Follow up for mastectomy patient with regards to reccurence
I am a ten year survivor of stage one, grade 2 invasive ductal carcinoma. I opted for a bilateral mastectomy since my cancer was not detected by a recent mammogram, and I felt that there is no other reliable screening device for those of us with “dense” breasts. Since my surgery 10 years ago the only follow up care I receive is a yearly breast exam. I have asked for additional bloodwork that may be used as markers for reoccurrence or imaging, but have been told by several oncologists that unless I had “symptoms”additional screening is not necessary and might provide false positives ( ie they are not reliable…) and that there aren’t any bloodwork markers. I have fortunately had no symptoms but have recently experienced the loss of two dear friends whose cancers did return shortly after their 10 year reprieve, only after their cancers had metastasized. I am wondering if this is the typical type of follow up that most oncologist prescribe. While I am so very grateful to not have any unnecessary testing and the anxiety of waiting for results, I live with the constant anxiety that when it returns it will be too late to do anything.
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I had a mastectomy of the right breast at age 43, with no reconstruction or implants, and am now 75. Clear mammograms until 2 years ago, when a tiny spot was removed in a lumpectomy on the left side. I'd also had a Breast MRI. Surprisingly it showed a tumor within my chest wall, which was right over where my former tumor was 32 years ago; the doc is saying it's a recurrence, since no sign of metastasis elsewhere. I'm on Fulvestrant shots to hopefully shrink it, then treat it another way. So Breast MRI's are another tool especially with no breast tissue to detect any localized recurrence every so often. Best wishes to all.