insitu and invasive are they the same thing?

Well, so you have breast cancer. I'd say you are totally entitled to feel sad, shocked, frightened and all the rest of it, but then what you will do is, you will get a plan of action ..... Surgery plus or minus chemo, rads, hormone therapy, herceptin .... depending on your pathology .... and then you will pull on your big girl panties and cope!

That's what we do. Get a bit of anger and determination into the mix if that's what it takes, and get set to beat cancer's A$$!!!

Hugs to you. This is one of the hardest times ... xxx

You're welcome! Personally, I am girding my own loins in preparation for a prophylactic mastectomy and bilateral TRAM flap reconstruction, next Tuesday!

Gulp!

That's my slant whenever I get the "WTF am I DOING!???" heebie-jeebies.

This is a restorative surgery, and a way to start to put the last 2 year's behind me!

Still finding it hard to sleep, or even to breathe at times though!

So sorry you have had to join us Shaz. The last 6 weeks since my diagnosis have been a roller coaster. I have to say that the very hardest part was the first 3. Everyone told me that, but I was so frazzled it was hard to believe. It gets better once you have a plan in place. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. I felt like an elephant stepped on me. Now I'm taking him down! Wish you the best! We are here for you.

My mammogram caught the DCIS which was suppose to be a simple lumpectomy, but, the blue dye turned the entire right breast blue.  My surgeon stopped the surgery and when I woke up she told me that she couldn't get clear margins due to the 7 cm mass that was also in the breast and that a mastectomy was my only option.  After further testing, pre-cancer cells were found in the left breast.  My surgeon said I would probably have cancer in the left breast in 3 years so I decided to have a double mastectomy.  I had 4 rounds of chemo, next week I will finish radiation and soon will start Tamoxifin.  I wear my prosthesis at work and usually go flat at home and have started going flat while running errands.  My hair is starting to grow back and I feel absolutely FANTASTIC!!!!! 

Shaz, when I was diagnosed with IDC, it was the most frightening time of my life. There were so many decisions to be made in a relatively short amount of time. I found it very important for me to educate myself on the subject in order make the best possible decisions in what was best for me. It also made me feel more empowered and took some of the fear away. I met all of my doctors prior to surgery (Internist, Oncologist, Radiologist and Surgeon). I went into surgery know the entire plan of attack. The great news is I am now 3.5 years post surgery and life is good.

As for my treatment, I decided to go with a lumpectomy with targeted radiation (SAVI) I am on an Aromatase Inhibitor for 5 years and will switch to Tamoxifin for another 5 years..

When I had my surgery, I was surprised at the lack of pain I had. The incision where they removed the lymph nodes was bit uncomfortable as there are many nerves in that area.

Shaz, I wish you well, May your surgery go smooth, may your recovery be speedy and may your fears be calmed.

Shaz,  As with Chloesmom, I had fibrocystic breasts as well.  Unfortunately, ILC is not always caught.  I always had to have an U/S with my mammogram and they always saw something but always thought it was fat (and I have a lot of it).  I never worried about it until the pathology report stated "large and bizarre formations" found.  That scared me to death.  The BMX wasn't to bad, but those drains are a pain in the a**.  Even with a large mass like that, I had no lymph node involvement.  I was off two weeks and then went back part-time for two weeks and then back to full time.  I don't work with active toddlers, but I do work with attorneys, and sometimes they are the worst kind of toddlers!!!!  They have been great to me and I haven't had to worry about missing any appointments or treatments as they tell me that getting well is my number one job at this time. 

I am assuming they did both breasts at the mammogram.  I would let the doctor know you are concerned about the other breast and ask him about the results for that breast.  As far as telling your co-workers is when you feel comfortable in telling them.  I waited until all my bosses were in the same room and told them, then gathered the rest of the staff and told them.  It was a very emotional day. 

I feel fantastic most days.  There are days when I am out running errands with my hat on and feel stares and hear people whispering, but for the most part, I don't care.  After what I have been through I am happy to be alive.  Eventually, I will have hair and nobody will even give me a second look.  Mentally, I don't look back, I always look forward. I don't sweat the small stuff anymore.  If my house doesn't get cleaned, so what.  If I don't feel like talking to people, I don't answer the door or the telephone.  I have lost friends that don't know how to talk to me anymore and don't care.  I still have my true friends and my husband, my soul mate, my best friend for 32 years has been my rock from day one. I do what makes me happy and don't care what others think. 

Take a deep breath and know you will be fine.  Hugs. 

Shaz, sorry your friends are absent. Why not contact them? If you did not have cancer, I bet you would reach out to them if you hadn't heard from them in a while. Let them know you are still you. Some of my kids (adults) are clueless as to what to say to me, so I just push myself on them! I talk away about myself and change the subject before they need to respond. That keeps them in the loop, but doesn't make them feel awkward.

Just know that we are listening. We don't always respond, but we are here, and you can tell us anything.

hi in june of 2013 i was diagnosed with both dcis and idc er+ and pr+

i was devastated it is completely natural to be afraid and also sad your going to feel alot of different emotions and thats ok.

just know you will get through this