Also interesting to note that, about a week after they had already done the 2018 stereotactic biopsy, I got a letter from that hospital saying that my recent mammogram on my dense breasts showed some areas they would like to examine further and I should "consult with your doctor" about what to do next. Not a great line of communication in-hospital, since they had already dug in with a very large needle and caused me a great deal of pain (and possibly set the area going on forming the tumor that was found on Dec. 7, 2021.
I've written a second letter about the actual treatment of the 11 mm. tumor, mentioning all the many ways in which my treatment was irregular or not the way it usually is. (For instance, my oncologist refused to order an oncotype, dismissing my December of 2021 inquiries about getting one and saying, "You don't need one." When, 17 months later, I finally got one in Texas, my oncotype was 29 and my Texas oncologist said, had I been his patient at the outset, I would have had 3 rounds of chemo. I had no chemo and 17 months had passed. I also did not get a bone scan BEFORE putting me on Anastrozole on Feb. 1, 2022, and I was put on that A.I. drug less than a week after surgery, at a time when I had a bad seroma infection, which required 500 mg, of Cephalexan every 4 hours for literally weeks to quell. I had been in a arthritis/bad joint study from 1997 to 2020, so putting me on Anastrozole was also not a great idea. It caused my fragile left knee (injured in a bicycle accident in 1997) to blow out and I was in a wheelchair for 6 months. My bone density declined from -1.4T to -2.2T during my 7 months on Anastrozole. I also had brain fog, teariness, mood swings, joint pain that was the worst pain I've had in my life, insomnia, blurry vision and vivid violent nightmares. Had 32 ml of an anti-inflammatory injection and 6 ml of Durolane and waited to heal up from the results of taking Anastrozole for 7 months, which were similar to a meniscus tear. Off everything for 9 months. Had an ultra sound in Feb., 2023. They wanted to do a third stereotactic biopsy, but looking at old mammograms (which I had faithfully had annually for 46 years) showed no change in the calcification present in both breasts. I was talked into taking Tamoxifen. I began that on April 23, 2023 taking 10 mg., but was told to take 20 mg. on June 23 and continued taking 20 mg. daily until Aug. 30, 2023. By then, I was suffering from extreme fatigue, non-stop UTIs and a constant urge to urinate. My bloodwork had gone wacko, with 10 things abnormal when it had been fine on March 7, 2023. I quit taking Tamoxifen on Aug. 30 and had a pelvic ultrasound to make sure that I had not developed endometrial cancer during my 5 months on Tamoxifen. I am now 2 years and 2 months past my surgery of 1/27/2022 and hoping that the 33 radiation treatments I had in 2022 will protect me from a recurrence.