Good News But more bad news!

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-31-2007
Good News But more bad news!
3
Fri, 06-06-2008 - 8:29am

Well I just wanted to update everyone on my mom's surgery and her progress. Last Friday, the 30th, she went for her lumpectomy and have a balloon inserted into her breast for her radiation. The surgery went well. Her doctor said right after the surgery he thinks he got all the cancer and they did a "freeze test" on the lymphoids and they were negative. She has been doing very well recovering. Still very sore but moving around great.

Today we went to follow up with her surgeon and get the results of the pathology tests and find out the next steps with radiation and things like that. Right when he walked into the room I knew something wasn't right. He said we have good news and bad news. The good news was he did get all the cancer out and the lymphoids were 100% negative. At this moment she is cancer free!!!!!

Then the "But" came. But they did find what they call DCIS in the upper breast. Which is what they call Pre-Cancer cells. So she will not be starting her radiation this Monday. Her two options are going in for another lumpectomy and hope he gets all the pre-cancers cells out or a Mastectomy. He said its definitely something we can not ignore and leave alone. He said it might never develop into cancer or it can. and since we can never tell how fast a cancer will progress from one patient to the next, its something we need to take care of. Now the problem comes in with deciding to do another lumpectomy. Since the cells are soooo tiny, nothing other than a microscope is picking them up, if he does a lumpectomy he will not know until after surgery, after receiving the pathology report if he got it all. He said he can go in, which will be like a blind surgery and then could find out a week later from the report he will need to go in again for there is more and its higher up or lower or whatever. He did say he will do whatever my mom decides to do but he said to save her from many more possible surgeries the best advice is a Mastectomy. And if she does do the Mastectomy she will not have to get radiation or chemo. She will just have the surgery, then follow up visits. Which is good!! He sent us home to think about it over the weekend and have to go back to him Monday morning if she decides by then.

She has made her mind up, she will do the Mastectomy, but she is so scared.. and so am I. I've been totally drained the past couple of weeks, and I just hope my shoulder can be strong enough for her to lean on. It's been real tough on us all. We are trying so hard to stay positive but its hard at the same time bc every time we go back to the doctor we are hearing more bad news.

Has anyone here had a Mastectomy or know someone who has?? I just have so many questions, and i know when we go back to him Monday he will answer them all but it would also be nice to talk to someone who has gone through it personally, you know?

Well, again THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!!! It's helped just sitting here and typing this out.

I will update you guys soon!!!!!!

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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-06-2007
Fri, 06-06-2008 - 1:50pm

Hi Nicole.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 05-31-2007
Fri, 06-06-2008 - 5:47pm

Hi Maggie,

Thank you so much for response. I knew I came to the right place for some answers. You know I was reading today about the DCIS and saw that they do call it cancer also. So I was confused as to why he was saying it wasn't cancer. I don't know. hmmm.

But today I called the Oncology Radiologist that we have been working with, since we thought she would start radiation this week, and he said her doctor already spoke with him and asked his advice on her case also. And he highly recommended the mastectomy for many reasons. 1, being peace of mind, 2, giving her family history of cancer, we lost my aunt, her twin sister 6 yrs ago to breast cancer, 3, the size of her breasts, shes not a big breasted women, about an a cup, and he said they cant say that if they do another lumpectopmy that there will be much breast tissue left anyway. Bc he did remove a decent amount with the first lumpectomy. So she is about 95% sure she will do the mastectomy. We have to go back to the breast surgeon on Monday to go over it more, and with my two pages of questions i have for him. I think by then she will be able to make a decision 100%.

if you don't mind me asking , how is the emotional aspect of having a mastectomy? I know battling cancer itself it an emotional roller coaster, but losing a breast? I cant imagine and I don't know how to help her through the emotional part of this all.

Also, she doesn't plan on having re constructive surgery immediately after. Thats something she said she will tackle in the future if she needs to. She said bc there are so many bras and other things out there for her to wear so it wont be noticeable.

But thank you again for your response. It was very comforting to hear from someone who has personally gone through it rather than a doctor who has performed them.

I will keep you posted. (((hugs))))

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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-06-2007
Fri, 06-06-2008 - 7:59pm

Honestly, having a mastectomy was a huge relief for me.

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