diagnosed a month ago and no treatment plan

jojomg,

Sorry to be blunt the waiting just SUCKS !!! I was diagnosed Sept 15 and I just had a double mastectomy on Tuesday 10/22. I decided against any reconstruction as this is my 2nd time with cancer (this time was invasive ductal carcinoma). I did not want to deal with it any more 9 on going mammograms) . Reconstruction is a personal choice and you need to do what feels right for you (three is a great discussion group here for any reconstruction questions you have.

Hopefully your surgeon will do a oncotype test. This test is done after your surgery and determines the probability of the cancer recurring. It is one of the tools the doctors use to determine the need for chemo . Did they give you a stage from your biopsy? or indicate estrogen positive or negative? That plays into chemo ,radiation, etc. Ask lots of questions of your doctors and surgeons they owe you answers .

Don't spend time surfing the web as there is a lot of mis information out there and everyone's cancer is different . This site has been my best friend since my diagnosis here . All of the members have been amazing for me . We are all here for you ask whatever is on your mind , vent when you have to and do whatever you can do to keep your strength up to get though this !!!

While I had to wait for about 6 weeks after surgery and before starting chemo I felt the same way. The wait was making my cancer grow so I asked for and received Femara, the hormone blocker as I am ER & PR + For me it felt like I was doing something instead of letting the cancer continue it's destruction. You may be able to do the same. Good luck.

Jojomg- I was diagnosed a few years ago Dec 1, could not see a surgeon until mid Dec then he could not do surgery until Feb 6 the next year . This was in Fl. The same center wanted me to wait until March that year to even see their oncologist. Needless to say I then went and found a different oncology group.

I was too skinny for a flap and went w/the expander. The waiting is far worse than anything.

In this day and age of BC awareness worldwide you should not have to wait for surgery.

Hugs and please do one day at a time. Dr Susan Love's book is a good book to read but only one part at a time. My hubby read the whole book in one day and then wanted to tell me all about it. I had to push back and say " one thing at a time please ".

Hey Jojo. Just wanted to say that after I was diagnosed, my body seemed to become hyper sensitive, and I had pain in my breast, shoulder, etc. It settled down after a while.

As for surgery, here is what I did, I had a lumpectomy first. I was not sure about recon and needed some time to see another plastic surgeon, etc. My pathology came back more complicated than expected, and my team has recommended a mastectomy, so I'm having a bilateral with diep reconstruction. I don't regret doing It this way. The lumpectomy was an easy recovery, and gave me time to figure out what I was dealing with after I had the surgical pathology back. As long as nothing new pops in from the mastectomies, I won't have radiation.

Good luck with your decision.

Ridley

PS. I definitely won't have a flat tummy after surgery. I'm ok with that. Wasn't my goal, just wanted recon with my own tissue,

HI JoJo,

Just to restate what others have said I agree that if your path shows this is aggressive you should try to move things along. You may just want to get second opinions to give you peace of mind about the decisions you are making.

Like Amy said You can ask for Tamoxifen or something while you wait. I did and my pathology improved from March 25 to May 20. Dropped the Ki-67% and the tumor was shrinking/softening. It also helped my head. They could have given me a TicTac everyday and told me it would have helped and I would have at least felt like I was doing something. I also went to the health store and got DIM Complex. It helps remove all the extra estrogen from your system is my understanding and it is made from cruciferous(sp) veggies.

I also was considering DIEP, but decided to go with expanders and will get perm implants end of December after radiation. I figured it was much less invasive surgery and if I hated them or there was a problem I could always move on to DIEP.

You should ask though if you are going to be getting radiation. Some doctors have very strong ideas about whether flap procedures should be radiated or not. My doctor was emphatic NOT! Plus I know it can "firm up" the radiated side and then you are not even without more revisions. We are not going through this much to end up lopsided! Or to ever wear a bra again in my opinion, unless it is just pretty and I want to. Lol!

Best of luck for you. You will feel so much better once you have some firm plans in place!

Unfortunately, cancer is one of those disease where it's hurry up and wait. We hurry to get tests and then wait for the outcomes and treatments. Most of the time if the doctors feel like waiting is okay that is a good sign. When they rush you into treatment is the time to really worry. I was initially dx with bc in mid-Nov 2009. I didn't get my masectomy until Jan 18, 2010. Due to delay caused by infections, I didn't start chemo until 5 months later. So there wasn't a sense of urgency. Forward to May 2013, new symptoms, extreme back pain, led to an Xray. Xray revealed a tumor in my lower spine pressing on my spinal cord. I was rush into radiation that very day because of the risk of permanent damage to my cord. After 10 sessions of rads, I started chemo within 2 weeks, just enough time to recover from the rads. Others here have the same type situation. It's never good when a doctor feels the need to start tx right away because they're usually the conservative type and have busy schedules. My onc even insisted on seeing me on her lunch hour, the day after I had the Xray done, because she was concerned about any delays. I know it's hard but try to take the delay as a sign that the doctors feel safe in not rushing things. However, I agree that if it makes you feel better your doctor could start you on a hormonal tx for the waiting period. I hope all goes well and hang in there.

I too had the feeling the process wasn,t moving fast enough and it may spread, But sweetie, take a deep breath and once treatment plan is in effect you will feel better, take it from a 19yr Survivor(Praise GOD) I want to Inspire those going thru, so hang in there, msphil(idc,stage2, 0/3 nodes, L mast, chemo and rads and 5 yrs on tamoxifen) 

JoJo please, check pathology report and have an understanding of the numbers. That should drive what you do sassy