How quickly do treatments progress?

Options
AngelaJL
AngelaJL Member Posts: 94
edited August 2017 in Just Diagnosed

I'm 43 and have had several mammograms before. After my every-2-year screening mammogram showed clusters of calcification on both sides on 8/1, I had biopsies on both sides on 8/9. I was just diagnosed on Tuesday (8/15) with DCIS on the right side (6mm) and a cluster of atypical cells on the left side (4mm). I was told they're estrogen and progesterone receptive. The BS says I need lumpectomies on both and radiation on just the right. I'll be meeting with the medical oncologist and radiation oncologist on 8/30. This has all happened so quickly

In an appointment with the BS on 8/16, he said, "There's no rush for the surgery." I asked him to define "no rush", thinking maybe some time in the next year since it's non-invasive. He said I'd need to have the surgery in the next 6-8 weeks. That seems very much like a rush to me!

So I'm wondering how quickly DCIS progresses, how quickly people usually have surgery after diagnosis, how soon they begin radiation after surgery, and whether or not someone with DCIS usually has genetic testing done. Also, is radiation standard for DCIS?

I'm so grateful for these forums and all of the shared experiences and wisdom.

· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • Rrobin0200
    Rrobin0200 Member Posts: 433
    edited August 2017

    So sorry you have found yourself here. It's s club no one wants to join, but you've definitely come to the right place.

    I, too, was dx with DCIS in March of this year. I decided on a bilateral mastectomy, (w/reconstruction) which I had approximately 2.5 weeks after diagnosis. I know many people on here that have had lumpectomies as their choice of treatment. My DCIS was a grade 3, so I personally wanted it out of me ASAP. Radiation is a must after a LX, but not after a BMX. (Per my understanding)

    May I ask why you don't want treatment right away?

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • LisaAlissa
    LisaAlissa Member Posts: 1,092
    edited August 2017

    Angela,

    I'm so sorry that you needed to find us...

    You'll want to read through Beesie's "A Layperson's Guide to DCIS," if you haven't had a chance to look at it yet.

    You'll find out a lot about DCIS and the options open to you.

    HTH,

    LisaAlissa

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • AngelaJL
    AngelaJL Member Posts: 94
    edited August 2017

    Thank you for your reply, Robin. It's not that I don't want treatment right away, it's just that the BS had been acting so nonchalant about it all up to that point that it really surprised me that the surgery needs to happen so soon. It makes me wonder if this is more serious than he had let on. In fact, after receiving my diagnosis of DCIS over the phone on Tuesday night and reading up on what DCIS is, I was very confused when he walked into my appointment on Wednesday afternoon and said, "Now, you don't have cancer." I'm pretty sure the "C" in DCIS means "carcinoma". Was he just saying that because it's non-invasive

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • AngelaJL
    AngelaJL Member Posts: 94
    edited August 2017

    Thank you for that link, LisaAlissa! I will read it tonight.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Categories