How long between diagnosis and surgery?

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Chicken_Lil
Chicken_Lil Member Posts: 3

Hi everyone—it's been a six month or so journey to get here, but I recently received a diagnosis of DCIS (high grade) and am scheduled for a mastectomy. Less invasive measures are not an option. I've seen from the MRI the affected area is large and I'm nervous about other words in the pathology report that make me feel like a ticking time bomb (sorry for the cliche). I'm handling this diagnosis ok but—I'm guessing like most of you—I'm extremely unhappy at the thought this thing will decide to morph into something worse before I have it taken out. My surgery is about seven weeks out—isn't that a long time? Too long? I've been assured this is standard but the description of high grade also makes me feel like I'm hanging by a thread here. Thanks for thoughts or advice!

Comments

  • VegGal
    VegGal Member Posts: 507
    edited November 2018

    My surgery was a day shy of 2 months from diagnosis. However, my tumor was small at 6 mm. I understand the worry about the wait as I felt it as well. Perhaps you can try to find another surgeon, or ask to be put on a cancelation list in case someone else cancels her surgery. 

  • Peacetoallcuzweneedit
    Peacetoallcuzweneedit Member Posts: 233
    edited November 2018

    My area of DCIS was large as well --> 6cm and I had another area in my other breast ~3-4cm --> total time from diagnosis to surgery 4-5wks. My BS had a change in her schedule and said we need to get in there and get it out. Mine was high grade as well. I think 6wks is considered standard...or that is an acceptable time frame to between diagnosis and surgery. Women have waited longer in other posts I have read. I was happy to go in sooner. I had already done second opinions, and my plastic surgeon was able accommodate my Breast Surgeon's schedule so it worked. I know the time between initial diagnosis and surgery is sooooo very hard.

  • star2017
    star2017 Member Posts: 827
    edited November 2018

    about five weeks for me. I had chemo after Mx. Grade 3, 8cm.



  • Chicken_Lil
    Chicken_Lil Member Posts: 3
    edited November 2018

    Thank you! I appreciate the responses. I'm just trying to gain some perspective and not overreact

  • Faithonfire
    Faithonfire Member Posts: 85
    edited November 2018

    Hi ladies

    I am about 3 weeks out from my final reconstruction surgery for double mastectomy and am so thrilled with the results it’s astonishing now even though I felt my wait to get completed was excessive. I did not have surgery until my chemo was complete due to harsh nuclear treatments because I had 3 sentynl lymph’s affected on left side and as a stage 3c it was deemed too risky to try and remove giant 8 tumor hiding up to my armpit and mimicking muscle tissue not presenting as typical BRCA 2 tumor.

    If I had to do over again I would have insisted on surgery before chemo for the simple fact that you are better able to heal and they would better monitor recovery and maintain quality of care until deemed cancer free.

    I decided instead to focus on saving my nipple tissue for reconstruction to avoid any nipple tattoos and the fact that my biopsies came back benign for years after all those needle biopsies I felt I deserved to keep them instead of throwing them away for an over abundance of caution and not solid medical facts to base an informed decision on .

    My doctors agree that when we know better we do better so don’t ever be afraid to force your issues to be answered to your satisfaction in the medical field... remember these people work FOR you and if you don’t like what they are proposing to do to you get a second opinion not bullied into sub standard options due to lack of knowledge or skill of doctors hoping to get your business!

    It took me 4 interviews to find the right woman for the job but we are both very proud of the results!

  • moth
    moth Member Posts: 4,800
    edited November 2018

    I had my surgery 7 days after diagnosis but that was a bit unusual - I was originally scheduled for just under 30 days post dx but the surgeon had an opening and offered it to me so I grabbed it.

    There is research on optimal surgery times; this blog post by a breast surgeon summarizes the research and says "it's best to do surgery within about 60 days in patients not needing chemotherapy first" https://respectfulinsolence.com/2016/01/12/breast-...

    I hope this reassures you. Best wishes.

  • sillynerd
    sillynerd Member Posts: 4
    edited November 2018

    I had a small area of DCIS (10mm), medium grade, and my lumpectomy was 3 weeks after DX. I was surprised how quickly that went because my case was not *that* serious. But that was because I choose private medical care, if my surgery was to be performed by the public health system, I would have to wait at least 4 months...

  • Chicken_Lil
    Chicken_Lil Member Posts: 3
    edited November 2018

    Thanks again to everyone for taking the time to respond. I’m sure this wait is an area of concern for many so I apologize if this question is repetitive! I was able to get my date moved up a bit although it will make the holidays a bit miserable—I guess that’s why they held off the initial scheduled time. My holiday won’t be normal either way so I’d rather just get this done with!!

  • Rrobin0200
    Rrobin0200 Member Posts: 433
    edited November 2018

    diagnosis was 3/6/17, surgery was 3/31/17. So 2.5-3 weeks

  • pinkvictory
    pinkvictory Member Posts: 58
    edited November 2018

    I was diagnosed June 1st and surgery was August 9th


  • Runrcrb
    Runrcrb Member Posts: 577
    edited November 2018

    my initial diagnosis was 6/27; following surgeon consult, additional tests (MRI and two more biopsies) and plastic surgeon consults, my mastectomy was 9/22 so three months. By then I'd had a sentinel node biopsy and knew chemo and radiation would follow surgery so had also consulted with those doctors too. I was bald for thanksgiving and Christmas that year. The following year I had a full head of hair for thanksgiving and was cancer free. I was 12 days past DIEP reconstruction at Christmas so moving slowly. This year I hosted thanksgiving for 21 and am taking a 12 day trip to visit friends in Europe in advance of Christmas. So while this holiday may be crappy for you due to your cancer diagnosis i hope the next one is great.

  • ElleJay
    ElleJay Member Posts: 2
    edited December 2018

    I was diagnosed in July and had surgery in December. I spent time gathering as much info as I could for fear of over treating what I was not yet convinced was that big of a deal. I got second (then third) opinions, tried to get in on some clinical trials, (but didn’t qualify due to my high grade), and finally got an analytic assessment of my risk if I chose non-treatment (& increased surveillance) before finally scheduling surgery. For me, I needed to do the due diligence and don’t regret the delay. Good luck to you.

  • Cin17
    Cin17 Member Posts: 51
    edited February 2019

    My initial mammogram was on December 28, 2018. It took the radiology center three weeks to get back to me and tell me to come in for another mammogram and ultrasound. They recommended a biopsy and my gynecologist referred me to a breast surgeon who was able to see me quickly and perform a biopsy in her office. I was lucky because my insurance covered an MRI before the biopsy results came back so that's out of the way. I got the call on Monday, February 4, 2019 that the biopsy was positive. I met with the breast surgeon on Wednesday and the plastic surgeon on Friday. Tomorrow I get my pre-surgery EKG. I hope they can move quickly as my tumor is 4.9 cm (on MRI, initially it was only 2.7 cm on ultrasound) and I just want it out me ASAP because, like you, I don't want it to get any worse. The stress of waiting has really knocked the wind out of me.

  • 60notpretty
    60notpretty Member Posts: 58
    edited February 2019

    My initial mammo was in November and second mammo, biopsy and diagnosis was mid December. I just had first surgery on Feb. 8th and will have another one mid March. I'd love to move faster but the Doc I chose is in high demand. He was highly recommended so I chose this path. Depending on the pathology report for the second surgery as to whether I will have to have Chemo or not and after that I will have radiation. I am so ready to get this over with but am still wanting it to be right.

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