Hi 2015Beth,

I'm so sorry for your diagnosis and sorry you feel like me. I was diagnosed on 4/29 with same, IDC. Bio marker results still pending. I do know I have a breast MRI tomorrow and appointment with surgeon and plastic surgeon on 5/11. I have been told by my surgeon that surgery is most likely my first treatment... but it's scary thinking of mastectomy! I'm 60, and I know I do not want to go on worrying about cancer coming back in same breast or getting it in my left breast! I have so many questions and this has consumed my every thought for a week now! I hope you can see you surgeon soon and I hope it helps that you are not alone! You will be in my thoughts and prayers!

Hello ladies

I'm sorry you both have found yourselves here. It is a great place though to get answers and advice. It will be scary and confusing until you get your final pathology report in. Once that happens they can map out a treatment plan for you. Then you tackle it and get on with your life

I was also surprised and devastated at the same time. My family doesn't really even have cancer history, any kind of cancer! I took a quiz on line to see what my chances were to be dx with breast cancer and I had a 98% of NOT being diagnosed! So much for that!

I wish you the best!

2025 Beth, I totally understand your feeling. I was diagnosed 5/14 with IDC. I was 58. For a long time, as I got older, it seemed everybody around me had breast cancer. I felt I was in a lottery I didnt' want to be in, just waiting for my number to come up. I have to say, when I was called, I wasnt' even surprised. Sick, scared, devastated, yes, but surprised, no. Like my neighbor says, it wasn't a question of would I get it, it was when. When I do the checklist, I did come out to be someone who could have problems. I am overweight, I had my first period when I was like 10, I did not breast feed, etc. but I as you learn more, you will see many women who were so thin they can't even have fat grafting, they exercise all the time, they are vegatarians, they breast fed. The fact is, nobody knows why we have been chosen to get this. One thing I did do, as each mammogram came back with more questions, is that I decided to go to a breast center. I had to drive about an hour away but I felt that gave me the best chance for the latest and greatest treatments and knowledge and I'm glad I made that choice. My surgeon does breast surgeries all the time, my plastic surgeon specialized in reconsruction, my oncologist, studies nothing but breast cancer, so I feel that gives me my best shot. When I first got the call, they said there are cancer cells. I started reading and reading and I was so hopeful I would hear DCIS, but no, it was IDC. I was often griped by just overwhelming fear. Sometimes, I still am. I had a unilateral mastectomy with tissue expanders placed at time of surgery, that was In July. In December of 2014, I had the expander removed and my implant put in. I did not choose to have nipple reconstruction. I have been having follow up visits with the surgeon and oncologist, pretty much every 3 months and have already had a mammogram in December, so 6 months from mine that found all of this and I will have another one in June. I have calcifications on the side that I still have left, so they will watch those. My best advice is read, learn, and ask questions. If your doctors don't make you feel confident and comfortable, get some that do. You need to be in charge.

Beth and Kricket-

We want to welcome you both to our community here at BCO. We're so sorry for the circumstances that bring you here, but we're glad you've joined us, and hope you find the support and information you need!

We suggest spending some time reading through our IDC forum; there's lots of great info there, and you can connect with other members in your shoes. You can find that forum here: https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/96.

Please let us know if we can be of assistance in any way.

The Mods

HomeMom I have to take Arimidex for 10 years, so you are 5 years better than me. Of course, everything that happens to me, I automatically think its cancer or its the meds. Have to keep a busy mind or it allows me to go places I don't to go. Some days I dont' think about it but most, I do. Logically, I know that anybody can get cancer, and don't know as I'm any more likely to have it come back than somebody else to find out they have it but its hard to convince myself when I have already heard the words that nobody wants to hear.

Angelia - I have met someone that decided to keep taking Arimadex for peace of mind. She is on year 7 or 8 now. I might do the same thing

jstar19 - I saw a surgeon first. They worked as a team with a couple of oncologists, radiologists and a plastic surgeon. What do you want to know about chemo? There are different kinds depending on your final diagnosis. I have a port, it was much easier then them sticking my arm every time. I have to keep it in until September - my oncologist said that most reaccurances happen in the first year.

Beth--I totally understand your feeling of being blindsided by the IDC news, having been in your position almost 2 and a half years ago, at 71, with no history and a mother who died at 98 of old age. And like you, I began by imagining the worst-case scenarios until I had more definite information--but that worrying approach did nothing but create insomnia, until I started taking long walks to keep myself calm. Once the surgeon had all the info he needed and we moved ahead with the lumpectomy and sent. node biopsy. I could relax totally. At this point, getting all the info you need from the BCO website (information that is presented by breast cancer specialists) will answer many of your questions and help you formulate other questions that you want to ask your surgeon and the other doctors you will see later. In the midst of all of this, it may be helpful to remember, too, that while aging is a risk factor for bc, it is also an ally--since as we age all our bodily processes tend to slow down, and that usually includes the aggressive of the IDC they discovered. Of course you won't know for sure until the surgical pathology is done (the one from the biopsy is not definitive, since the biopsy takes only small samples), but this knowledge can also help calm you down until you know exactly what's up after surgery. And I might also add that this diagnosis has not slowed me down one bit--I remain as active as before, enjoy life fully as before, go faithfully and happily for my follow-up checks and imaging, and look forward to many years of good times and good health. I just see this episode as a "speed bump" that life set in my path. .So relax and once you know more, deal with treatment one step at a time! Trudi

Thank you ladies. I had a friend tell me my Obgyn should of sent me to oncologist first, and she was making me question what I should do since I've had to wait a week to get into the BS, which I'm seeing today in a few hours. I've been holding up pretty well this week, until this morning been up since 3 and find myself very emotional. I'm ready to know the next step. I'm so glad I found this site!

I hope you start feeling better once you get some info. Do you have a friend taking you to your appt? Take a pad and pen and write down any questions now that you think of.

I do hope you get a better nights sleep tonight .