Things are Moving too Fast!

I pushed back and got a second opinion. It made me more confident in my decisions. You are in the hardest part. It will get better once you have your treatment plan in place.

So sorry this has happened.   I would definitely get a second opinion.   I waited 2 months before I went ahead with the surgery.   They put me on Letrozole immediately in December when I had the biopsy but my surgery wasn't until February 23, 2018.   I had to get my head in a good spot.  Otherwise I was a walking zombie.   When it came time for the surgery I was ready.   Don't let anyone hurry you.  You have to be comfortable with your decisions.    Good luck  and keep us posted.

Keeshondmom, I'm so sorry you are joining us. Your post is sparse with details...ILC because of a biopsy? Or have you had other type of surgery? Your doctor "felt" cancer...take that with a grain of salt, especially ILC, which grows flat and thin.

Deep breath. Another. If you wanted a second opinion, you have plenty of time for it. I'm not sure why you think otherwise, but there is always time for second opinions; even third opinions. Never believe a doctor who thinks they can detect cancer by touch. Some even get it wrong looking at imaging. My radiologist refused to acknowledge I had cancer looking at my MRI. She was wrong. I had another doctor convinced that because my cancer didn't show up on ultrasound, I didn't have it. **shaking my head**

Find doctors you trust and are comfortable with. Give yourself time to absorb the information. Have someone go with you to ensure your facts are straight (or record your appointment so you can play it back at home). ILC tends to be slower growing so if someone is telling you that you have to rush to a decision, that isn't the case majority of the time.

I wish you well and I hope you can find a doc who can put your mind at ease, such as a cancer diagnosis offers.

I ditto Wallycat. Your lymph nodes could just be larger than normal but nothing ominous and completely normal for you also. For someone to feel it and say they think its cancer is a bit premature. Breast cancer and lymph node involvement is not always a given. If you are a unsure in any way with the information you are being given, or just feel uneasy with the surgeons manner, I'd get a second opinion too.

Good news that you postponed and Pet Scan showed no lymph node involvement.   Remember you can always get second opinions.  You are in no hurry to rush and begin anything until you are comfortable with your decisions.   Keep us posted.

All I know is that lumpectomy with radiation seems to give the same % of protection as BMX with no radiation. Radiation wasn't hard at all for me. It was simply tedious: 15" a day, 5 days a week, for six weeks. Compared to 5 months of chemo, 6 more weeks for just a few min a day was simple.

My philosophy was to do everything offered to me from modern medicine to give me the best change to kick ass on cancer, but I had 6 positive nodes and was considered high risk. ILC also has a tendency to be multifocal and grow in both breasts, so a year after radiation I had a BMX with reconstruction.

I also had dense breasts, which hid the problem from mammos for 5 years. My scans always reported "all clear", which apparently wasn't true.

You can refuse any treatment, but you should talk to your oncologist seriously about all treatment plans for you, and get her take on why radiation is recommended. As I said, it was a non-event.

Claire in AZ