Hi silvershar
You may find the BCC publication ‘Understanding your pathology’ booklet useful to read, you can order or read a copy here:
Please do call our helpliners where you can talk through your concerns on 0808 800 6000, weekdays 9-5 and Sat 9-2.
Take care
Lucy
The most common forms of breast cancer don’t have names so much as descriptions. So DCIS is ductal carcinoma in situ–cancer in a milk duct that hasn’t spread. (Had one of those two years ago.) Invasive ductal breast cancer is the same thing, but it has at least started to spread outside the milk duct it began in. (This is what I have now.) The spread may be confined to the breast, it may have reached the adjacent lymph nodes, which is where you and I both are, and it may have reached other parts of the body, which we hope is not the case for you, but this is where chemo comes in.
Invasive lobular breast cancer begins in a lobe of the breast rather than in a milk duct. These three, I think, are the most common, and in all of them, the cancer itself has no particular name. Your report may say something like ‘no particular type’.
The grade of your cancer has to do with how abnormal the cells look under a microscope. The stage has to do with the size, spread and other factors. All these together are used to decide on the best course of treatment. Sometimes there is more than one possible route with similar survival rates, in which case the decision may be made on the basis of other factors like age, general health, social and family conditions and so on.
I hope the scan is clear. Best wishes,
Cheryl
Thank you Cherly, Lucy and CM - i appreciate your support so much. I will read the path report booklet, the worse thing is not understanding things and my BC nurse doesnt like me to ask too much i dont like to ring her and ask her cos she thinks i dont need to know about things not mentioned to me so do i assume unless she mentioned vascular invasion and the hormone thing that its not relevant to me. will i get more info from my onc though the apt to see the onc has not come through yet…?
Shar xx
Silvershar, write down some of these questions. You can say, does this mean I don’t have to worry about x,y,z since you haven’t mentioned them? The oncologist should discuss the results and the course of treatment with you. For one thing, you will need to sign consent forms at various stages. There may be an element of hospital etiquette–some oncologists and surgeons want to go over things with you first, as they see this as their responsibility, and then the BCN can deal with any follow-up questions.
Even when I was told that chemo would probably be on the cards when it turned out that at least one node had been affected, I made a point of not reading the chemo threads for a while, just because I didn’t want to scare myself any more than I already was. O
Oestrogen sensitivity is often put as ER+ or Er-.
I hope your appointment comes up soon, as it’s miserable waiting.
Cheryl
Thanks Cheryl, yes i will write the questions down, my CT scan is a week tomorrow, so will try and focus on that,and as you say the waiting is awful, i dont even know when my onc appt is just got to wait, will that not come through until after my scan? Shar x
You could ask if the appointment has to wait for the CT scan. The people at your clinic must be used to the fears and anxieties people face while going through the whole process of diagnosis, and it’s not unreasonable to ask. After all, you probably have other things to do in your life and may need to make other appointments, so if they can tell you that it’s likely to be after the scan, you can do those things now rather than waiting. They might be able to say something like ‘at least a week after the scan’ even if they can’t be very exact.
And if you can keep busy with necessary and pleasurable things, it will make the waiting a little more bearable.
Cheryl
YAY!!! Got a phone call from BCN this evening at about 7.30!!!
That’s the end of the good bit.
She confirmed that the results STILL aren’t in. Surgeon is back from a well-needed holiday and will be chasing up results tomorrow, so there’s a very slight possibility I might get to hear what’s going on before hell freezes over…
Thanks Cheryl that a good point re asking for approx time and if likely after scan, i dont like to put anyone out but as you say i do have other things to arrange too though i realise its not just me waiting but stil some info be good - CM so glad your BCN phoned but ouch re outcome - much needed holiday oh yes know that feeling as sure u do too… as they say its makes me so angry when they say the waiting time makes no difference to the results, treatment plan etc but it sure does to our heads xhugxx Shar xx