Three years out

Congrats to you, dsj! Thanks for sharing your inspiring story!

--The Mods

Congratulations dsj and thanks for sharing! Our diagnoses were at around the same time and I am happy to report that it's been a healthy 3 years for me, too. A few days before that annual diagnostic mammogram sure are stressful but that's the reality. 

dsj, though my third year was more eventful than yours, it is still all good.

January - had off and on strange shooting pains where I had had my lumpectomy, finally figured out what was happening, when I turned quickly in my chair and realized I had caught my breast in my bra underwire and experienced excruciating pain - which lasted several days before subsiding. This motivated me to go on South Beach diet in the hope of at least fitting into my bras better if not going down a size or two and in addition look better? for my daughter's wedding in August! 

February - my annual transvaginal ultrasound had showed excessive lining, so I had my second d&c since starting tamoxifen.

May- had my now annual med-oncologist visit, told him about the strange chair twist/underwire experience - he said it was probably scar tissue or the seroma and he asked where my annual mri was, I said, the rad - oncologist hadn't ordered it, like I probably don't need them any more - oh no he said, you do, so then it turns out that I was supposed to initiate and the rad -oncologist had actually wanted it,

June - so I had it. Since I was still feeling a hardness where I had had the underwire incident, when asked by the mri tech if there was any particular spot of concern, I pointed to it and she slapped on a sticker of some sort. I have to say this was the easiest fastest MRI because I used the time to work out the seating plan for the wedding.

July - something showed up on the MRI! something in the skin above the lumpectomy, since that was my closest margin (1.5mm), I was concerned. I had an ultrasound and was seen by my original breast surgeon who I had not seen since my surgery follow-up visit in 2009. She didn't think there was anything to be concerned about but just in case, I should have a second MRI and follow-up visit with her.

August - regular now annual visit with radiation oncologist - who reiterated that I should have scheduled the mri myself and agreed with the bs on the second MRI.

October - Diagnostic Mammogram and transvaginal ultrasound! follow-up with medical oncologist

November - second MRI - uh oh, left breast fine (seroma shrinking, if very slowly)  but something in right breast this time! Read the report which said should have ultrasound of the right breast this time. I said to the radiologist - but it says BIRADS 0 so that sounds good, he said not actually, it means inconclusive!! so BS concurred and an ultrasound of the right breast was ordered.

December - ultrasound which revealed only something similar in the skin of the right breast which appeared and then disappeared from the left breast so all ok.

Conclusion:

On one hand, this was just totally nuts over nothing. what a waste of medical resources - if I wasn't helping my daughter with the weddding - I might have had the energy to go batshit.

On the other hand, I am fine!!! and I feel that I actually have a team - the three communicated eventhough they are not in the same hospital/practice and eventhough I am not routinely followed by the BS, she was right there for me at the hint of something wrong. so though it was difficult to put bc out of my mind this year, it still turned out ok, and I am looking forward to a less eventful year 4.

Julie E

Nearly 4 years for me, so far no problems (though I do still get nervous before mammograms and MRIs and even though my side effects have been very minimal I'm a little upset about the possibility of having to take Tamoxifen for an additional 5 years ....)