Women under 45 stage II w/node involvement?

I was 44, had lumpectomy, chemo and rads.   Over a year later, decided on a prophy mastectomy due to dense breasts.  So far so good.   On Arimidex (stopped having periods as soon as chemo started).   Had prophy hysterectomy, too.

Profbee, Thanks for posting - the info is helpful     Best wishes with your treatment.  

Stephanie1, Thanks, too, for posting.  We sound quite similar in our diagnosis and neuropathy issues.  During and after chemo I've dropped lots of dishes and have taken some big falls (down stairs a few  times, too, like you).  I'm glad to hear yours is getting better, too.  Although the improvement seems to be a little slow going, I'm hopeful it will keep moving in that direction.

As for staging, it's kind of funny, I asked my surgeon and he said 1C. Of course there is no 1C...but he was not sure if my node would be a micromet or not.

I actually believed him for a few days! 

Thank God for you guys!!! From what I've been reading you all are such strong beautiful people!!! Its been 16 days since my lumpectomy. I have been calling my surgeons office daily to see if my results are in and still not in!! The ladies in the office are very understanding they called the pathologist and he said its going to be another day or so!!  Well I lost my mind and said I have cancer and not strept throat and its been 16 days and I have been losing my mind since this whole process began!!!! I havent slept, I havent really told anyone and my kids dont know.. I am so scared to tell my 8yr old and 11yr old, Its not fair to them that there mom has cancer!!!!!!!! I called the pathologist's office and she said it takes time and she wasnt very nice about it.I made a big stink about it and that if I had connections in the medical system that I would have already received the results by now. She put me on hold and the pathologist came on the phone with my file, all because I made a big stink about it and be rude about it!! Sorry just needed to vent..i feel so out of control!! So this is what he told me so far if you guys cane HELP ME with this... The tumor in my left breast is IDC, 2cm, stage 2, its not clear margins so he said either radiation or the surgeon has to go back in and remove it and they took out 2 nodes out and 1 is good and 0ne is bad..I asked if the cancer has spread and he said that they'll have to do other tests like bone density etc...I thought they could tell by the nodes if it spread. I have no clue about any of this I just want to live!!!  if you guys could explain any of this that would be great and eventually I'm going to have to tell my kids that I have C and how do I go about this?? I've had 2 friends that have died of Cancer.. all I keep thinking about is that I'm going to die...I do not want one more dr. to tell me that "CANCER IS NOT A DEATH SENTENCE"!!!!!!!!! I'm 41 and this should not be happening to me or anyone!!!!!!  I am so sorry for venting....

Taylor,

Ok.  You didn't have clear margins on your lumpectomy.  There are exceptions to everything I will write here, but usually that means they will want to go in for another surgery to try and get "clear" margins, or you can opt for a mastectomy (MX) with or without reconstruction.

What you want to find out from your path report is if you are HER2+ and how big the cancer was in the positive lymph.  If you are HER2+, then likely you will be having chemo and radiation.  (Radiation goes hand in hand with lumpectomy to get the same survival/recurrence rates as a MX).  What a positive lymph may mean is you will not just get rads to the chest wall (the boob) but also under your arm (axilla) and the clavicle area.

Once  you have a path report in hand, you will be able to learn so much more about what you have and your options.

Cancer can spread three ways.  Through the lymphatic system (which is why they check lymphs), through tissue and through the blood.  Right now there aren't any reliable blood tests that can tell if the cancer's spread that way.  Some Oncs give a PET scan, but the cancer has to not only spread but be a certain size for a PET to pick it up. 

I'm stage 3 and my Onc refuses to do any type of scan.  Says there is no reason unless I have symptoms.  I think that is kinda the mentality of most Oncs from what I've read here.  Don't stress about it at this point....it's something you can work out with your Onc later.  Or you may have an Onc who wants a PET scan first thing.

Once you know your hormone status..and HER2 status, you can start looking at treatments for your specific cancer.

As far as telling your kids.  You might want to wait until you know all about your specific condition and treatment.  Research will also give you some time to get a little "control" when talking about it. 

My 7 year old was ok once I reassured him he would be taken care of if anything happened to me...and that he could ask any question any time.  And boy some of those questions!! 

My teenager took it harder, but he's dealt with it.  I took him on a drive and told him.  I didn't make it "serious" and weigh it down with my fear.  We went out for ice cream and I drove the long way and basically said,

"H.  I have breast cancer.  I'm stage 3 and most women who have what I have live (fill in the blank) years.  I don't plan on dying anytime soon, but it could happen.  I'm going to be taking chemo and radiation after surgery.  You're going to have to help me with your brother more.  But other than not feeling well sometime, I don't expect things will change much.  You can ask me any question any time....it's just one of those things that happen in life, but we'll get through it."

He tells me now that he didn't freak out because I didn't freak out.  He knew it was serious because he researched it, but I seemed ok with it, so he was too."

Of course I wasn't "ok with it."  But he need never know that.

My kids are ok.  Your kids likely will be too.

Hugs to you.

Hello...I am 43 years old.  I have had 3 biopsies, a skin-sparing left breast mastectomy, a tissue expander inserted underneath the chest muscle (in case I needed radiation), and a sentinel node biopsy that was checked for cancer during surgery. Since no cancer cells were seen in the lymph node at the time of the surgery, I did not have a full lymph node dissection immediately. So far good news! I felt great, but the lymph nodes removed were examined again in greater detail over the next several days and cancer was found in 1 lymph node. I feel betrayed! I had to have another surgery to have a full axillary lymph node dissection 15 days later!

 My recovery from both surgeries was as good as I expected. It's funny to hear the nurses say "you are so healthy". Nevertheless, one month later, my upper left arm and axilla are still numb, and since I could not do any exercise until all the drains were removed, I still do not have the full use of my arm.

Now the port has been placed and I am ready to start AC this Tuesday 7/19 every two weeks, 4 doses followed by Taxol every week for 8 weeks - then radiation. So far my journey has been full of "surprises", but I am still smiling!

Thanks so much ladies!!! I didnt sleep very well so I came on here and I feel better reading your stories.

Such great news Loulou!! I love how you have gone on with your life and havent worried about recurrence. I'm just feeling bad thinking that my life is over and will never be the same but maybe it will and that it will be better and wont stress out about the stupid things that doesnt matter one bit now.

Thanks so much Ton Lee. I automatically thought that if your lymph nodes were affected you had to have chemo , Hopefully I find out more today. I'm going to wait to tell the kids until I know more and have calmed down.

Thanks Pejkug

Hi Seasiren and I'm glad your still smiling Ralston

Hi formycyndi, how are you doing now??

I am so grateful I found this site!! Thanks everyone!! I wish I could give you all a hug!!!!!

Taylor, I'm 41 with 2 small kids. It sucks. But, honestly the kids keep me going, distracted, focused, etc. But, I thought I would lose my mind and cried every night for several weeks at the thought of them growing up without their Mom. I know what you are going through. My littlest (4) is too young to understand much beyond the words sick, doctors, "owwie," etc. But, my oldest (6 1/2) asked LOTS more questions, thought the wig was funny and can comprehend the books I've found to try to help them. Still, most days everything seems normal to them. Luckily, they have short attention spans! LOL



16 days for pathology results after your surgery is a bit too long, in my opinion. It's sad that we sometimes have to make a stink to get what we need. Sadly, I have observed this over and ove
r in the cancer-treatment world. You MUST be your own advocate. The only other advice I can give is if you want a treatment, diagnostic test or whatever, fight for it. I insisted (and got) a MRI,
PET/CT, BRCA testing and several biopsies so I knew exactly what I was dealing with from the
beginning. Maybe, some don't care as much about this but I did. I had to know and I wasn't going
to let anyone tell me it wasn't necessary or important or we could do it "later." You might also
consider a 2nd opinion on your pathology report and/or treatment recommendations.



It sounds like your cancer is early stage. One of 2 nodes positive is very treatable. If you need
a re excision or even, a mastectomy, you will get through this. Then, you will feel much better when
you see the Oncologist and the treatment plan is in place.



The waiting is the absolute worst. Big hug.

This is a common problem faced by women during the laater satege of their life mostly at the age of 40-50.Their condition remains pity or months and they use to servive only by the help of medication.I am sure that this will help them a lot from recovering their health to a great extent.

fibroids miracle

Wendy72- I also had my biopsy a couple of weeks tater my 39th bday and god knows how long this has been growing inside of my breast. There are different factors they look into, as you know there are different kinds of BC and different sub-types, it depends whether you are hormone receptor + or - whether Her2+ or-, lymph nodes involvement or not and of course your age, the younger you are the more aggressive the treatment is. I had a mastectomy chemo radiation and a year on Herceptin because I was Her2+ , I am 2 years out and I have never felt better. Also understand that every doctor and hospital have different protocols, in my case some doctors might have suggested I do chemo first to shrink the tumor and have a lumpectomy, it was mentioned briefly to me but I just wanted them to take hat thing out of me , I did not care about losing a breast as much as I cared about survival and I have always been proud of my girls but when I was diagnosed I did not care about losing one and you know what? It never made me feel less than a woman.

So whatever your treatment plan is, good luck and I hope you and your doctors will make the right decision .

Nanorama,

Good info on lymphedema - thanks for posting!

Diagnosed at 39--right before my 40th bday....what a present.

Found tumor myself..was 1.9cm with 1 sentinel node involved. Finished chemo and rads. Had lumpectomy. Have two boys 9 &11.

Was originally diagnosed with cervical cancer last Feb. Had rad hyst (staged at 1b) was in recovery when found lump. Diagnosed with IDC in July 2010. Crappy year! Have my checkup next week for bc and hoping for clear scans!

Tammy....my boys have weathered this ok. My oldest is very emotional...wears his heart on his sleeve and he has had a harder time.



I am ER+ but had rad hyst with oopherectomy for the first cancer. I have met a few who have chose to have the ovaries removed and others whose onco said not to do. My surgery was easy...had Davinci robotic but being flung into early menopause was kind of hard..had bad hot flashes but got easier with time.