words to hear. It is good not to be terrified!

    I read in the literature that several years ago, most LCIS women didn't get BPMs, but I thought maybe that was classic LCIS.  I read one paper from 5-10 years ago that said most LCIS women didn't get BPMs or take antihormonals,but do watchful waiting.  It seems like there are many more PLCIS women on this board in the last few years.  I don't know the relative incidence of classic LCIS vs PLCIS, and thought maybe that could be because perhaps PLCIS is more uncommon than classic LCIS? (I haven't seen anyone propose a % for the incidence of classic LCIS vs PLCIS, but just call PLCIS uncommon.  Don't know if the incidence of PLCIS is changing because pathologists might be more aware of it?)

    So your doc was saying that most PLCIS women don't get BPMs either? (Just curious, I'm not pushing anyone for any particular choice.  Its a very personal choice.)

    Celebrate your good news!

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  • Minnesota
    Minnesota Member Posts: 923
    edited April 2011

    It would be interesting to know how many PLCIS patients any one doctor has seen, since there seem to be very few of us, and we are usually quite the curiosity at whatever medical center we are seen. Most have only seen one. I do suspect that there are women with the condition who are being diagnosed incorrectly with something else. We already have a number of these stories on these boards, even among the few of us who are here. I know there have been no studies about the incidence of BPMs in PLCIS women. Don't know about LCIS women. My guess is that, in either case, most don't, but that could be due to various reasons, including docs' reluctance to ever recommend or even mention prophylactic surgery. Most women are happy and comfortable not having the extra surgery. Depends on the research you do on your own and your personal tolerance for risk. But anyone diagnosed with PLCIS or LCIS should definitely celebrate not having invasive cancer!

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  • Crescent5
    Crescent5 Member Posts: 442
    edited April 2011

    My BS has had one other patient with PLCIS. That patient chose PBM. I think most women feel there's just not enough data on PLCIS. I do believe as more and more centers get digital mammography, more & more women will be dx'd with the LCIS family, including PLCIS. Of course, we're mostly interested in what happens years down the road.

    My dr has been very good about supporting whatever I want. At first I was all about PBM, but as the months have gone on, I've been taking time to read, think and feel. Like my BS said, there's a process to reaching a decision, and that process needs to be respected. No matter what I choose, I'll know I chose the right choice for me.

    I wanted to post about the experience of first mammo post dx, because I do believe that's a very hard one emotionally. The night before, I said to my dh that I know the probability of hearing bad news was very low, but to me it felt like 50/50. I think you get used to hearing bad news sometimes, and it skews the thinking. It was really important to my soul to be on the side of the good odds. I know there's a few of us LCIS sisters who suffer from anxiety. This journey is about more than our breasts. Everything is effected. So it was really good medicine to hear good news yesterday (and no one should try to take that from me 'cause I freaking needed that moment).

    Thank you Minnesota & Leaf. I hope this spring is good to all of us!

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  • KellyMaryland
    KellyMaryland Member Posts: 350
    edited April 2011

    There you are, C! Was looking for your results- hurrah for the great news!

    Kelly

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  • iammommy
    iammommy Member Posts: 213
    edited April 2011

    Crescent! Great news!

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited April 2011

    C-Great news indeed.  I' remember well my first mammo after the quetionable one, followed by a trip to the BS and then a sterotactic biopsy and then surgery.  I was scared to death every time I went for another Mammo for the next several years.  It's been 6 years now.  We all have to make our own decisions about what/when/and how soon.  But I join you in celebrating your good news, and think those good feelings are very important in keeping you healthy.  Congrats!  Pat

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  • Crescent5
    Crescent5 Member Posts: 442
    edited April 2011

    Thank you ladies!

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited April 2011

    crescent----wonderful news---go out and celebrate!

    Anne

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  • Misty3
    Misty3 Member Posts: 154
    edited April 2011

    Crescent, Great news!!!!  Very happy for you and such a relief I'm sure!

    Reading this thread made me wonder if they will, in the near future,  recommend treatment for LCIS/PLCIS much like the current treatment for DCIS. Tamoxifen is not popular amoung women with LCIS but would local treatment (radiation) be more accepted or help at all. I believe they radiate for LCIS in Europe. (I could be wrong here--just remembering something I read when I was diagnosed several years ago).

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  • leaf
    leaf Member Posts: 8,188
    edited April 2011

    Re: radiation for LCIS

    There was at least 1 LCIS (and nothing worse) woman who posted here who was treated with radiation.  I don't think she completed her entire radiation course, and IIRC she opted for mastectomy many months later.

    This 2005 article about radiation for pure LCIS is from France http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15691636

    as is this 1998 article. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9769400

    In table 1 of this article describing 4490  LCIS patients  taken from the SEER registry between 1988 and 2001, 96 out of 4490 (less than 3%) had radiation.  http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cncr.21864/full Specifically, it is striking that only 95 of 4046 (2%) LCIS patients in this study who received a partial or less than total mastectomy also received radiation, whereas 12,804 of 23,687 (54%) DCIS patients who received a partial mastectomy were treated with radiation. Clearly, LCIS patients are routinely not receiving definitive local treatment, but, based on our study, it appears that these women have a higher incidence rate of ipsilateral invasive breast cancer than of contralateral breast cancer, contrary to what has been reported previously. Thus, local treatment for women with LCIS may be warranted, although further studies are needed to evaluate this.) <AFAIK, these further studes have not been done on LCIS women.>

    Perhaps one reason why they don't generally do radiation for pure LCIS is because  you can only do breast radiation once?  Presumably,if you choose radiation, you may opt to do bilateral radiation since often LCIS is bilateral.  If you got a worse type of breast cancer later, you wouldn't be able to do breast raditaion again. Also, once you have had breast radiation, it also makes it more difficult/impossible to do surgical reconstruction (if desired.)  However, obviously, if radiation prevented most/all subsequent invasive or DCIS in LCIS women, then further treatment wouldn't be needed.

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