DCIS - The White Elephant in the room

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wanjiru73
wanjiru73 Member Posts: 8
edited December 2018 in Surgery - Before, During, and After

Hall everyone....

This is how my 26th wakes up...with the investigating surgeon calling early in the morning with the results

from a week a go Biopsy stating that I have DCIS considered to be Stage 0 cancer but could i "urgently"

show up at her clinic and plan how to chop of part of my breast and "quickly" move to Radiation and Chemo

if need be...and am like 'wait a minute?"...can we all slow down a little? My background being that between

the MRI and the actual Biopsy date, they could hardly locate the "suspicious" area at all, so much so that they

ended up marking my breast all over before deciding they had "finally" found the spot...grateful for those two pieces

of titanium bling deposited in my tissue (LOL)....anyway, seriously, for these reasons I have a mind to first give it afew

months for a second opinion since there's no symptoms at all at this time...what are your ideas people? please shoot!

gracias!

Anna

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  • Dreamers1989
    Dreamers1989 Member Posts: 26
    edited December 2018

    sorry to hear of your diagnosis. Chemo is not usually standard treatment for DCIS as far as I know. Did she say there may be some invasive cancer as well? Chemo is a systemic treatment and if your cancer is “in situ” and hasn’t crossed the basal membrane then there’s no risk of having had any cancer cells invading other parts of your body. Hmmmm. Are your results available electronically? Maybe some important info not mentioned over the phone

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  • Moderators
    Moderators Member Posts: 25,912
    edited December 2018

    Hi wanjiru73, and welcome to Breastcancer.org,

    We're so very sorry to hear of your recent diagnosis, but we're really glad you've found us. As you can already see, there's always someone here to offer some support, information, and advice to help you navigate your diagnosis and treatment.

    As Dreamers said, it's not typical to have chemo for a DCIS diagnosis, so you may want to ask your doctor why she is recommending this. For some more information about DCIS and how it's usually treated, check out the main Breastcancer.org site section on DCIS.

    Also, if you're considering a second opinion, you may want to see the Getting a Second Opinion section.

    We hope this helps and we look forward to hearing more from you soon, and supporting you throughout your treatment!

    --The Mods

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  • Keikosurfs
    Keikosurfs Member Posts: 1
    edited December 2018

    Hello Anna,

    Get a second opinion if you are not comfortable moving forward. I was diagnosed with DCIS in October 2018. I just finished 21 radiation treatments at UCSD Moores Cancer Center. Do your research, ask a lot of questions and get the results of the pathology report. No question is a stupid question to your Surgeon and Oncologist. Take a friend with you to take notes. Remember you are not alone in this and there are many women like myself that have been through this. We are here for you!

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  • wanjiru73
    wanjiru73 Member Posts: 8
    edited December 2018

    NONE at all, infact when I went for the Mammogram, the fact that the discharge had resolved didn't see like the news they wanted to hear.

    Afterwards, they spent an hour trying to locate the suspicious place and ended bleeding my poor boob almost to death, what's not getting to me

    is the fact that they are not posting the lab results on my e-chart yet they've already decided to chop the duct, infact they had suggested this

    way before I went in for the MRI, per se, so YES am heading to UW for a second opinion. And yes I was googling info on DCIS and that's how

    I happened on this wonderful site. In the event of going ahead with treatment, I would opt for the slow approach, but let's see. and NO my

    results have not been availed electronically which makes it hard to refer to the same.

    I would love to hear from anyone that HAS SHELVED DCIS treatment for a while to learn of their experiences.

    Thank you everyone for the support, will definitely keep you posted.

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  • MDRR
    MDRR Member Posts: 133
    edited December 2018

    I would return to get information and results, but not to make any decision that quickly. You need to be educated as to what they found and what treatment plan, possibly including surgery, they recommend. Then you'd have more information to confirm or augment the original diagnosis when you get a second opinion. My original DCIS diagnosis was around this time last year and surgery was in February after several more tests the surgeon wanted. Mine had become invasive so ended up with more surgery (BMX) in March. But I never felt any urgency from the surgeon -- she was thorough and wanted me to be comfortable making decisions. I wouldn't spend alot of extra time putting anything off, but getting the information and another opinion if you would like could make you more comfortable.

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  • wanjiru73
    wanjiru73 Member Posts: 8
    edited December 2018

    Thank you MDRR !

    I have scheduled a 2nd opinion appointment with the Alliance and looking forward to the appointment.

    Since am yet to see the results I had them request for the files and interpret during the visit.

    Am sorry to hear the change in diagnosis from In situ to invasive but am very glad things are moving for you as they should.

    Thank you for the great information indeed, I plan to use this time to learn as much as I can before that date.

    Happy New Year!

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