Invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC): Anyone else?

Does anyone have arm and shoulder aching after mastectomy?

Hello. 3 of the nodes were cancerous...so treatment plan is 8 rounds of chemo & radiation.

I had my 1st round Nov. 29th.
1 down & 7 to go

I'm taking at 1 day at a time & giving all praise to the one who created me, Jehovah!!

I am feeling frustrated. My doctors don’t communicate well so I carry around a three-ring binder with all my tests and notes. I have early-stage invasive ductal cancer but there are aspects that have grey areas so decisions about what to do have not been clear. I’ve had to do a lot of research on my own and be my own advocate, which is exhausting.

I have 1B cancer on left with no nodes involved; there was 7 different spots of tiny cancer, and I was told that I needed to have a mastectomy on left because of the amount. I have 1B with 1 node with a micrometastases on the right. ER/PR+ Her2-.

I opted for a double mastectomy, and they took out 4 nodes on each side; surgeon didn't get clear margins on the left, so I just had a second surgery (that I had to insist on vs. her wanting me to just do radiation to clean it up) and there was a spec of cancer removed. Got negative margins. Oncotype on left was 0 and 12 on right- no chemo.

I've been to 3 different radiation oncologists. Two stated I absolutely need radiation because of lymph node involvement (micro cancer that was taken out). Both said I would be radiated from collar bone to hip on right and entire chest wall on left; however, one said 5 weeks and one said 6 ½ weeks. I felt like I was getting bullied into radiation by both of them and my surgeon. I finally went to a 3rd Radiation Oncologist at Moffitt who gave me pros and cons and didn’t make it sound like skipping would be a death sentence. I'm considering not doing radiation. I'm supposed to start Tamoxifen now. I think I’m okay with doing that but worry about side effects.

@val97 get as many opinions as you need to feel sure of your path! That's all I can say. It helps avoid regrets and helps confidence in your plans.

You could also post about your situation on breastcancer.org.

Diagnosed with poorly differentiated and infiltrating ductal carcinoma in the right breast. with foci of metastasis in cervical C2 C3 and L3. My tumor is grade III due to size. In Immunoistochismic, the result is estrogen receptor 99%, progesterone receptor 99%, Her2/neu 0. I am interested in the probabilities of success in eradication.

@onaney it seems helpful that your estrogen and progesterone scores are so high. What does your doctor say?

He advised me that the level of response to treatment is positive

That is good news. Keep us posted!

Welcome, @onaney. What treatment options are being suggested for you?

I am not sure what poorly differentiated an infiltrating mean. I have been told that I have IDC or invasive ductal cancer. I was shocked when I found that out last August or was it early September. I was immediately put on a national a drug that stops the feeding of the tumor which is estrogen and progesterone or the hormones. It definitely decreased the size of my tumor. It seemed like a miracle drug until the end of the three and a half months and I had to stop it because the side effects were just too much. The main one being fatigue. Bones hurt and I was miserable. My doctor and I both agreed to go off and asked us all and now my surgery for a lumpectomy is coming up May 24th. Because both tumors in both breasts have decreased in size and there is no metastasis or lymph nodes involved I am only getting a lumpectomy. May 14th I go in for another complete checkup which I have been having all along, about every 2 months or 3 months depending upon our schedules. My prognosis is good because it hasn't spread. I am anxious to have this whole thing done with. I chose that date because of astrology and tarot card reading by myself. I know, everybody thinks I'm crazy. But I have reasons for my choice. I hope I chose right.