2 different types of cancer in seperate breasts-anyone else?

Well, here goes. Saw the Chemotherapy Oncologist today. Didn't realize there were specialists within Oncology.

Friday, June 16 will be my first round of Chemo. I get three rounds of Fluorouracil, Epirubicin, and Cyclophosphamide. Then after that another three rounds of Docetaxel. CAT scan from last week shows something in my lumber spine. Oncologist thinks it could be a Hemangioma of the vertibrae. One thing she said that I thought was kind of odd was that if the cancer does come back it'll be stage IV.

And so it begins. Hoping that I'll be lucky with few side effects.

jworrell, make sure that your nursing and oncology team know about your restless legs. I had leg discomfort so severe when doing Taxol (I did 4 dose dense, on a two week cycle, not weekly) that I was prescribed morphine just to get some sleep. I also ended up with pretty severe neuropathy by the end (both hands and feet) but my feet are still not normal, after more than 2 years I did not ice, but you might ask about whether icing your hands and feet during infusions might help.

AC was rough for me, too. Some things about Taxol that were different from the AC were, for me:

*. I had a bunch or neurological symptoms, including some expressive aphasia (searching for words - chemobrain), some facial tics and eye twitches, some incontinence - by the end, i would joke that I couldn't cough without peeing my pants, and any flatulence was only safely expressed in the bathroom!

*. My tummy tended to be very acid, though that was kept under control with OTC Zantac (300 mg/day). I was still pretty nauseated, so it might have been related to the masses of anti emetic drugs I was consuming

*. Watch your fingernails and toenails. I moisturized mine and kept them polished, but they got pretty loose.

2 down, 10 to go. You've got this!

Donna

Hello jworrel and all. Yes I had two different types. On the left side. Stage 1. ER/PR positive. HER2 negative. Grade 1. On the right. Stage 1 grade 3 triple negative. I had 4 A/C dose dense chemo sessions followed by 4 Dose dense Taxol sessions. Had bi-lateral masectomies and 28 radiation sessions on right side. Then 6 months of Zeloda. Also reconstruction with silicone implants this past December. I have been on an AI inhibitor for just over a year now.

I have endured treatment for both. Have worked through all. Has not been fun but doable. I work in healthcare industry. Have had tremendous support through all and I know I am fortunate in that regard. Also DH is retired and played a tremendous role in supporting me through all of this.

SE's can be frustrating but those go away after treatment. I did have neuropathy. A few accupuncture treatments resolved that. I am T1 Diabetes 37 years so have an extra predisposition to that issue.

There are few of us with different types in each breast. But my docs assured me this does not change the outcomes. Focus on treating the more aggressive side/type. I am only about 1 1/2 yr cancer free but no more concerned than others at this point in my recovery.

Having had incremental BC 3 & 4 years ago, concern & worry have become my "new normal", even though I'm not constantly preoccupied with BC, as I originally had been. One eye, I think, always shall remain open to other possibilities out of fear of the "unknown". Not only with rarer exotic BC subtypes, there are still too many unknowns in BC.

[Multi-centric DCIS grade-III, Mixed Invasive Mucinous grade-II multi-focal, Invasive Solid Papillary grade-II, LX & BMX, hormone therapy, ER/PR+ HER2-]

Never quit believing. Best wishes to all.

I was diagnosed with DCIS left breast and LCIS right breast, had a BMX, clear margins, lymph nodes no cancer, no chemo or radiation or tamoxifen required , ER/PR negative.

I had IDC & ILC in the same breast. They also identified LCIS during the surgical pathology study. I had BMX in Nov 2017 with immediate reconstruction (TE and 2 weeks ago the implants placed). No node involvement. There was nothing left of the ILC at surgery (the radiologist took 12 samples during the biopsy ~ I guess she got the whole thing...no wonder I was hurting so bad after the biopsy).

My big concern is that they are acting like that second cancer site doesn't matter, doesn't play into the treatment plan at all. How can that be? I had an Oncotype score of 10 on the IDC tumor. They didn't test the ILC at all. No chemo and no radiation ~ both of which I am grateful for but I have concerns. Is this being treated correctly? So scared it will come back.

jworrell, Sounds like your chances are pretty good that you've seen the last of the cancer. Good luck.

I was diagnosed with IDC in right breast in November, 2017 and had mastectomy in December. Oncotype DX came back with a 12 so no chemo. Then last week I had reconstruction on right mastectomy side and a lift and allograph to make other (left) breast symmetrical. As they removed some of that tissue from the non-cancerous breast they sent it off to the lab. Results came back 5 days later that I have ILC in that breast. I'm sure it was there all along. I want to know why they didn't do a more thorough examination of that breast (knowing I had dense tissue) before the mastectomy in December! They might have found ILC with an Ultrasound and could have done a double mastectomy. And this is MD Anderson! Waiting to meet with them this week!

I'm sorry, kod. I'm surprised they didn't send you for an MRI, too. After they found the mass in my right breast my surgeon sent me for an MRI on my left breast to make sure we weren't missing anything. I had very dense breast tissue on the left side. I thank God she did because the MRI showed an aggressive mass twice the size of the other side that was undetected by mammogram. They went back thru 3 years of my mammograms to see if it was missed.

Me too-July 2014, surgery September 2014. Her2+ tumor on right side, ER+, Progesterone + tumor on left side. Chemo, Herceptin and radiation. Arimidex daily.I'm still here.