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Surgery Consult Tomorrow Hoping for Clarity
It has been 8-9 weeks since I began this new chapter in my life. I finally get to see my surgeon tomorrow and hope to be more settled with my feelings once a plan is made. My tumor is small 0.9 cm or it was at the time of dx hope it still is. It's a grade (3) and is aggressive and is supposed to act like Triple Negative per my oncologist. Estrogen was very low, prog neg and HER2 neg. I am at least planning on a single Mastectomy on the tumor side and will more likely need chemo if pathology does not change. I am still on the fence about doing the Mastectomy on the opposite side. I do not have genetic factors but the fact that my mom had 2 different breast cancers within 3 years (last one being Triple Negative has me scared). I do realize that everyone's bodies are different. From what I have read it is not very often that women get 2 different cancers opposite sides in such a short time period. Is there may something genetic that is not showing up? Was my mom just unlucky? Like everyone I want to do what is best for myself and family. I'm hoping the surgeon can point me in the right direction.
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Did you have the genetic test? Sometimes when they test a couple hundred genes, they come across one. If your mom had one done you would have the readout from both your tests.
I do know it is easier once all tests are done and the suggested treatment plan is put in front of you. I had Brca2, so i did elect taking off the other breast. I did not want to think cancer could come into that one. Wait did not work for me.
Let the medical team give you choices. Maybe talk to your mom more about her feelings with her cancers if that is possible. For sure come back here and keep us posted, so we might support you on this tough journey.
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1 Reaction@katgob I did not mention my mom passed away in 2024 (my fault so don't feel bad) I did do genetic testing and it was negative. I do not think my mom had any genetic testing done.
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1 ReactionWhen I had genetic testing done, due to a strong family history of various cancers, they told me they didn’t find anything at this time. However, the science is ever evolving and they may very well find something someday in the future. I suspect they will.
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2 Reactions@srobinet I agree with the other girls here, the waiting is brutal and once there is a plan and you feel like you are moving forward things get harder physically but your brain can settle.
I also agree about genetics, when I was diagnosed, the tests they have now weren’t even a thing. They said nope if you don’t have BRAC then it isn’t genetic. Since my mom didn’t have it, they didn’t even test me.
Then later when it came back they tested and found multiple genetic hits including cowden syndrome. Now they know much more than just 22 years ago.
After surgery are you scheduled to have treatment from your medical oncologist?
@auntieoakley based on my initial pathology my oncologist does want me to do 4 rounds of chemo. I don't remember which ones I'm pretty sure it started with a T and the other drug may started with a D. If the pathology comes back different then he may change something. My family does not have a good record with cancer. My mom with the 2 different breast cancers, my dad had lung cancer and skin cancer pretty sure it was not melanoma. 3 of his siblings had some sort of cancer. His brother had stomach cancer, 1 sister had cervical cancer in her early 20's and his other sister got pancreatic cancer at age 58 or 59. She is the one that is worrying me just a little. I'm just wondering if there is some genetic thing or trend that they can't test for yet. All of my genetics came back negative for the genes they do test.
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1 Reaction@srobinet I understand this family cancer thing. I am sorry to say that we are kind of in the same pot. I am the sole standing survivor in my family with cancer taking the rest. I started my own cancer journey in my 30’s.
I am hopeful that your journey is as easy as it can be, and you get a good outcome.
Will you come back and let us know how you are doing after your appointment?
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1 ReactionI met with the surgeon today. I liked her and she explained everything most things I had heard already from my oncologist. She did say that most early breast cancers do well with lumpectomy and radiation. Because of my family history I chose not to go that route. In the end I have decided on a bilateral mastectomy. Part of my reasoning is probably because of my mom's experience and bad luck no way to know if she had the breast cancer genes she was not tested.
I do not want to have to go through worrying every time I have a yearly mammogram on the healthy breast. The waiting to get the results in the mail and waiting again to schedule things if it was suspicious. If something was found then I would be doing this all over again and would have regretted not doing what I could to try to prevent it. I chose not to have reconstruction. At my age (almost 63) I don't need it just another thing to deal with.
This is what I feel will give me and my family especially my son the most peace. I'm not sure my surgeon agrees but she did say she would support me in whatever my choice was.
My surgery will not be until sometime in mid March thinking around the week of the 6th-10th. I was surprised it will take that long. I don't like waiting even longer to let the cancer just sit there.
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3 Reactions@srobinet you should definitely visit some of the mastectomy pages and visit with some of the folks there. I am glad you seem to be pretty sure in your decision, and like your surgeon.
If you go to the top of this page and click on the phrase breast cancer it will take you to the list of breast cancer conversations and you can search within that group to just scroll and feel free to jump in any conversation you feel is relevant. 💕