I was just diagnosed with IDC

I am so sorry you are going through this. Hearing this diagnosis is mind boggling. You are not crazy, every single person here has gone through these exact same emotions. Take a deep breath, maybe many deep breaths. Meditation and guided imagery helps. So do anti anxiety drugs. I'm not the kind of person who takes drugs for any reason but even I wish they had handed out anti anxiety drugs with my diagnosis.

It may not make sense, but there is no need to rush into surgery, you have time to learn what's going on and what the best choices are for you. Do you want a lumpectomy with radiation or a mastectomy? Do you want reconstruction (with all the issues and extra surgeries entailed) or are you fine being flat? Will chemo be recommended? Are your lymph nodes negative? (That's a good thing). It's also very good that you are ER/PR positive

My surgeon was great. She walked through the door and said: "You will be fine! This is just a minor inconvenience, a bump in the road". After spending an hour and a half answering every question I could think of she ended my visit by repeating: "You will be fine". I have clung to those words. You should too. Your diagnosis is very similar to mine and you will be fine!

Take this time to read people's stories here. Make lists of questions. Take someone to your appointment to write down the answers to these questions and then move forward knowing you will be fine

klwils3, I'm sorry that you find yourself here, but it's a great community. Was the initial information you received as a result of a core needle biopsy? Was an ultrasound done of your underarm? That may give your surgeon a preliminary idea whether the lymph nodes are involved although your surgeon will probably want to do what's called a sentinel node biopsy to check for any sneaky cancer cells.

The positive estrogen and progesterone receptors mean you may benefit from hormone therapy. HER2 status helps determine whether two medications called targeted therapy might prove helpful. With your IHC report being equivocal, your pathologist may do a test called a FISH that takes a bit longer, but is considered more reliable. Your surgeon will have many answers, but you'll also want to see a Medical Oncologist. S/he may recommend some drug therapy before surgery, called neoadjuvant therapy. Every step of the way, feel free to ask the benefits & risks of recommended therapy. If your insurance allows, getting a 2nd opinion may make you feel better about your choices.

I hope I haven't misspoken with any of this. It hasn't been that long since I was diagnosed and there's a lot to learn.

Because of family commitments I had a 3 week gap between being diagnosed and having my biopsy. Talk about stress! Once I had the biopsy done it still took another 3 weeks before I had surgery. Most times these diagnosis aren't emergencies and my doctors were fine with the delays. Gave me plenty of time to read everything on these boards so I really felt like I knew what was going on.

I had planned to do a lumpectomy with radiation but a presurgery MRI found a grade 3 DCIS hiding in the other breast so I did a BMX. I definitely did not want tissue expanders, and implants. Luckily I had very large breasts so the PS used my skin to make small little mounds. (Goldilocks reconstruction). I wouldn't call them breasts but I'm not flat. I've already accumulated a large selection of bras, camisoles, breast forms and prosthetics and have great fun deciding what breast size looks best with each outfit

I count myself very lucky that I was able to avoid radiation and chemo. I take Femara and so far have no side effects.

80% (may even be higher) of bc patients had no family history!

Until you have met with your MO (medical oncologist), please, please stop taking those herbal supplements! Many of them have estrogenic effects which can cause an ER+ tumor to grow. (Ditto processed soy). And as for antioxidants, while reasonable amounts of foods containing them are fine, antioxidant supplements can keep radiation and chemo (and perhaps even anti-hormonal meds) from effectively killing tumor cells. Active adjuvant cancer treatment is the one time when you don’t want to mop up free radicals--cell destruction IS the goal! (Just as cytotoxic chemo drugs can’t tell the difference between fast-growing cells and thus can’t target just the cancer cells while leaving your hair follicles and stomach lining alone, antioxidants can’t just prevent your non-cancer cells from being damaged by free radicals). Once you do go on antihormonals, you’d be surprised how many herbal supplements, not just prescription drugs, can interfere with their effectiveness.

But by all means, keep up the anti-anxiety drugs like Ativan, Xanax, etc. They’ll calm you down and help you focus (and process what your doctors are telling you), and stop that “rabbit” from racing around your brain chattering “what if? what if?” Trust me, I’ve been there and so have many if not most of us here.

Start a looseleaf (ring binder or disks) notebook with pockets for all the handouts and documents you’re doubtless going to get (not to mention bills, insurance statements and receipts--very handy at tax time). At every visit, ask your doctor if it’s okay to record the conversation (use a voice recorder app on your phone) so you can play it back later if you’re unsure as to what instructions or results you were told.

And stay away from Dr. Google. He’s an idiot--he has no filter to distinguish between real medical information and useless or harmful bulls..t.

sweetie we know your feelings been there so take a breath get cry out and then i decided to Fight, once treatment plan in effect things will calm down 4 you get 2nd opinion also i got thru with my Faith n Hope. I am now a 22 yr Survivor PRAISE GOD msphil idc stage2 Lmast 0\3 nodes chemo and rads n 5 yrs on tamoxifen.

I have just been diagnosed today, August 23, 2016. I am trying to understand my pathology report. Tomorrow I have an appointment with the oncology doctor. My results from my core needle biopsy were sent to my internist. The report says I have invasive ducal carcinoma with mutinous features. Tumor grade moderately differentiated Nottingham MBR grade 2/3 score 6/9

Neg for lymphatic / vascular invasion

Neg for carcinoma situ

Estrogen positive progesterone receptor negative

I have a trip planned for Italy. I will be back Sept 14. Should I cancel my trip?

So new to all of this and appreciate the support. I will be seeing Dr. Chang tomorrow in Beverly Hills med center

Linda

Positive, take that trip!!!!!! It could take a couple of weeks to get your OncotypeDX score (not a given that you would need chemo--mucinous is not an aggressive form of breast cancer, so the mucinous features might mean your IDC is slower-growing than “Grade 2” would suggest--especially since you’re scoring 6 points, not 7). Get as many wonderful experiences in as you can, while you still feel well--those memories will sustain you if you have tough times ahead (which again, you might not). We just got back from our second trip to Italy--Rome & Tuscany--and IMHO, you can never have too much time in Italy. (And France used to be my comfort zone). Where are you going? In Dec., 2 wks after finishing radiation and before starting letrozole, we took a Mediterranean cruise: Rome, Naples, 2 ports in Sicily, Sardinia, Mallorca, Valencia and Barcelona (where we had go straight to the airport upon going ashore, so we’re going back this Dec.). And last month we spent 5 days in Rome, 3 in a villa in Tuscany, and another day-and-a-half in Rome. Still not enough time!

Go on your vacation and enjoy it. A little delay here and there is not a problem in most cases. And the BC journey is filled with delays. Yours at least will be under your control.

Ask the MO about sending tissue out for the Oncotype Score. When you get back the results should arrive shortly. In the meantime, you'll be enjoying something rather than fretting.

Positive, Rome did feel some mild shaking but wasn’t near the epicenter (the countryside of its state, Lazio, felt it more, especially closer to the Apennines). The Amalfi Coast was much further south, as was Sicily. Not sure how you’re getting back up NE to Venice, but it was outside the quake area. Flights to Rome, Naples, Venice, Pisa and even Perugia (in the affected area) are back to normal.

Hi Jill-

Welcome to BCO! We're sorry for what brings you here, but we're glad you've found us, and hope you find this to be an informative and supportive place. Good luck eith your appointment tomorrow; we would definitely suggest writing down any questions you have beforehand so you don't forget anything you want to ask, and take notes during your appointment. You'll be given a lot of information over the coming weeks, and it's easy to forget or overlook something.

Please keep us posted on how it goes!

The Mods

klwils3, it sounds like you have a good plan in place so far. Your surgeon should be setting up a meeting with a medical oncologist for you. This is the person, along with you, who will determine the need for chemo. He/she will order the Oncotype or Mammaprint test to determine the aggressiveness of the tumor. This is the standard of care in ER+, HER2- tumors. Your tumor seems to have all favorable characteristics to avoid chemo, but sometimes results can be surprising, and the medical oncologist will help determine that. Hopefully the surgeon explained that. Medical oncologists are the experts on chemo, tamoxifen, and such and surgeons are the experts on surgery. It looks like you have a really strong team in place. Best wishes for a successful surgery, with good news on the pathology, and a swift recovery

good to hear from survivors