Diagnosed November 9, 2012...lumpectomy tomorrow!

Dear RMlulu



You are where I was just last week. Prayers are with you, and I'll keep you posted on how it

goes tomorrow! It's so nice to talk to people who are going through the same things and can put things in perspective!

Kkuziel,

My thoughts and prayers are with you for your surgery on Friday. I think you, too, will feel a sense of calm when the day is finally here. The waiting will finally be almost over. The only waiting now is for the post-op pathology report to come back, which is very nerve racking, admittedly, but at least I'll finally have some answers and a plan. I was almost looking forward to my surgery this morning just because I knew that by the end of the day that THING would no longer be inside of me! I had my lumpectomy, wire localization and sentinel node biopsy today and I really do feel so much better! You are right, the waiting - and mine was over two months of waiting - freaked me out more than the upcoming surgery. I was so sure the little lump inside me was going to just explode and grow huge while all the testing was going on, and causing delays. But my docs assured me multiple times that they'd never have allowed the delays for testing (especially the BRCA test which was a 3 1/2 week wait) if it was a risk. They even told me to take my previously planned vacation over Christmas because it would absolutely not impact anything. So I did, and am glad because it kept my mind off everything for a while. The whole surgery experience was way less frightening than I thought it'd be. I had the wire localization first, in the imaging department. They numbed me for the wire localization, and it was no big deal. I felt the prick of the needle just like any little pinch, but the procedure wasn't painful, I watched it on the ultrasound screen as they were doing it. Didnt want to watch the actual procedure as they worked on my breast directly, of course, but it was definitely ok. They mammogrammed the breast once the wire was in and bandaged up, and while you could feel a bit of a squeeze, it didn't hurt. The area was still numb. Then they wheeled me to the nuclear medicine department to have the radioactive dye injected for the sentinel node biopsy. This was absolutely nowhere near as bad as I had heard! I had been more scared of that than the surgery itself! The hospital I went to gives you the emla cream externally (to numb your nipple and surrounding area for both procedures) and then mixes a lidocaine buffer in with the radioactive dye that is being injected. They inject it just outside the nipple and areola, not in it. And there was only one injection, not four, which feels like a little prick/pinch just like any injection, and it's over just like that. No burning at all. Had me massage it to get the dye moving, but no pain. I dont know if I was just lucky that my hospital does it this way or if most hospitals now add lidocaine to the radioactive blue dye to reduce the pain. It makes such a difference! I had twilight rather than a general for the lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy, and I slept through the whole thing and woke up quickly and easily shortly after it was done. No side effects and no problem with the twilight. They gave me something for the pain in my IV immediately after I woke up, then sent me home with vicodin, which has worked so well I'm probably not resting as much as I should. Going to try going with just Tylenol tomorrow. Best of luck Friday! You will do well!

Ak1971, kkuziel, and RMlulu, so glad you are done with the surgeries, and hang in there, the waiting is tough I know! But at least the tumor's are OUT, and that's a good feeling! I just got my path report, and it was all good news for the most part, thank God! Only scary parts were the grade of the tumor, which is a 2 (shouldn't complain, I know), and the surprise finding of DCIS along with my IDC, which I hadn't expected since I was diagnosed prior to surgery with only IDC. Now, I realize that DCIS is the least concerning of the cancers, and it may well have been part of my original IDC tumor itself since the path report lists it as "associated with the IDC", and gives no separate size or dimensions for it. And from what I've read, most IDC's start as DCIS. So it may be that this is what my existing IDC came from, and so is part of it, and not a new spot. But it makes me a bit nervous, hoping that theres not more hidden in there, tho the DCIS margins were clean. May be that I'll explore the more aggressive 7 week/full breast rads instead of the partial breast one-week rads they've talked about. Or even chemo if my Oncotype test comes back with a middle or high range score. So we'll see, I have my MO appt 2/8, waiting for Oncotype test and then we'll figure out treatment and I can ask for translations for all the stuff on my path report. Good luck to all of you, and please keep us posted, am interested in hearing how you all are doing!

AK1971, RMlulu, and kkuziel,



We all seem to be on a similar schedule AND it definitely sounds like we all have very similar stats: small 7mm grade 2 tumor, clean margins, node negative, hormone positive, Her2 negative. Saw my radiation oncologist the other day, and have my medical oncologist appt. scheduled for next Friday, the 8th. Like you, AK1971, I haven't heard anything on my Oncotype test results yet, and if they aren't back before the 8th, I'll have to reschedule my MO appointment, too. I've heard they take a while, just like the BRCA results did. And I did make sure to mention the Oncotype test to my BS, kkuziel, just in case she hadn't ordered it, but she had. So my radiation oncologist recommended whole breast radiation for a 33 day cycle (5 days/week) rather than the more localized, one-week, internal radiation option because of the DCIS found with my IDC tumor when they did the lumpectomy. Made me wonder if I should have had a mastectomy, what with the finding of this DCIS, but my RO (and my breast surgeon) both insisted that the lumpectomy was all I needed because the radiation would kill any other miniscule DCIS cells that might be hiding in there. And, with highly positive hormone receptors, she told me I'll also get Arimidex (since I'm post-menopausal). So that furthers my comfort level in going with just a lumpectomy instead of the whole mastectomy thing. Now, I'm just praying that my Oncotype score is low so I don't need chemo!! Tho if its high, no question, I'll do chemo. The toughest question will be what to do if it's in the intermediate range!!! Decisions, decisions....I've never been good at making them, so hope I don't have to! And I too have used Xanax to help me sleep. It does make a difference. My nurse navigator recommended it when I told her I wasn't sleeping well. The days are easier than the nights because I'm busy during the days, so it's easier to keep distracted.

Oh, and pacools, I grew up right near you, in Bloomfield Hills, MI, though I've lived in the Chicago area forever now. I have family in Royal Oak, Birmingham, and Bingham Farms.

Well I got my Oncotype score back and it was a 15, technically in the low zone, thank God, but the higher end of it. So I saw two MO's for two opinions, both told me with no hesitation, no chemo. We talked about the pros and cons and they both said the benefits just didn't outweigh the risks. My 8 or 9% chance of distance recurrance (determined by Oncotype score and adjuvent!online) said chemo would only reduce that by 2-3%, and the risks with longterm SE's of chemo were greater than that %. So on to rads I go. I have my planning session tomorrow, then it'll take a week or so for them to be ready for a "dress rehearsal", then I will start my 33 sessions. So I' figuring late Feb/early March. Then on to Arimidex. Do most people start the hormone therapy after rads or during? I've read of both here, and tbh, am wondering why I should wait for two months till this radiation is done to start the Arimidex. I want that extra kicker in my system to be doing its job systemically while the rads are doing theirs locally. But maybe it would be too much abuse to your body all at once. God knows Im not looking forward to all the potential SE's! Something I shall ask my doc, for sure.