How do I know it's gone?

I am frustrated with this as well. I feel like there is no real way of saying, yes I'm in remission or NED. I've been asked, "so are you im remission"? and I don't know how to really answer this question.

My understanding is that my mx removed my cancer and the chemo/rads will make sure stray cells are destroyed. The scans are not needed unless I have symptoms of returning cancer. I will be asking my MO if she does blood work that checks for tumor markers, but I think I remember her telling me early on that she doesn't put alot of weight in them.

scratch that - left over from a MX - not mammogram. Sorry. 

Diane

This may sound funny but my mind decided one day that the cancer is gone. I had no control over what I was thinking or feeling.

Just like I could think of nothing else when I was first diagnosed it was like one day I was at work and I didn't think about it for several hours. It took months for my mind to let me be myself again with just normal worries.

My doctor told me that in a year this will be in my rear view mirror. I had a pet scan after my surgery when they found it in my nodes and had a CT of my chest because there is a small nodule that is not large enough to measure. It didn't change so they think it is a scar. I will have another after chemo just for insurance. I will not have scans after this, just blood work. The chemo is for insurance.  I feel confident it is gone!

I read in a book, "Breast Cancer for Husbands" that many drs do not do scans unless you are symptomatic because little things can show up that are harmless.  My hubby borrowed the book and I read it too.

I had stage 2, E+, IDC with a moderatley low Onco, clear margins, simple mastectomy, and anastozole therapy.  After the mastectomy, I considered myself cancer free.  It took a while but I only think about it when I see the drs. or when someone I know is going through it.  I lost a friend just 1 year after I was diagnosed.  She was diagnosed about 3 months before I was.  That was hard.

I am working really hard on the nutrition battle.  I am morbidly overweight and my surgeon makes me feel horrible when I see her because she hounds me about it.  I do not lose weight easily and it has been a slow process.  I am doing all that I feel I can do to prevent a recurrence or other health problems related to weight.  I eat way more fruits and vegies now and many of them are organically grown.  I also limit red meat to once or twice a month.  I exercise 5 days a week for 1 hour and try not to be a couch potato.  I still eat too much, but I am working on that too with a concept called "Intuitive Eating Community".  It is based on not dieting and was recommended by my ONCO nutritionist. I'm the only survivor that participates in the community and I would like to have some others to interact with.

I guess NED, or cancer free, or whatever you want to call it is like most everything else related to having breast cancer, it takes time to come to peace with it and settle into the "new normal" for you.  We will never be the same again, nor are we all alike.

Hoping for the best for all of us!

Hello to all,

10/10/13

This is my very first post.  I am stage 1 grade 2 ductal carcinoma in situ and invasive ductal carcinoma just diagnosed 9/8/14.  Cancer was 1.4cm and was very high estrogen fed, also low progesterone fed.  Had lumpectomy with sentinal lymph removed on 9/29/14.  The lymph node  was negative.  Saw the surgeon for post-op check this week, who said I am healing well and recheck with her in 6 months.  Also met with the oncologist for the first time this week.  They are doing the oncotype test to see what treatment I will need: hormone therapy, chemo, radiation or a combo of them.  Are there nausea side effects from the hormone therapy and radiation?  I was thinking of going back to work 1/2 days in the AM then getting the radiation in the afternoon...has anyone tried this?  Will the fatigue I am reading about from radiation be manageable?  Thanks for any insight you can give.  

CWP - I am also sorry you find yourself here, but you are in a good place to get answer from people who have lived it. I had surgery, chemo, more surgery, radiation. Chemo is the hardest part obviously, but there are lots of meds to combat the side effects. Radiation brings its own challenges to skin, energy, etc.  It all depends on how your individual body responds to the treatments, but for me I was able to return to work during radiation & my energy was pretty good throughout. I had some painful skin issues toward the end, but I had the Bolus (keeps the rads in a more shallow concentration so your skin suffers a bit) for 25 sessions. It was manageable. I did my rads right away in the morning & worked a full day afterwards, but I may have been lucky to be less tired than some.

Good luck to you & hope you do well with whatever treatment path you need. 

As for the original question on scans...I had a PET Scan before surgery in January & am scheduled for another in December. I might be weird...but sometimes I fantasize that I could just pull my skin out & look inside to give myself the once over to see that there is no cancer. The next best thing was my Surgeon telling me after my second surgery (BMX) that there was No evidence of cancer in any of the tissue removed. I still save the voicemail from July when she told me the pathology. I listen to it on hard days.