Recurrence after bilat mastectomy?

GREAT first post Karen!! You have every right to be scared, but you know that there ARE other things the lump could be. I had a couple of scares myself. They turned out to be fat deposits and/or necrosis. Very common, especially along the scar line. You will feel better once you know for sure, but if you're like the rest of us, you'll still wonder....

Hang in there sweetie! Please let us know what the results of any testing is.

Karen, I have a similar situation, with bmx, chemo and 5 months of tamox I now have a lump.  I had an ultrasound and was told it was just a cyst.  I have ovarian cysts, so I am aware that those things happen and are not bad news.  Because of my history with two cancers already, they are going to aspirate and biopsy if they find anything in the cyst, but are sure it is nothing to worry about.

Here's to good thoughts that yours is nothing to worry about

Ladies,

I was diagnosed with TNBC in 9/10, had neoadjuvant chemo, followed by surgery (BMX, ALND & TE) and then radiation.  I was on treatment 19 of 28 and was diagnosed with a chest wall recurrence.  Has anyone heard of it coming back that quickly?  Any thought to HOW BC can grow while being irradiated??? 

Hi All

 I have had a recurrance after my mastectomy for a second primary.  It started as a small ulcer that spread rapidly all over the area where I had radiotherapy.  Was told that it is not curable due to the size invloved.  Have tried Carboplatin which didnt work then moved onto Gemzar.  Have been on Gemzar since March and the wound is now 90% healed and still improving.  If it keeps working like this I dont know what my onc will do as there was no sign of spread during my last scans (in Feb).  Hoping that it improves to a point where they can operate, fingers crossed

I keep hearing about people that had clear scans and within 3 months metastatic disease.  How do you all deal with the fear/worry that something major will happen between MD visits?  How do you plan a future?

Survivor, you plan a future just as much as if you never had a cancer diagnosis. With hope and promise. Sometimes you will slip into despair of every feeling safe again. We have lost that innocence that the rest of the world has. We don't skip desert anymore!!!

Andrea, you don't have to aim for 'more gusto', that can get exhausting at times and give you the false feeling that there is an 'end' somewhere. Just live with the knowledge that you may be one of the unlucky few that can see the bullet that will kill them. Diabetics, heart diseased and other life-threatening diseased patients live like that all the time. We don't have to be 'rah, rah, boom, boom' which tires our friends out - we just have to be. To live. Not just exist.

Dear All,

 Hi, this is Karen.  I posted a few weeks ago.  I got a biopsy of my lump, and found out on Monday that there is invasive lobular carcinoma in it, one of the 2 kinds of cancer I was found to have last year.  The lump is 2 cm from my left mastectomy scar.  This was the bad news I did not want, and am going to have surgery in the next week, then radiation.  I am demanding they do new scans (bone, CT PET etc) of me.  Last year my scans were clear.  I did chemo after the left mastectomy last year, and then tamoxifen.  I am terrified, but am being tough and just need to know what is going on in there!  They are going to take as much tissue and skin as possible, but are leaving in my implant and will do radiation later.  

 Today is my youngest's 4th birthday.  He is at school at the moment, and I am making this day all about him, but hope to have many more to celebrate with him.  I want to live, and be free of this cancer for my kids and my husband, even more than myself.  I cannot imagine how they will function without me here.  I have read that lobular is slower to metastasize than ductal, and I am hoping and praying that this has not metastasized. ( I had both last year, but they only knew about the ductal before my mastectomy, and finding out about the lobular was a big shock on the patho report that no one expected.)  

 I actually will have a celebration, and much joy if I find out that I only need surgery and radiation, and if the scans are clear.  I could care less right now about the suffering from surgery, radiation etc.  I only want some good news for once that it has not spread.  How did this evil tumor survive  surgery, chemo and meds?  I ended chemo a year ago.  That scares me that it is so persistent and resistant to everything.  I will be upset that I did everything I was told to do, and it was not enough last year.  I really am hoping for a blessing and a miracle that this lobular cancer has only stuck around the tumor area, and not traveled elsewhere.  It is in the same place nder the skin as where the original cancer areas were found (both ductal and lobular.) 

I am scared.  I am not sure what to think if I find out it has metatasized, since chemo obviously did not work on this cancer.  Alecare, thanks for your post, and good luck with your surgery!  I will have mine the 19th or the 26th. I will be praying for you ,and everyone else too. 

Thank you to all that are so strong ,and have posted and are goin through much more than I am with mets, etc.  I really appreciate your support and comments.

Karen 

I haven't been to this board in a while.....I have my mammo on Monday and I have a thickening on the top of my right boob...The one that had cancer in it....Well I had a bilat with TRAM recons so I should be safe, right?...........It is sore though and it is on my clavical........Doing this mammo solo so wish me luck......Oh and to make matters worse I found out I have plantar fibromatosis, but according to the web it is benign........go figure........Cancer the disease that just keeps on giving.......Ih and please keep my sister Pauline in your prayers.....She has 2 lumps in her breast and is also having internal bleeding issues,,,,,,,

Lucy, prayers out to Pauline! Keep us posted sweetie - and for your issues, too.

Deb, your issue sounds more like lymphadema! It can occur at any time after surgery and your description of feeling "fatter" is bang on! A year ago my right knee felt fat, like it didn't have enough skin for me to walk properly and stretch the back of my leg out. Very weird feeling. When I got home and took my pants off my knee was almost 4 times it's size! I had to have it drained. Just mentioning that as the feeling WAS a swelling.

Karen, breast cancer, on average, doubles in size every 180 days. That little bugger could be a different hormonal type than the part that got tested and responded to chemo. This bit just sat there and laughed, and doubled in size every 180 days until it got big enough to feel. So, it might not be 'new' but just big enough now to treat. Still a very big SCARY deal!! I do not deny that, but ILC is rare, so to get it twice in one breast would beat the odds!

Lots of things going on in the coming week. Hope and prayers to all as you proceed this week. I too am waiting on skin punch biopsy results this week.

Lisa

Bumping for any Help

Anyone have 2cm Lymphnodes show up on US, near carotid and internal jugular???? on thery're good side/ and other cervical lymphnodes.???????

brazos, I'm going through exactly the same thing except they tried an FNA in September and it came back as "sub-optimal sample with no cancer cells evident". I was to get it re-done in 2 months, so will be doing it all again in November. I don't want to go the FNA way again as the biggest node is jammed against my jugular, too. I'd rather an excisional....but I know that's a dramatic move. What's your next move?

It is hard to hear that some of you had a recurrence after a BMX.  I am in the planning stages of getting this procedure.  I am 9 years out for BC and just had a excisional biopsy which shows ADH.  I had never heard of that.  I was thinking that my odds would be next to nothing if I chose this option. (1-2%) This is scary to hear and I am so sorry some of you have had to deal with this.  Now I really understand the meaning of being a fighter.  You are real life warriors.