Invasive ductile breast cancer: What should I expect?

I just completed the 3 session Photon radiation at Mayo on Friday. 3 days in a row and done. You do need to meet certain stage and age criteria to be a candidate for this.

Hope it all went well and you are feeling good!! Congratulations!

Oncotype score 9, age 72. Does this align with what allowed you to have the 3 day accelerated radiation treatment?

I could not say for sure. This I found out about through getting a second opinion. Age, yes. Over age 70. I am early stage , non-aggressive, Grade 1, they did not feel a need to do an Oncotype score.

I had an oncotype score of 25, stage one, no cancer in lymph system BUT my tumor was upgraded from a two to a three. Because of this I am doing 4 chemo treatments. You are very lucky and can count your blessings you found your cancer early. Also good for you doing a second opinion. The oncotype test discovered that my tumor was more aggressive. Had I not done this test I may have never done the much needed Chemo.

I had an oncotype score of 51 and I was 70 when I found it last April 2020. Invasive ductal cancer Stage 1 grade 3 with no lymph node involvement but it was very close to my chest wall. So had 4 rounds of chemo and no radiation. I have a 20% chance or recurrence so I have been on all 3 AI’s with terrible side effects on each one of them. So day 3 on Tamoxifen. 🙏🙏🙏 that I can tolerate them. So I am just going to look at I have 80% chance of never seeing it again😀😀😀

With all the most serious of questions and concerns regarding the initial finding and treatment of localized breast cancer - the reality did not really hit me until a week or so after surgery - did I or did I not got a really iffy surgeon? Time was of the essence, recommendation was high, actual interaction was a 3-minute conversation in his office, followed by a “hey” long enough to scribble his initials on the boob to be done. Last / first I saw of him. Plus, seems like other than plucking the lymph nodes, he just decided to do a horizontal slash and go from there. 8 weeks coming up, and still very tender, red areas under arm. In currently 104 heat index. I’ll manage, but did I miss out on some pretty important emotional support? Not a cry baby, but whole interaction of pre/post surgery is “hey”. Nope. I did do the evaluation sheet, for once. Just wondering if I’m too critical. This is at the Gibbs Cancer Center in Spartanburg, SC, a very highly regarded institution, associated with MD Anderson. So quality of care is given.

That is about all I saw of my surgeon, 'tho' we had about 20 minutes for the decision of best process the first time we met. And she did call me the day after to see how I was doing. But I don't think the surgeons are to have much interactions. This was at Mayo. The rest of the care and the compassion is to come from your oncologist and the rest of the team... This is how I understand the process. Do you have a good care team with an Oncologist now? They should provide the ongoing care and any of your concerns... At least that is my understanding and the way it was with me.

Yes, oncologist is great. I was simply spoiled from assorted previous orthopedic surgeries where the surgeon took the time to a) have a brief talk immediately before surgery, and b) be around for post-operative comments once I was “awake”. But then, perhaps knee replacement rates higher than lumpectomy on the seriousness scale.

I think you should be moving your arm. I was told both times I had lumpectomies and when I had bilateral mastectomy to move the arm/arms or they would lock up and you would be in real trouble as far as movement in the future. You might want to talk to someone about this. Also, it takes a good while for the swelling to go down.