How important is taking hormone blockers after surgery for IDC?

@vivi1 what was our ‘high estrogen count’? I’m trying to understand estrogen levels. TIA & blessings

Can a CT scan see a tumor or mass?

I saw my radiologist today for a 10 month checkup. We discussed AI's and how most women (including me) do not want to take them. He advised me that lumpectomy with radiation puts an ER+ breast cancer woman back to the starting point. But, remember, we who have had BC have a hormone imbalance that caused breast cancer to begin with. Our odds of a new primary are higher than those who have not suffered our cancer. While research shows that radiation improves our risk of same breast, ipsilateral, recurrence, hormone blockers improve our risk against new primaries and metastatic cancer. So, it seems that we have some ability to effectively change our estrogen environment with diet and exercise, still, there is no validation that alternative measures will thwart recurrence, new primaries, and/or metastasis. In his own family, my radiologist said, his mother had BC twice after stopping endocrine therapy following a high grade DCIS diagnosis. She had an initial lumpectomy with radiation, then a mastectomy after recurrence, and more recently a second lumpectomy after a new primary in the remaining breast. We all have to weigh our personal risk and SEs vs benefit of taking these drugs. The same goes for radiation after early stage IDC and DCIS. I chose hyper-fractionated radiation over none, given my early stage IDC pathology; and tamoxifen then anastrozole over none given my high estrogen count. I know these are hard decisions for all of us!

Can a CT scan see a tumor or mass?

I'm sure that many of us have and will. To misquote whoever first said it decades ago, "We're all in this together alone."

callalloo, you are right, "cause" was a poor choice in words. It probably came from my continuing explanation ("Why did I get cancer?") and justification ("Why should I take this aromatase inhibitor?") conversation in my head. Actually, the hormone imbalance language derived from Block's Life Over Cancer: "...a tumor is merely the most obvious symptom of an altered, unbalanced system...this biological imbalance creates an environment for cancer to recur: tumor cells use the body's own healthy resources to grow and multiply." (p.2-3) He argues for using every defense possible to make one's biochemical terrain hostile to cancer cells after the tumor has been removed. The reduction of estrogen is, unfortunately, a main strategy in treatment of ER+ cancer. I say unfortunately because I believe in the power of estrogen for heart, mind, bone, and general body well-being. That said, yes our contaminated environment undoubtedly triggers our cancers and an anti-cancer diet changes our biochemistry in a good way.

I don't know if you're oncologist was just citing her own personal policy or what, but I would feel the same way as you likely.

I go to Cleveland Clinic and my follow-up recommendations from the oncologist were the same whether I took the aromatase inhibitors or not. I see him, and the breast cancer surgeon, once a year for an annual checkup and mammo and ultrasound review, and also him, or another doctor well-skilled in cancer detection, every 6 months for a physical exam.

But I wonder if you shouldn't see another oncologist and get another opinion. It might be that her recommendation that you do anti-hormone therapy is really important. If you find another oncologist, maybe one that is more patient, no pun intended on, you can try a different aromatase inhibitor or you can try the brand name instead of a generic. If you have the same side effects, you'll know that you at least tried another option.

In the meantime the other efforts with respect to diet and supplements can only help so that's good too. But having a doctor that feels as if the two of you are a team is important too.