Not sure what to do... 2nd Opinion?

Hi Everyone!

I will briefly summarize my situation. 1st Mammo {3D} phone call next day saw microcalcifications. Stereotactic biopsy done Oct 16. DX DCIS Oct 21.

In the months time. I saw Oncologist, ehh very text book didnt really care for. Saw Genetic Counselor, did the basic 7 gene test. Still awaiting results. Saw BS & PS on Oct. 29. MRI was done Nov 5. I told them I wanted to wait til after holidays for surgery. Oncologist & BS seemed rather pushy & waiting til Jan was too long. PS & Nurse Nav were ok with it. Last I heard from anyone was with Nurse Nav where she told me to advocate for myself in my choice to wait til Jan since I only have DCIS. She said would compose email to team advising them.

So here it is Nov 19, I haven't heard from anybody! Not even on my MRI. I left message yesterday with nurse nav to call me about MRI & no call yet. Is the silence because I want to wait? The no call on MRI mean it fine? Do I show up & demand a copy?

The communication is disappointing.

Shall I seek 2nd opinion at perhaps Penn? I am 20 min from Phila. Currently going through MD Anderson Cooper. PS is Jefferson.

dtad:

Thank you! The reason I went with MD Anderson was cause of specific names. Same surgeon my friends have had. So that was my hesitation going Penn as it literally starting with a clean slate with no names. This process is so overwhelming!

JerseyRenee, you most certainly have plenty of time to wait for surgery for DCIS. Second, I would RUN the other way from this doctor since they are not responsive to your very normal concerns. Get a new team. Make sure you feel comfortable with any and all decisions. It is your body. Hugs and best to you. DCIS is not life threatening and you can wait for the surgery until the new year.

• I may be completely wrong here ....but I thought all DCIS was cancer just wanting to become invasive by growing the tumor cells. In fact the information on this board says " Stage O , is used to describe non-invasive breast cancer, such as DCIS. In stage 0, there is no evidence of cancer cells or non cancer cells breaking out of,the part of the breast in which they started or getting through to or invading neighboring normal tissue." I found this on this site under the topic Stages of Breast Cancer.

If I had been told I had DCIS, I would not want to wait .....just in case those blasted cells were on the verge of becoming invasive....then you would be Stage 1. I know it can be a slow growth and you might be fine to wait, but I wouldn't want to give the DCIS a second more of timeto jump the gun. Just my opinion based on the information on breastcancer.org.

I would definitely get a second opinion at a teaching hospital and ask the questions you need answers for. If I'm wrong in the way I read the info, I hope they will let me know. Good luck and keep us posted.

Please let us know. I found that if I wrote down my concerns and questions, it helped me navigate the appointments. Felt a little silly with a piece of paper but the docs seemed to appreciate that I was asking point blank questions and not fumbling around thinking of what I wanted to say or ask.

percy4:

Thank you for your reply. Actually I am leaning on BMX. I have small A cups & lumpectomy may not be beneficial with my small size. Also dense breasts which also a negative with future monitoring. It just makes me nervous that nothing is definitive until that final pathology report. I have heard about that Dr. too. Thank you!

Obxflygirl1:

Thank you! I will certainly compose more questions to be ready for Dec 1. I really questioning if I should even seek the 2nd opinion since I am leaning on BMX. I am so overwhelmed!

Goodnight!!

MKTCA:

We stand together on this one!!! 😘😘