Update-84 year old mom, Questions, Not Stage 3.

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Mcgr45
Mcgr45 Member Posts: 14
edited November 2016 in Just Diagnosed

Hi all,

My 84 year old mother was recently and officially diagnosed with Stage 2, Invasive Ductal Carcinoma. With a biopsy, it was not a guess it is a "fact." She has a 1.8 cm tumor near the back of her left breast with a "scootch" of fat plane left for the surgeon to cut it out via a Lumpectomy. The growths in her right breast are benign. The Oncologist said the tumor was 100% Estrogen and 100% Progesterone Positive, HER2 Negative, one or two lymph nodes involved, Grade 2, Ki67 (doubling time) is 30%. Not sure what some of this means but in the world of cancer, for an 84 year old, I guess it could be worse. Well except for the fact that after a CT Scan of her Chest, with and w/o contrast they found an incidental finding of a 5cm growrh on the left side of her Thyroid, although the growth looks like it has liquid in it. Her Breast Oncologist and the Endocrinologist are not convinced that it is cancer. She had a biopsy and ultrasound of her Thyroid. So we are now awaiting those results. I am scared for her. Any words of wisdom? I am a only child. I live in chicago with my husband. My father is also sick. It's awful.

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  • Lynn5479
    Lynn5479 Member Posts: 5
    edited November 2016

    hi, I'm very sorry about your mom (and your dad). My mom was just diagnosed as well...she's 67 (68 on Thursday). I believe we are lucky, she had a lumpectomy and will need radiation but no chemo. They believe they caught it early and got it all out with the surgery. The last few weeks have been brutal. I'm very close with my mom as well and pregnant with my 2nd child. Like your mom, my mom is HER2- but estrogen/prog stone positive. My moms surgeon said this was good because the estrogen/progesterone aren't aggressive and are easily treated with pills instead of chemo. I don't really have any words of wisdom, it's no fun to watch your mom experience this. Just be there for her, go to appointments with her if possible, and try to remember...as scary as the C word is, it doesn'mean it's not treatable

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  • mara51506
    mara51506 Member Posts: 5,088
    edited November 2016

    Mcgr45. I am so sorry about your mom. I will comment on the things I do know to try to reassure. It is good that the cancer is ER/PR + and HER2 negative as this is definitely a less aggressive cancer. The other good thing is that it is a grade 2 tumour. This means it grows more slowly. Although this will not make things much less stressful, as the above poster mentioned, it can give some gentler options for treatment that can be offered. I am sorry both your parents are ill, as a caregiver, the stress is tough. Make sure you take care of yourself as well, try to rest, get support if you need it, whether it is a group for caregivers etc. Don't forget to look after yourself so you can help your parent as well. My thoughts go with you, best of luck on everything you all decide.


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  • Mcgr45
    Mcgr45 Member Posts: 14
    edited November 2016

    Hi ladies-thanks for the reassurance. My mom is finally ready for surgery and it's this coming Monday. I am scared for her because of her "short" term memory loss. 1.5 to 2 hours under GA is a long time. I pray she gets a good anesthesiologist.Hopefully the margins will be good, and she won't have to get additional surgery. I am glad it's a Lumpectomy and lymph node dissection because it might be easier for her to recover from surgery. We will see. Best wishes to you and I will update again in a few weeks. Mr

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