Head thinking all kinds of things

Hi all,

My gorgeous wife, Claire, was diagnosed 8 years ago and had a lumpectomy, a course of chemo, radiation, tamoxifen and zoladex.

She went for her regular 6 monthly check up with her oncologist yesterday and there’s a suspicious lump in her other breast that he said needs an ultrasound to get it checked out.

It may be nothing and Claire is so pragmatic about it, but I am scared out of my mind. I’m trying to be positive for her but inside I’m a wreck with worry.

We dealt with it 8 years ago and I’m sure we will fight it again if it turns out be what we fear.

I don’t know why I’m posting this. I guess I just wanted to write it down.

Andy

Hi Andy, I am sorry to hear that you and Claire are finding it necessary to come back to this Forum.
My thoughts will be with you both.

Irene

Thank you Irene. I’m trying to stay positive but I just default to worse case scenario and I’m so scared because she is everything to me and I thought getting through it once was hard enough.

She has her ultrasound on Friday so we will know more then I guess and once we know what we are dealing with we can plan accordingly.

Thank you for your thoughts

Andy

To Andy and Claire, sorry to hear about your news. My husband and myself are going through the same thing 3 years after my original diagnosis with a new primary in the other breast. Hopefully your wife will get the all clear. If however, you have to go down this journey again all i can say from experience is that the knowledge from last time does help you a second time, fear of the unknown is removed as you both know that you got thru it last time and can do it again. In my experience, it just made an already extremely strong relationship even stronger. I hope it all goes well for you both. XX

today at 4pm Claire has her ultrasound. She dreamt last night it was a benign cyst and to be honest I’m feeling pretty confident it’s going to be ok.

I’ve asked all my facebook friends to think positive thoughts at 4pm today and I reckon a huge surge of positivity will help us.

I will let you know what the outcome is.

This place is so helpful for just getting ‘stuff’ out of my head and I thank you all for listening

Andy
x

Andy

Yes, I agree that this is a really good place to get your feelings sorted and your fears expressed. I do so hope it went well for you both today.

Ann x

As we thought, the ultrasound was inconclusive.
She said there’s something there (a lump obviously) but
she wasn’t sure what it was so Claire has a mammogram
then a biopsy next week.

Now I might be wrong but I’m certain when
Claire was diagnosed last time the ultrasound
was the key to doing a lumpectomy as the ultrasoundist?
Thought it was suspicious enough.

Am I clutching at straws or is the fact mammogram
and biopsy are next mean it’s not that sinister?

Andy

I had the mammogram, then the ultrasound and the core biopsy on the same day. Then the wait for the results. Why didn’t they biopsy it when they did the ultrasound, if they weren’t sure what it was? I have had that done twice. Unless your wife is having a different type of biopsy?

Good luck to you both, anyway.

Ann x

Hi Andy, i had a routine mammogram then recalled for an ultrasound and biopsy - i think it just depends in what order they decide to do them. In my experience the ultrasound person ? tends to know by looking at the lump what it is, even if you then still have to wait for the biopsy results. Ill keep my fingers crossed for you both. Take care.xx

Sometimes they are not quite sure from the scan. I had a second biopsy after an MRI and the doctor said she could not be quite certain whether it was ok or not, just by looking at the ultrasound, and so she did the biopsy. Fortunately, this second area was not cancerous and so I only had a WLE and not a mastectomy.

Good luck to you and your wife, Andy.

Ann x

I had mammogram ,ultrasound ,then in the words of the doc ,it looks highly suspiscious so had fine needle biopsy and core biopsy. The fine needle biopsies were inconclusive and we had those results the same day but were well prepared for the worst as the consultant also told me “it looks very suspicious” and they could tell that even though my lump was just 15mm. 48 hours later got my core results back which confirmed their suspiscions. Should have asked more questions at the time but mind was just going into mad mode with shock. It all still seems a bit surreal.
Good luck with your results.

Sandra x

Thank you for all your wise words. What frustrates us is that they dont tell you anything and I understand that, but what it does is it draws you into a false sense of security that no neews is good news, then they hit you next week after the biopsy and nothing can prepare you for that as we well know.

Surely the ultrasound and mammogram showed something? good or bad?

or am I just being overly optimistic?

biopsy tomorrow so fingers crossed

thanks again and I’ll let you all know what happens either way

Andy
x

Andy - I suppose they need all three things to diagnose properly. They need the mammogram and ultrasound to make sure they hit the lump when they do the biopsy. I had my biopsy at the same time as the ultrasound scan, so that the doctor could see what she was aiming at. At the moment, maybe all they know is that there is something there which needs further investigation. I think if they are certain, and you ask, they will tell you immediately. If they aren’t, they need the results of the biopsy before committing themselves.

The thing I have found with the medical profession, is if you ask a direct question, they will answer it, but if you don’t ask, they won’t necessarily volunteer information. The problem comes when you don’t know the questions to ask.

Good luck to you both for tomorrow.

Ann x

Andy & Claire just to wish you well for tomorrow when you go for the biopsy. I hope you are given the results tomorrow as well and are not subjected to further waiting. Its the not knowing that is so very difficult to cope with.
Like other ladies on this thread I had a mammogram, ultrasound fine needle aspiration and then core biopsy with the result a week later when I was diagnosed. They did ask me to wait for the result of the needle aspiration on the day but then said it was inconclusive, hence the core biopsy. My thoughts are with you both.

Chris

To Andy & Claire

Thinking of you both today, hope all goes well

F1Fan xx

Claire had the core biopsy and we are waiting for the results. The ultrasoundist? said she wouldn’t have been concerned if she’d just seen the mammogram but when she saw the ultrasound it alerted her to do the biopsy. - what does that mean?

We remain positive and have everything crossed

x

Hello Andy and Claire
Sorry to read that Claire may have a recurrence. My understanding is that mammograms and ultrasounds show lumps in different ways. When I was first diagnosed, they did the mammogram first and then the ultrasound afterwards. I was convinced the lump was another cyst, but the radiologist doing the ultrasound - who thankfully is very experienced - took one look at the screen and said - ‘that’s not a cyst’. He was pretty sure it was cancer just from its appearance, but did the core biopsy so that the lab could make sure.
Keeping everything crossed for you.
Anthi x

hi all,
well this is my first post. let me just say how much of an inspiration all you wonderful ladies are out there. you all rock!!

i really don´t know where and how to post but this thread seemed the most relevant. my situation is that my newly married wife has just been diagnosed with b/cancer for the second time. we found out today!! andy i know how you feel. in our case after beating cancer once you get your life back on track and then wham a kick in the middle wicket. i´ve been through every chemo/op/rad/consultation with my wife in the first round and watched her beat it and now just one year later and 7 weeks after our marriage (shes been more beautiful then ever)we get told that she has it again in other breast. The strange thing is that during every check up and the week leading upto it you are petrified but now that we have the bad news clarity has taken ahold. a war footing. we just have to deal with it and fight the sod.
our onc has told us that there is nothing to worry about and that this is soo doable. were still awaiting final results from biopsy as regards to what type she has but an op has been penciled in for in 10 days time. time to get the wife on a health kick. back on the juices. she says this time she wont eat so much chocolate but to be honest, as long as she is healthy and happy i dont care.
we also found out a few months ago that she has both ´bad genes´ a case that Barts has never had. just as we were sorting out preventative measures…
well what im trying to get at andy and wonderful ladies of this forum is that the worst part is the uncertanty. maybe im on automatic, but i have been at every medical évent´with my girl and i will carry on being there. we have to deal with it and will deal with it.
i would love to hear from anyone.

keep

Hi Keep
just want to say, from my perspective, the support we get from partners/family/friends is the ‘rock’ here!
its great that your mrs has your support- I’m sure its one of the factors that will keep her strong.
You look after yourselves and tell her she should eat whatever she fancies!
Andy, Claire - hope things go well
thinking of you all
monica

deporhusband

So sorry you are having to go through this again. I don’t know if you used this site before, but it is ‘the’ place to get help and support. As your onc is so optimistic, so should you both be. Yes, the waiting is so awful - so draining. You sound an absolute gem and you will both get through this again. Good luck for the results and the op.

Good luck, too, to Andy and Clare.

Love Ann x