Just got my biopsy results. So mad at VA doctor right now!

Ductal cancer, is probably malignant ductal carcinoma infiltrating, otherwise it would be called insitu. How long have you gone in between mammograms? Yearly, 6months at a time? If you go yearly, and have a non aggressive type of cancer, you are probably stage 1 or 2 (early detection.) Most cancers found on a screen detected basis are lower grade and lower stage. Hopefully, you have been doing regular mammograms and this is early. I would set your sights on early stage, low grade, hopefully easier surgery and recovery.

It's a VA hospital.....HOPE, you can go to another place...Liz

Quiltingnut~~ First let me say that I am sorry you were given this result in this way. My first step would be to get a copy of the path report on Tuesday. That will at least give you a bit more info. Plus I think it is important to have copies of all of my records. It does take the VA a few days for referrals to go through. I would follow up with calls to the VA to find out the status of these referrals.

Do you have to pay for your VA health care? My husband does not pay a dime due to his rating. This makes a difference in choosing where to go at this point. If the VA can get you follow up or plan of care in a timely manner, then I would at least let them give you their opinion. If you don't like their care you can always go somewhere else based on your insurance and financial situation.

I will add that my husband has been given excellent care by the Atlanta VA system, especially for a heart condition that sprung up this year. I am a retired cardiac nurse and he could not have been given better care. They did not skimp on anything. If you do go with the VA, I would love to hear your experience, so please keep us updated with your progress.

I hope your path report is the best that it can be

Do you know if the pathology report was done at the VA or elsewhere? I just found your other posts. For what it's worth, my tumor hurt as well. A lot! And it was on board for nearly 3 years before diagnosis. When it was removed a few weeks ago, the relief was immediate. Bottom line is that some cancer hurts. Does not mean, however, that it is a catastrophe. My tumor is a grade one with a good prognosis. Don't get too worried until you have a good reason to... Cancer is a bit of a marathon and you need to pace yourself. Here's hoping for excellent follow up care and treatment.

Quiltingnut, a basic primary care doctor will typically not understand the full meaning of all the jargon on the path when it comes to BC management plans. Typically such a doc wants time to find out from oncologists what a report means prognostically and treatmentwise, so she can call the patient with results and be armed with some comments about realistic hope for good outcome. She called you within a very short time after the biopsy was done and before a weekend, which is excellent for VA and you are mad because you want to know more. If she had given you a complete report read without knowing what it means for your prognosis and treatment, e.g., if no oncologist was around to give a curbside phone consult to her to prepare, would you not still have been mad that you would have to wait to find out more meaningful info, as the doc did not know?

To timely facilitate future VA communication issues and information , see if they have My Healthevet for email and a variant of it called Blue Dot (available at some VAs) where you can from your home log on and see all final reports, progress notes, lab, appointments etc. about you just like a doc would see, often sooner than your primary may get to it.

Some VAs have great oncology care for BC , others contract out the management to a place near them that treats more women. Also note If your care is free there under ChampVA, as a career military lady you would be ok to get care at 63 and beyond, but if you are only the wife of a career vet and not a vet yourself, at 65 you will no longer be eligible for VA (they send you to private sector forMedicare) so interruption of care potential would be another consideration.

Jumping in to say my husband's grandfather had top of the line care at the Boston VA. He was a WWII vet with many health issues related to the war but lived well into his 90s. Doctors and nurses at VA were always on top of things. I like the idea of second opinions if you are unsure. It really made me feel better even though they did not agree on my treatment plan. The cancer research hospital and tumor board was the one I followed since this is their specialty and my case was a bit more complicated. Yes, cancer is a craps shoot.