What to expect at 1st appt. with surgeon?

Hi!

You probably won't get neoadjuvant treatment unless you are HER2+. Even then, many HER2+ BC patients do adjuvant chemo/targeted therapy. I was slated for neoadjuvant chemo because my lump was big and I was HER2+ (easier to get Perjeta as part of neoadjuvant treatment).

If you're meeting with the surgeon, she'll want to discuss surgical options: lumpectomy, mastectomy, double mastectomy, and reconstruction (although you'll also need a plastic surgeon to discuss that). Unless you are HER2+, that's what I'd focus on if I were you. What surgery seems right for you? If you opt for a mastectomy or double mastectomy, do you want reconstruction? If so, what kind?

By the way, your surgeon shouldn't recommend chemo, targeted therapy, or hormonal therapy. That's the job of your medical oncologist.

Good luck!

Hi ladies, my first appointment is on Wednesday the 4th of April. I was diagnosed on 3/20/18 with IDC, 3cm, ER+,PR+, and HER2 borderline and the FISH not amplified. Really don't know what all of this means. Just need some understanding of what I am looking at. HELP!!!!

pleasantsa just wanted to chime in that surgery will probably be scheduled soon—not because it's an emergency but because there's no reason to wait, particularly with a lumpectomy. You can probably see from my signature that my surgery was 11 days after dx, and really a lumpectomy is not bad. Not much pain and other than not being cleared to do upper body stuff at the gym, life is pretty much back to normal after a few days. Typical follow-up with the surgeon (at least mine) is about a week post-op and he then again about two weeks after that. The good news is you need to heal from the surgery before you can start any treatment so you get this nice 4-6 week period with not much going on. You will likely have an initial consultation with an RO and/or MO before the surgery.

There are tons of quite specific threads with great advice for just about every dx/treatment schedule on this site. It is such a blessing.

pleasantsa--not dumb questions at all. The short answer is yes. My mom had something that was probably DCIS around age 62 (she didn't know the exact dx but was told many years later that if she'd gotten that dx then, they would have done a lumpectomy rather than MX), but other than that there is *no* cancer in my family. (BTW--she's doing great at 89.) I did have some ALH about nine years ago (that honestly I keep forgetting about!). I will have genetic testing done at some point but none of my doctors are expecting to see any positive results. They did say that because this one was on the other side and had very different characteristics from the DCIS two years ago, it's considered another primary vs. a recurrence. My hooters just need to stop acting up. Really. As to typical or not, I know *many* women get one incidence of DCIS, treat it, and never have anything else show up. But I am *very* happy I get looked at thoroughly every six months. I do feel like if anything comes AGAIN, it'll be caught early.