Anyone from Burlington ?

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gremx003
gremx003 Member Posts: 33
edited October 2015 in Canadians Affected by Breast Cancer

Just dianosis with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma, surgery on October 26th. Have to choose between Lumpectomy and Mastectomy.

Want info about some surgeons in my area.

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  • 208sandy
    208sandy Member Posts: 2,610
    edited October 2015

    gremx003 - I am from Burlington. Where is your onc? At Jo Brant or at Juravinski? or??? Did onc make a recommendation?

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  • gremx003
    gremx003 Member Posts: 33
    edited October 2015

    i don't have one yet. Just a surgeon. I really need advise

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  • molliefish
    molliefish Member Posts: 723
    edited October 2015

    I'm sorry to hear about your diagnosis. I am from Peel region and going to the Carlo Fidani centre. Where is your surgery scheduled for? Did your surgeon offer you any insight into the size of the tumour or the location? my surgeon discussed both with me, and provided his opinion that a lumpectomy and a sentinel node biopsy would be appropriate for my case.
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  • gremx003
    gremx003 Member Posts: 33
    edited October 2015


    No I don't get a lot of support form my surgeon, here is what happen and I appologise for the long story but I am exausted and scared and don't know where to go.  Sorry for any English mistake, I am French and sometime English lack when my emotions are high.

    I was diagnosis 4 weeks ago, met with a surgeon and she said we are doing a lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy on October 26th.  She gave me the choice between Lumpectomy and Mastectomy but didn't see the point of the Mastectomy. 

    I have a copy at home of all the reports from the hospital and one report dated September 14th was looking weird to me.  I called her about it and they said not to worry.  I then decide to call the radiologist who wrote the report and she was amazing.  But she said she had concern and would call my surgeon about it.  This
    The paragraph that I was concern about to make my decision is these few lines below:

    “Magnification views of the calcification within the left breast show
    a cluster of microcalcification in the left upper outer quadrant. These appear
    slightly pleomorphic in morphology. They are somewhat linearly arranged. A
    subtle more anterior loosely scattered punctate cluster microcalcifications is
    also noted closer to the nipple but along the same radian. The appearance is
    suspicious for a segmental ductal system distribution of microcalcifications”

    Yesterday the surgeon called me to say that she's never read this report, and she got a phone call from the radiologist who wrote the report and now it is better for me to get a mastectomy instead of lumpectomy.  I asked her isn't it a bigger surgery and she said yes it will be but no details.  She is now concern about that other microcalcification closer to the nipple as a second cancer.

    What does it mean?? if I would of not read the report they would of gone for lumpectomy and in a year
    I would of have to go through all of this again + it would have grown in the
    next 12 months ???  I lost faith, I am really scare now.  Do I have 2 cancers or 1??  Do I really need a mastectomy or the lumpectomy??  
    How can a surgeon not read the reports?? How can she make that mistake??   All I want is a surgery to get rid of this cancer, I am
    agreeable to whatever surgery I need but not because I am telling them what I need because of what they believe as surgeons.

    If I go for a second opinion I will loose my spot for the 26th and I would think time is important with cancer....

    I am just kind of lost right now.

    Sorry for the long story.

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  • molliefish
    molliefish Member Posts: 723
    edited October 2015

    Don't be sorry, I was just as scared as you. It's normal to feel lost. You've been dealt a blow to your confidence in your care team, and like all of us, you don't want to wait to deal with the cancer. I know that most of the time they tell us cancers are slower growing so a couple of weeks delay shouldn't be too drastic.

    It is an awful situation to be in. I learned that we have to be our own advocate and you did the right thing by calling the radiologist. Now she advocated for you. We don't know what might have happened, but now that you have acted, we know what most likely will happen.

    In requesting a second opinion would you be looking to see if you should not have a mastectomy or is it simply because you've lost faith in the surgeon? Either way, the 26th is 10 days away. I would ask anyway for a second opinion, tell your family doctor the situation and see what happens. You have nothing to lose by asking, and everything to gain from it. Keep the original surgery appointment.

    I think if the surgeon tells you that she now believes you need a mastectomy, and the radiologist made it a point of calling the surgeon to discuss the second suspicious area near the nipple, that both surgeons will likely recommend mastectomy.

    Because I didn't have a mastectomy I can only tell you what my surgeon said about the difference between the two surgeries. A lumpectomy is a day surgery and I would go home late in the afternoon as long as there were no complications with the procedure.

    A mastectomy would likely be a hospital stay of at least one or two nights to ensure that the drains are functioning and that you are recovering well. In Peel region home nursing care is available if required.

    I can tell you that my original referral to a major cancer center in Toronto was declined and I was delayed to see a surgeon by a week because I live in a different region. When I saw my surgeon two and a half weeks after referral, he booked me for 10 days after after I saw him. They keep space for situations that come up that are more urgent for whatever reason, and I believe Halton Region has the best record for low wait times for these procedures.

    I wish there were more I could do to help you,

    Nikki

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  • gremx003
    gremx003 Member Posts: 33
    edited October 2015

    My surgery is on Monday and I am going for the Lumpectomy.  I have no mass, I have a microcalcification.

    10 days after I will find out about my grade, and if the lymph nodes are affected or not.  can't wait to know more.

    Thank you for your note.

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