New Here and Just Diagnosed

Welcome and so sorry you have to be here. I think it's completely normal to be scared. I was diagnosed 09/19, lumpectomy was 10/16 and Sentinel lymph node biopsy. My lymph nodes came back negative and I am currently doing radiation every day. Today was number 9 session of 20. I was a wreck as well waiting for the results. Just try and take it one day at a time, I know it's a lot. Keeping busy and talking to friends and family helped me quite a bit and maybe a glass or two of wine as well. Try to stay positive and I will keep you in my thoughts and cross my fingers for negative lymph nodes.

Hi and welcome...take heart that you are er/pr +, meaning you have more options to treat and eradicate it--there seems to be a bit better prognosis for hormone positive status, so that's a good thing for you to hold onto. There is such good advice here on these boards--so keep doing research and posting when you need to, both questions and worries. The first thing I did here was to read only inspiring survivor stories about women who had worse dxes than I did-it helped a lot. Positive lymph nodes don't actually mean that it's doom and gloom--someone else told me early in my dx that they are actually catching any cancer cells before they go on to make problems, sort of like a first line of defense. And you might not have any at all, too.

Keep us posted. We care.

Here is a link to some info on the mammaprint test. Some doctors order the oncotype test. There is info in this article about that as well.

Mammaprint info link

Things that I wish I'd known sooner than I did:

They don't really know the stage until after surgery and pathology - they're making informed guesses.

Your stage can go down based on pathology. I was freaked out waiting. Knowing that I think might have helped. What is the estimated size of your tumor? Even if it's larger, if there is no node involvement and your oncotype/mammaprint score comes back low, your stage could still be 1a.

No matter what your grade is, you never know if you're 'cured' until it either comes back or you die of something different. Most women die of something different.

The treatment is a slog and you really can't know what side effects you'll have except by trying the treatments. It's easy to get freaked out because people with bad experiences are more likely to post. But a lot of women either have minimal or very treatable side effects.

justme1964 - Sorry you are going through this. Don't get hung up on the lymph node issue. .My mammogram showed calcifications in a cluster that measured less than 1 centimeter and neither breast lesion nor lymph node cancer could be detected by clinical exam. The biopsy showed hormone positive and HER2 neg. and grade 2. My surgeon also urged the sentinel node biopsy at the time of the lumpectomy. It showed one lymph node to be positive. She was surprised since my lesion was so small and I was not high grade. This made me Stage IIA. But chemo was not a given even with the lymph node positive. My oncologist used the Mammoprint test which is done with tissue from the lumpectomy (not by a blood test). Because it came by "high risk", I did do chemo. But if it had come back "low risk" I would not have done chemo even with the positive lymph node. Cancer does not have to go through the lymph node to spread . It travels though the blood system also. So just being lymph node negative does not mean you don't need chemo. It is complicated and we are so lucky now to have Mammoprint and Oncotype tests to help see who really benefits from chemo. Best wishes for a good result as you go forward. Polly

As far as the tests determining treatment, that is so up to a point. The gold standard is radiation when a lumpectomy is done. The tests would not change that. Also for hormone positive it would be "usual" for hormone therapy to be prescribed. Others can chime in here but my understanding is that even if the tests show "low risk", that finding is dependent on the patient having hormone therapy. I am not sure how many patients who are Stage II and Grade 2 have the test come back recommending chemo. Way less than 50% I would think. I had an unusual finding on my mammoprint report that my tumor was more Basal than Luminol which is very rare for estrogen positive cancers. So don't worry based on my need for chemo -- I would think your changes of no chemo are high. Polly

Hi all - newly diagnosed with Breast Cancer (grade III and tumor sized at 1.9mm) and feeling pretty positive (still)...

I received the definitive news 10 days ago and haven't returned to work since. My employer has been really good about it and waiting to hear back from me. I am waiting on my surgery date. As the days move to weeks, I am wondering if I should return to work while waiting for surgery? I am trying to plan financially and don't want to go into short term disability/leave (68% of salary).

I saw based on some profiles here, that from diagnosis to surgery took sometimes upwards of one month. Although most of you are in the US (I am in Canada), I am wondering how some of you managed the working part? I am a single mom and it will be a struggle (although probably feasible but stressful) having a reduced salary. What did you do?

I don't have an 8-5 job; I teach at a state university and my schedule worked out that I wasn't teaching on Fridays. So I had my infusion then, and took the weekend to recover. For my AC infusion I never missed a class I had to teach. It actually helped me get my mind off my worry because I have to be so invested in what is happening with my students when I'm in the classroom.

I also used my sick time I had built up when I had my weekly infusion of taxol, and reduced my full teaching schedule to 1/3 for one semester. Since I worked out that I would teach that reduced schedule in the mornings on T/Th, I was able to get my infusions on Fridays.

When I had rads, since I was teaching in the a.m. I just scheduled the appts in the afternoons and then drove home.

It was doable for me because I work mostly from home when not on campus. Does your work have a sick time donation opportunity? I found a lot of my colleagues wanted to donate sick and vacation time to me to help out, but because we are a state-run institution, it couldn't be done.

I'm thinking depending on what your tx plan is, you could try to schedule any chemo (if you wind up with it) on Fridays and use the weekend to recover, as I did.

I found my surgeries (lumpectomy, BMX) fairly easy, and went to work for both. I had a drain in for my lumpectomy and just tucked it in my waistband. No one knew.

Claire in AZ

Lymph nodes are always checked, no matter size, stage or grade. It is part of the plan. So far, your stats are good. We are always concerned about cancer spreading beyond the lymph nodes....I am 8 and 6 years out and still think about it. I am glad you are embracing the treatment plan you get and I wish you well.

Thanks L-O-R-I - My doctor had told me that I would probably be rushed into surgery within 1-2 weeks, and yes I suppose I was in shock, so didn't go back to work. But now that it's been 2 weeks, I've decided to go back starting Monday.

It helps to know that you were able to schedule everything around work. I still don't know the stage or what therapy I will decide on post surgery but my employer has been ever so accommodating and let me take those 2 weeks as paid leave.

It's a touch challenging as a single mom and even off work, I've been so busy doing research and juicing and making smoothies and dosing on CBD and supplements and researching, in between laundry and feeding kids and helping with homework! Not sure how I'll manage it all with work thrown back in, but it's how I roll, so I'll manage.

Fingers crossed I get scheduled in for surgery soon so I can figure out next steps!

Sorry you are here, but welcome. Can't add more to what everyone has said, and as you can tell, so many of us have gone through it already or are in treatment now. You sound ready to fight and that's great. I felt the same. Wanted it out as soon as possible and move on with whatever lied ahead.

You will get through this. Keep us in the loop. We are here.. Hugs..

If you have an Oncotype test, it will give you your risk % with and without chemo and other information on your prognosis. (This is different from genetic tests for BRCA and other genetic tendencies for breast cancer).

At the time of my diagnosis, Oncotype was the standard of care but those with intermediate scores would sometimes have the Mammaprint which only has high and low risk.

You really don't have much information until after the surgery. It is hard to wait. Some of us have gotten Ativan from our doctors to get us through. Walking, Netflix, Tai Chi whatever works for you

just me -I would have freaked out too if I woke up with a drain pump and wasn’t aware a drain pump might be required.

You have legitimate questions that need to be addressed to and answered by your doctor.

I had a micromet in my SN. My BS said it would get me chemo. He even went so far as to schedule a port when I had surgery. My MO who was the decision maker for my treatment said she wanted me to have the Oncotype test to see if chemo would be beneficial. Just so you know she also said women had been over treated for years so the Oncotype test would provide specific information about my tumor. My score came back low at 11. No chemo. 33 radiation treatments. 8% chance of a recurrence. Btw they did not test any other lymph nodes. My MO said it wasn’t necessary. In your case your MO thinks you need to have more nodes removed.

One thing we have all learned being DX with this disease is be your own advocate. I can’t tell you how many women I know who have done just that despite their doctor’s advice. They did their homework plus it’s their bodies. Their lives too just as it is yours.

Your medical team needs to address your concerns before proceeding. Make sure they do that.

Diane