I need some help as I am really stressed at the moment.
I was diagnosed with invasive carcinoma on my left breast, stage 2 (3 tumours) ER + PR +, Her2 - (in september 2018).
I had the sentinel node negative, and had a mastectomy with reconstruction surgery in one breast (by the end of november ) with lymphovascular invasion.
After that I had a an unfortunate late appointment with an oncologist that sent me to do the Oncotype Dx to check my need of doing chemo or just hormonotherapy. As it was not available in my country it delayed the start of my treatment, still waiting for the results. Possibly will start either chemo or hormonotherapy at the 10 or 11 week after surgery. Does anyone knows if this delay would cause me any harm? Was anyone in this situation? My onc prefers to wait for the results, though they are late but I am afraid any cancer cells can spread or the treatment won’t be as effective.
If your sentinel node(s) was negative, that suggests the cancer has not spread from your breast into your lymphatic system. As the surgeon has not done an axillary node clearance, that would support that view.
Your oncologist would not recommend delaying further treatments if he/she thought there was a risk of cancer cells spreading in that time. It sounds, from your description, that chemo and/or radiotherapy would be preventative measures anyway, along the lines of the icing on the cake. It’s not as though they were considered vital treatments.
You should have been assigned to a Breast Care Nurse, so why not have a chat with her? Also, raise your concerns with your Oncologist. You could phone his/her secretary and ask to speak over the phone if you can’t have a face to face appointment.
Hi, just want to say good luck with everything as I’m in a similar position to you I think - grade 2 IBC with micrometastasis, ER+PR +HER-. I had a lumpectomy in Dec and told that I would need chemo as well as radiotherapy as ER/Pr only moderately positive. At my oncology appt it was decided to do onco testing so I’m now waiting for those results. It’s the waiting waiting waiting that is the hardest because you have time to overthink. However I trust the oncologist and know that she is following evidence based guidelines and meantime I’m trying to keep busy and think positively, which is easier said than done I know! Sending best wishes x