Hi Goofytoo, really the only one who can answer those questions is your Doctor(s). I know for me, they really wanted to keep the treatment train moving and get it dealt with, but that was based on my pathology etc. Potentially, if you do not need chemo and radiation you would be ready to go in June, but that really will depend on your pathology. Best wishes to you.

I had my surgery June27th 2013. We were waiting for my cycle to start so we could do the fertility preservation and freeze eggs before chemo. My cycle took longer because of the stress and also a delay from the anesthesia of the surgery. I started chemo on August 30th 2013. I had a grade 3 tumor. My oncologist gave me between 8-10 weeks before he had to start treatment.

my experience was the tumor size from US was very small like 1.2cm but after the mx it's over 6cm. They couldn't detect any lymph nodes on US and MRI but two were found during dissection. So I hate to say this that you just don't know until the final path report.

And you do have a say about your own treatment plan. You can talk to your MO and work out the plan and time table.

personally I would go to the trip before the treatment if you need one. The lymph node dissection recovery was pretty tough for me. The mx location recovery was very pain free. I couldn't really wash my hair or dress myself properly. The trip would be better if it's a month post surgery. But some ppl might have a faster recovery time. It depends on your body healing speed. I wish you the best. 

Its not impossible to have both IDC and DCIS.  (You can't have IDC at precisely the same spot as DCIS though.  You can have the two diagnoses at different spots.)

Its quite common to have both IDC and DCIS.  In fact, in this abstract, they found almost 80% of IDC cases also had DCIS (diagnosed at the same time.)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23870857

So, you are _not_ an 'odd duck'.  There are lots of women here who have both IDC and DCIS.  You are not alone.

Has your doc discussed an Oncotype test to determine need for chemo? I think it may be appropriate here but of course the test will not be done until after surgery.  I'd go on vacation after surgery of course, put it all out of your mind and jump back into matters after you return.  Good luck -

I was diagnosed in November 2012, Had surgery December 12, 2012.  Then due to some infection and complications from the infection, I did not start Chemo until March 14!  This is WAY past the recommendation!  I was told no more than 60 days!  And as you can see it was 90 for me!  Because of this, I have always wondered if a stray cell escaped and has been hiding from treatment just to rear its ugly head at some point!

This is a quite old paper (1999), but it found delays of 3-6 months were associated with lower survival. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10209974

This paper (2013) found delays more than 12 weeks to curative surgery were associated with lower survival in breast cancer. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23529782

In this paper of TNBC  Median follow-up was 40 months for 301 TNBC patients. Mean interval to treatment was 46 ± 2 days. Higher initial stage yielded worse survival (p < .0001). Interval to treatment
did not impact overall survival (p = .24), although there was a trend
toward worse survival with delays of >90 days (p = .06).  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23292484

These authors opined

Most recent, prospective, randomized, phase III trials that evaluated
adjuvant systemic chemotherapy
regimens specifically define an acceptable time period
between definitive surgery and chemotherapy for patient enrollment
eligibility to be generally not more than 12 weeks (3,4).
Not surprisingly, no randomized trials have specifically addressed the
effect of timing of initiation of adjuvant chemotherapy
for breast cancer outcome. The results of
retrospective studies evaluating this variable suggest that the impact
of this parameter,
if any, is limited (5).   http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/105/2/80.lo...

This subject is outside of my personal experience since I've never had chemotherapy, and I'm sure there are other articles and opinions. From this small selection of papers, it sounds like you may have worse outcomes after about 3 months.  I'm no expert about this.

Hi

I was dx with grade 3 and 3 nodes involved....that was 6 years ago.

After my surgery I asked for the chemo treatment to be put back until I'd had my holiday with my family.......no problem.....good idea. I came back feeling refreshed and ready for chemo (if anyone is).

It's important to spend time with your family and not get wrapped up in 'cancer land'.......life will be good again...........

Goofytoo, I just came back on to check on you and see how you were doing!  I can relate to taking a drive - helps me put things in perspective and to get a handle on situations.  It's very therapeutic.  As you mentioned, if your team can take vacations and aren't worried, than perhaps you can also take yours and enjoy.  One thing that does seem very helpful is the lower grade of your tumor. Once you get on the schedule for surgery, you'll also feel that things are moving forward.  As they are the specialists, they have much insight about your particular case to make the decisions and provide you with the best recommendations and opportunity for prognosis.  

Also, not sure if you all know, but there is a free place to ask breast cancer questions from an expert.  I've submitted questions at this link before and have received replies within 24 hours and sometimes as fast as 1 hour.  I'm going to post the link in case you have a question that they can help you with.

- Ask an Expert:  John Hopkins Breast Cancer Center:  http://www.hopkinsbreastcenter.org/services/ask_ex...

Best wishes to you and we will be following things along to see how you are doing!  Hang in there and have a great time on your cruise.  We are envious of that, you know!  

- adjuvant chemo, when to start chemo, breast cancer questions and answers

 Goofytoo, with a T1BNO finding (the main Breastcancer.org website will help you translate), chances are pretty good you will not need chemo.  It is your onc who will order (or not order) the oncotype.  Your surgeon might have been indicating that your stats are so excellent that chemo is highly unlikely.  As for measuring the tumor--the ultrasound measurement depends a great deal on who is doing the measuring, and rather variable reports happen.  I watched my radiologist measure the wrong diameter, but never thought to point out her error.  All my presurgical assumptions were for a tiny tumor.  The radiologist had said .4 cm, and it turned out to be 1.1 cm.  Had I not watched her measurement, I'd have panicked about a superfast growing invader.  

Enjoy the cruise--so jealous!