What was time between diagnosis and treatment?

3 weeks from diagnosis to chemo for me.  I would listen to what the doctors are saying.  I don't think any of us can tell you if you waited too long.  I would think it would depend on the grade of your cancer and if it involves nodes or not.  I know if it were me, I wouldn't be waiting on a plastic surgeon.

Here's my history: Diagnosis - 11/23/11 (This was not a stage III diagnosis - as there had been no surgery and what was seen and biopsied at that point did not point to stage III - True diagnosis comes in after final pathology.) Unilateral Mastectomy/Immediate DIEP Reconstruction - 1/10/12 (just under 7 weeks)  If you look at my signature you can see the dates for my different chemos, radiation, and start of tamoxifen. That's my history. We are different even with the same stage.

I looked back at your earlier posts and see that you were initially diagnosed in June, had further testing and you have a 4 cm tumor, grade 2, triple negative, with 3 of 9 nodes testing positive.

I didn't see your age in the posting, but understand that the younger a person is, the  more aggressive the cancer is. If that's a factor for you, it's another point to consider.

And triple negative has fewer options than hormone positive cancer. The latter may be another reason why you have been encouraged to hit this fast and hard. And coupled with the your positive nodes, there is certainly a reason your doctors want you to get started.

You can only look forward at this point and not back - but I would encourage you to not wait longer. Since you will be having surgery first, generally a patient has to wait some time between surgery and chemo. So delays in surgery push back your chemo. At some point, you have to trust that there is someone in the conventional medical community that is looking out for your best interests if you are choosing to go that route as well. 

I'm sorry that you are going through all of this. 

The Stage is only part of the DX.  The type being dealt with is VERY important when it comes to TX plan and time frame can wait.

Neoadjuvant chemo (chemo before surgery) is SOP for IBC and becoming more common at tiems for others.  The reason to do neoadjuvant chemo is to get the cancer to form better, get better margins and shrink for better surgical outcomes.

The longer you wait - the more it can/will spread - metastasize.  

Your question - how long between DX and starting TX.  For me, it was 17 days between DX and starting neoadjuvant A/C.  But then I'm not IDC.

I was diagnosed on June 11th.  Had my lumpectomy on June 24th and started chemo 4 weeks later.

Nancy

I was dx'd in October, Surgery in November...but didn't start chemo until Feb. I was dealing with complications from infection and it delayed my chemo. I was VERY worried about the delay and wanted to get things going asap. I also had rads after chemo. I was 39 at dx and wanted to throw everything at it. Good luck ((hugs))

Dear naturalhealing,

For what it's worth, I think you are doing the right thing to kick off your treatment now even if you don't have the answer to every question.  I got treatment in a matter of days, but probably didn't have to.  However, four months is getting to be on the long side.  Good for you for proceeding. 

Naturalheal. I have to admit, I had not had a mammogram in 20 years, I am 58.  I really wanted to beat myself up over this in the beginning but then I began to think, you know what, I would have still had cancer even if I had a mammogram for the last 10 years or whatever.  I mean, my having the mammogram would not have prevented this cancer. Yes, maybe it would have been found earlier or maybe it would not, who knows.  I talked with a lady at a recent appointment while waiting for testing and she had first been diagnosed 12 years ago and she said she had mammograms faithfully every year and still, when hers was found, 1 year after a clean bill of health, it was already stage 3, so it came up that fast.  I am not sure why God choose to have me deal with this but I know he did and it was found when it was meant to be found. So, now all we can do is deal the best we can. Thoughts are with you.

Got initial DX (MRI result) on June 2 (2011). First doc scheduled mastectomy for June 6, four days later, but I went for a second opinion instead.

June 8-9: extensive testing and biopsy performed.

June 21: First chemo, neo-adjuvant.

Dx'd 11/30/11

BMX 12/21/11

Started chemo 19 days after BMX

Natural:  There is an article in the bc.org news that may give some helpful information to you, although, I found the article somewhat confusing in their "stats".  I was like Bippy -- whose cancer was not detected by mammo because of dense tissue, & only confirmed by ultrasound and even then, the docs were only talking about a 1 or 2 cm tumor.  Bilat mastectomy happened almost 7 weeks after dx.  The reason was I was exploring all reconstruction options and fighting with my insurance company to cover prophylactic surgery on the non-cancer breast, which ultimately I won out.  All this took weeks and it is OUR bodies and OUR decision what to do.  Long story short or vice versa, after surgery my tumor was over 6 cm !  Even a pre-surgery MRI did not see the size nor did it see any positive nodes.  If you're like me and your body doesn't tell you if something is wrong, you may want to get tx going right away.  I also had to meet with a geneticist, as I had second-degree relatives that were dx'd with BC at pretty young ages.  But I was 52 at dx.  Hope some of this helps. Stay strong !  

I first felt it myself I think as early as february, I can't remember exactly, but I thought it was just the usual nothing. Then even a month later, I started getting a little worried.  It took me a few weeks before my appointment for my PCP, who sent me for a mammo, and it was June when it was found. Due to a stupid comedy of consults, didn't decide where i was going to be treated till july. surgery in august, and then had my personal 9/11 in september when chemo started. done with rads by march. My BS said it had been there for 8 years, about right, cause that's when I stopped doing mammo's, cause it was ALWAYS nothing. I knew nothing about BC, so all the awareness stuff did nothing for me. I thinks it's because i went for free mammo's with dated machines, surly techs, disorganization of files, and NO printed matter to find out about dense breasts etc in the waiting room, and I never even thought at that time to ask for copies of the report, i didn't even know you could. stupid. So anyway, a whole YEAR after the last mammo, that place sent me a letter saying "they found something" and could I come in?  Thing is, is that after almost every single mammo, they would send me a mile away for an ultrasound. And that guy? He did an aspiration on my uncancer breast, because it was hot, and red, and swollen. So he performed an ultrasound guided biopsy, and it was kinda cool, because I could see on the monitor, the thing completely deflate, as he took the fluid out. but at the last second, I looked at the syringe. This syringe was about an inch in diameter, and what looked like pus to me, sorry sqeamish ladies, and I asked him, what IS that? As he chucked it into the trash bin. "It's an inflammation" he said. I said are you sure? It looks like an infection to me. And he got pissed and told me again it was an inflammation. OK he's the dr, he knows best, and I got dressed. This is why angelina jolie can have that place, cause that is where he works now. So I think what happened, is when he went to move there, they reviewed the records, and that is when they found that "something". But since I didn't respond (because I thought they were trying to scare me into coming back) they put my file under inactive, and then finally threw them away. Because when it was found, tx place asked for priors, and no one could find them. I guess this wasn't the right place for putting this all down, but once I got started, I couldn't stop. Sorry. 

What happens is, first you get the clinical staging, which is what happens when they palpate and image, and even the biopsy results.  Then surgery, where you get the pathologic staging. Unless you are found at stage iv before surgery. I had to learn alot about all this, cause no doctors would tell me anything.

Kathec, opps, I wrote you do need need.....should of said do NOT need a plastic surgeon. But there is a law, that states if you need reconstruction, or plastic surgery on that breast, insurance has to pay. I do not know the specifics, I never looked into it. My insurance did send me a letter on it. I was happy, or OK with what it looks like. Always thought,  if I had had a mastectomy, I would not do recon. But, I certainly realize that you make those decisions when you have too, not speculating about it. 

Natural, I am 59, so no spring chick....I am still ( 10 months post chemo ) 25 pounds lighter than the day I was dx. My oncologist wants me to gain weight. I think, sheesh, I am finally close to the weight I gave myself 43 years ago on my drivers license.

When you are dealing with breast cancer & all the treatments, you will have lots of medical people in your life. I really liked my surgeon, some of the other folks, not so much. It really is not important. It's all about survival. We are not statistics, but a lot of the decisions they make are based on statistics, or standard of care,"protocol".