Appt with surgeon Tuesday, no info

Jiffs, sorry you have gotten this news. It is so overwhelming, I was recently diagnosed and it is still hard to take in. I was told by the breast center that did my biopsy that "cancer cells were present". The nurse navigator had already scheduled me with a breast surgeon oncologist, I have found the nurse navigators to be an amazing part of my care team. I was able to get my pathology report through my patient portal with my doctors office, and my breast surgeon gave me a copy at my first appointment. When you go to the general surgeon ask for a copy of the pathology report and make sure the doctor explains it to you. Could you research breast surgeons in your area and get a referral? Personally I would at least want to consult with a breast surgeon. Lots of patients get second opinions. You need to feel comfortable with the care you are given.

Things I wanted to know from my initial visit were the details of my pathology report, such as ER and PR status and HER2 status. The size of my tumor according to the imaging, and of course what were my treatment options. I also left the visit with a list of other doctors I needed to see such as radiation oncologist, medical oncologist, plastic surgeon, and genetics counselor. I took the advice I found on this site to make a binder to keep my schedule in along with my insurance, billing, medical records, and also a mileage tracker for tax purposes. I can tell you it does get a bit better after getting more of a picture of what are are dealing with. Don't hesitate to reach out here for questions. This forum has definitely helped me keep my sanity (somewhat:)

Many of us here feel that we were able to get much better care by seeing a breast surgeon instead of a general surgeon. I know I wanted a surgeon that did nothing else but focus on breast cancer issues all day, every day and I was happy to drive 2 hours to get that level of care. My dr knew what info I needed to know before I even asked the questions. My oncologist is also a breast specialist and is very up to date with all the new studies and treatment recommendations coming out. I would worry that an "old school" dr would over prescribe chemo when the newest studies show it is not needed for many of the early stage breast cancers. Of course, all that will depend on what they already know from your pathology and what they find during surgery.

I would highly recommend that you add a breast surgeon to your care team, even if it's only for a second opinion. And probably the most important question is about your lymph nodes. Do any of them look positive in the tests you've had. How many nodes is the dr planning on removing during surgery. Your dr should answer that they're doing a sentinel node biospy during surgery and will remove only the ones that absorb the blue dye. (Unless, of course you have positive nodes)

Another thing I feel strongly about is a presurgery MRI. You want to be sure there is no more cancer hiding in either breast and the MRI is the best tool for that. My MRI found DCIS lurking in the other breast that had not shown up on the mammogram

Wishing you the best of luck with your appointment. Take someone with you to write everything down. The dr is firing so much info at you it's hard to remember it all. My first appt with my breast surgeon was a 2 hour "teaching" appt. There's a lot to learn in this cancer journey and a lot of decisions to make.

Sending hugs! Let us know what all the dr says and we can help answer any questions you might still have

Lucky

Dear Jiffs,

This is the time when you have the most shock and the least information. Over time you will learn more and more about your cancer and your shock will start to go away. I agree with everyone above about your "big picture" concerns:

Breast surgeon appointment

Copies of all tests

Staging breast MRI

Oncologist appointment

There will be other concerns, but they can wait for a while. If you have to travel for these appointments, you can insist that they are back to back on the same day or two.

I promise you this: you will feel better someday and you will be happy again. THIS is the worst time.

Hello. This is my first post. I’ve been lurking since my dx 8/3. I too have my surgery 9/27. During my biopsy I received a large hematoma so my surgeon wanted to give the hematoma time to subside . So far it appears to be 7 mm tumor idc/dcis stage 1a. Grade 2. No thing else appeared on MRI. No node involvement . The dark side of me worries that it’s spread since dx. Unlikely, I know. Looking forward to getting the full picture after the lumpectomy and sentinel removal.

Thanks

Sharon

Liz, I'm so sorry your dr messed up. It's a shame when we can't trust the drs we have chosen for our care. I know my plastic surgeon (recommended by my breast surgeon) did a lousy job, which I have chosen to just live with since I don't want any more surgeries. Glad you found a good dr and continue to do well.

What concerned me about Jiffs post was that the dr seemed to be giving her "old school" advice without benefit of even basic pathology. I was worried he wasn't up on the most current studies and Jiffs doesn't yet have enough experience to know the difference. Oh, if we only had a year to study this cancer thing before we had to make any decisions. (Of course, the wait would have driven me stark raving mad)

Glad to hear you've got a tumor board as part of your team.

You sound like you've got a really good attitude and that goes a long way to getting you through this. I hope your pathology comes back with all encouraging info.

Sending hugs, Lucky