mom meeting with surgeon tomorrow

Dear capegirl, we're sorry for you mom's diagnosis, but wanted to say welcome. You've come to the right place for questions and support. Until you get more information from her medical team, here are some articles and other threads that may be of help:

Questions to Ask Your Surgeon

Getting Your Pathology Report | Breastcancer.org

Topic: Shopping/packing/to-do list for surgery + recovery....

Forum: Caring for Someone with Breast cancer

Good luck with everything! Please keep us all posted as to how things go for you and your mom, and let us know if we can be of help.

Warmly,The Mods

Is the surgery scheduled just for an excisional biopsy to follow a core needle biopsy? If not, that sounds very strange. How can your mom be scheduled for surgery if there has been no prior discussion of her wishes regarding lumpectomy vs. lumpectomy, reconstruction and reconstructive surgeon and HR, PR and HER status, which conceivably require chemo before surgery

I think someone just needs to confirm this is solelyscheduled for a follow up surgical biopsy. Not “final” surgery.

Did this surgeon do the biopsy? When I went to my first visit with the BS she told me the results of the biopsy and her recommendation for surgery. When I left that day I had the date of my surgery and the names of the team I was to see. I would then receive a call from their offices to schedule an appointment because at that time they weren't doing group meetings. Because her office was in the breast center at the hospital she sent me that afternoon to get the pretesting done for surgery. It all went very fast with a lot to take in. I hope your Mom will have a group meeting with her team and you will be allowed to be there. Then you can ask a lot of questions.

So sorry to hear about your mother's diagnosis capergirl. I'm glad you found this site. You have seen how helpful it can be.

It is very kind and generous of you to seek out this information for your mom. I would have been thrilled if my daughter had done that. She was great but her help or interest didn't extend to doing research or getting information which I wasn't alway up for seeking on my own given the emotional aspects of receiving a diagnosis.

I hope you keep coming back. Take care.

capergirl, you are right - we shouldn't assume. I think it's just that most of us have been in your mother's shoes and many of us are close to her age, so we're commenting from our own perspective - that's human nature but it also means we sometimes make the wrong assumption. It's easy to get tangled up in words but we're all here to help and offer support, and I'm sure no one intentionally means to be rude. It's great to know that your mother knows that you here and that we can speak to her through you.

With Covid, many doctors don't allow anyone but the patient to be present for appointments. You mentioned that "we meet" with the surgeon tomorrow. Does this mean that your mother is among the lucky few who can bring someone with them to the appointment? It's always good to have a second set of eyes and ears present.

capergirl39, My sister was allowed to bring her daughter to the team meeting. They do make exceptions during Covid! Also, my MO's portal can be shared with family members. Your Mom would have to give her permission. The office staff is usually pretty helpful and the portal is a great resource.

My daughter's best friend parents don't have internet and just got a cell phone last year! They don't text!!

Good luck and let us know how we can help.

Ah, capergirl, I'm sorry.

Did the surgeon refuse to give your mother the pathology report or was the report not signed off yet?

Anything on the ER and HER2? I'm guessing ER+ and HER2-, if the surgeon is thinking oral meds prior to surgery. Of course the recommendation on the sequence of treatments comes from the MO.

As LivinLife said, hopefully the CT scan and MO appointment can be scheduled quickly.

Hello, capergirl and capergirl's mom!

One reason to do either hormonal therapy or chemotherapy before surgery is to shrink the tumor so that breast-conserving surgery (lumpectomy) becomes possible. Another reason to do chemotherpy before surgery is to go after any rogue cells that may be hiding somewhere in the body right away, in cases where the cancer is a more aggressive subtype (either triple negative or Her2 positive). In this case local therapy (breast surgery) comes second.

Some things to know:

If the scan finds the breast cancer has spread, the treatment plan could be quite different from the plan for stage III. It could actually be milder. It also depends on where it has spread. Hopefully it has not! They are right to check now.

Lumpectomy and radiation is typically a package deal, so your mom will want to learn about radiation in order to help with that decision. But in some cases radiation is recommended even if the patient has a mastectomy, when there are nodes that need it.

Do start a binder and collect copies of all reports, especially as your mom does not use a computer which would give her access to a patient portal. It may be easier to ask for a copy when you are there; otherwise you have to submit requests to the medical records department.

There may be a nurse navigator available to your mom, to help smooth the way.

This time when you don't know exactly what is going on or what the plan is, is the most stressful time for most people. You will both feel better when things are settled and you can take action.

This is all do-able. Don't believe horror stories or quack medicine you may read. Your mom's otherwise good health is a great thing in her favor, as is having a supportive daughter.

It sounds like her doctors are really on top of things and moving ahead without unnecessary delays.