37 years old- just diagnosed with IDC

Hi MelissaAshley,

Sorry about your diagnosis. I was 38 at diagnosis and it is super hard. It's normal that your mind is racing. It will get better, I promise.

You can meet with as many surgeons as you want, there is no right or wrong. I stuck with all the doctors I saw first, but I trusted the first referral (GYN who I trust recommended her good friend the breast surgeon, who personally called her favorite oncologist to get them to squeeze me in). I adore all my doctors so it really worked out. But if you feel at all like you need to hear multiple opinions, you definitely can.

It will probably move slowly. I think I was a month diagnosis to surgery, but I have heard of longer spans. My surgeon told me once she's comfortable with a 6 week gap for an aggressive cancer, more if it's a less aggressive. In any event you do have time to figure it out. They are probably going to throw decisions at you, get ready for that. They will also probably want you to do genetic testing because of your age.

My biggest recommendation...what helped me the most...see if you have access to a nurse navigator for advice and support. They are trained to support you. I called mine numerous times and she even helped set up some appointments and helped me sort difficult decisions out.

It'll be ok.

Re: choosing a treatment team, where I live, there are two options—one large public hospital and a smaller private one. The conventional wisdom is for normal, regular events, the smaller one is a little better on privacy, bedside manner, . . . I’ve done all my breast care through the private hospital and have been very happy with my care. I think that can also accelerate the timeline. It was about a week and a half for me from biopsy to surgery. I do simple lumpectomies with no plastic surgery involved. I had an initial meeting with a MO several weeks later—not a big rush for that because you need to heal from surgery before any further treatment (probably—unless the tumor is so large you need neoadjuvant chemo). And if you’re Stage 1 and HER2-, there’s a good chance you won’t need chemo at all. If your tumor is fed by estrogen (ER+), hormone therapy will be recommended to help prevent recurrence.

Take this one step at a time. The first decision most women face is mastectomy or lumpectomy + radiation. Try to push everything else out of your brain space for now.