Hi
Well I have just got my results, well nearly all of them. I have a 10mm grade 2, stage 1, oestrogen positive cancer. The consultant said he had got clear margins and best of all my lymph nodes are clear ! I was soooo relieved to hear that my lymph nodes were clear as since having my lumpectomy i had convinced myself that it had spread all my body and that it was the end. All the waiting is still not over as I am now waiting to see whether or not it is Herceptin positive or not. If it is it will be chemo if not it will be radiotherapy. He put me on Tamoxifen today also and I am still plucking up the courage to start taking it as i am dreading the side effects.
Lv Mel x
Whoop, whoop, fingers crossed for ‘just’ rads eh. Don’t worry too much about tamoxifen I was convinced I would have instant menapausal symptoms, but to date I’ve had no hot sweats, periods still regular, just an uncontrollable thirst - bizzare I know! So you never know you may not get any SE. I’ve been on tamoxifen since Nov and am pre menapausal .
Take care x
Great news mel-I am still hoping for a Shropshire lasses meet soo.I had coffee with silvershar last week 
Hi,
Your diagnosis sounds practically the same as mine, I was 12 mm grade 2 ER/PR 100% postive, clear margins after re excision, and clear Lymph Nodes, I had my Lumpectomy in Nov 2009, I had the full works after it though due to age (32) chemo, rads now on Tamoxifen, the chemo put me into a menopause, I have been taking tamoxifen since last July and have found it fine, only occassional hot flushes, I decided to have a Hysterectomy due to the 100% hormone so my new hot flushes are probably due to that as it was done on 2nd Feb. So pleased your results are positive hoping for only rads and Tamoxifen for you.
Take care
Jill x
Hi Jill
How did you find out that your cancer was 100% hormone responsive, I asked what mine was and the breast nurse said it was strongly positive three pluses whatever that means. Did the doctors recomend a hysterectomy ? Glad to hear Tamoxifen is not having too many side effects for you - fingers crossed for me.
Lv Melx
Sorry double posted.
Hi Mel,
Once I was diagnosed I researched like you would not believe, constant asking the professionals questions, I found out mine was 100% hormone driven as they grade it out of 8 for both ER and PR so I was 8/8 for both. They did not recommend the hysterectomy I went off my own back to cut the hormone levels in my body, spoke to my BCN about it who in her opinion thought it was over kill due to the negative Lymph node and Grade 2 factors, when I asked my Onc he was quite happy for me to go ahead with it, I see it as another wee thing to stop the thing coming back. To be honest I have probably been quite extreme in my decision as onc told me if I was 20 year older with same cancer would not have had chemo or the boosters in my rads treatment.
I had to do what was needed for peace of mind. Dont worry about the Tamoxifen you will be fine.
Jill x
I have just turned 44 so i am quite a bit older than you- i wonder if that is why he has not recomended chemo for me ( unless of course it comes back Her+ )I did ask why not chemo and he said that it would only make a 2% difference and that he had to weigh that up against the side effects etc of chemo so he does not recommend it for me. Don’t really know what to make of that at the memnt as I ahve so much going on in my head.
Mel x
I didn’t have chemo either even though I’m young? 36- my bc was 12 mm grade 2 clear margins and er+ (wasn’t told %) onc said chemo wasn’t recommended for me even though when I was dx bcn told me I would defo be given chemo due to age! So I ‘just’ had rads and tamoxifen . Try not to worry too much x
Hi,
It is a difficult time just now for you, Mr surgeon did not think I needed the chemo as he was happy with the margins achieved in surgery plus he spoke about the benefits against what the chemo would do, my onc also said No chemo if my HER status was neg which it was but my onc then found out my age and gave me the option whether to have chemo or not, I had over the Christmas period last year to decide great fun!!! I decided to throw everything at it I have friends who would not have made the same decision.
I hope you dont need to do chemo but if you do it is doable and there is plently of tips to make it a easier run for you, I did the cold cap and managed to save most of my hair so I think that made it a bit easier.
Jill x
YAY!!! NO NODES!!! YAY!!!
That’s THE BEST news, I’m very happy for you.
You have not been thrown straight into chemo for a couple of reasons.
-
Your tumour really is very small in the grand scheme of things. 10mm is small.
-
Your tumour is Grade 2, and often the down sides of chemo outweigh the benefits if a tumour’s only Grade 2.
-
Your nodes are clear. (Did I already say YAY!!! NO NODES!!! YAY!!!) Therefore it’s restricted to the breast.
When do you find out your HER2 status? That WILL make a difference, as Herceptin works better at preventing recurrences or spread when it’s combined with chemo. Fingers crossed you’re HER2-.
Great news on the nodes though.
Stage 1 means the cancer hasn’t started to spread, so that’s probably why chemo was not recommended. Stage 1 is more good news.
Cheryl
Hi beardie,
Its tricky this business of whats next after surgery isn’t it? And everyone seems to get slightly different options and I am beginning to think that’s the key. Everyone is different and what works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for another. Its good to general opinions and advice from all the fab people here but at the end of the day YOU are an individual and as long as you are assertive and as well informed as you can be about your treatment then at some point you have to trust what the surgeon/oncologist/nurses are advising
I am a bit similar to you, Grade 2 although I know that I am HER2- negative. I am ER&PR+positive 8/8 which is effectively 100%, I unfortunately had 2 tumour sites of 25mm and 23mm but I have been told by the surgeon that as my lymph nodes were clear I could probably just have radiotherapy and tamoxifen, although it would be the oncologist’s call.
My only prob is that I haven’t got clear margins on all the site so am back in for a re-excision on 28th Feb. It seems that this does happen so have been re-assured here (thankyou chocciemuffin!)and by my bc nurses that I shouldn’t worry and best to be sure before moving on to the next stage.
Anyway sorry about this rambling post, just wanted to say hello and not to worry too much and good luck with everything
Wandyx
just pm you mel thought your results were tomorrow then read your post glad you had no nodes involved great stuff love rachel x
Hi Wandy,
I have to have a re-excision too. A “cavity shave” as they so charmingly referred to it the other day. They said 1 in 10 tend to need this but there are quite a few of us in here looking for Clear Margins! In my case it was because there was DCIS (pre-cancerous stuff) round the bc and they can’t see it other than under a microscope. It is a really quick procedure and they tell me quite a routine thing where they take a broader bit of tissue at whichever side is not clear and it will only take them about ten minutes (although obviously with general it is a half day thing).
I don’t know about you but my SNB was much more sore than my breast scars in any case (although I’ve had to wait three weeks for the re-excision (drums fingers impatiently!!) and it is a real nuisance to open something up which has healed so nicely. I’m still telling myself that this is a short-term inconvenience rather than anything to worry about too much.
I’m in on 24th, will let you know how it goes… x
MG, are you SURE you’re not my twin? Exactly the same reason for re-excision for me! (Let’s just see if they spot some LCIS in your re-excision samples and then I’ll be completely convinced you are!)
And my scar is still very good, even though my surgeon went in again, so I’m hopeful she’ll need a magnifying glass to see it when I go for her checkup in 6 months’ time.
CM, maybe… dx about the same time, single parent, DCIS around bc…
If that means I get clear margins this time I will keep on being your clone! x
Yeah, but you’d have to be HER2+ for that to happen, which means automatic chemo…
Oh well can I pass on that one please?
The her+ is great in that there is an obvious treatment and it is preventable in future so that is good news, but I admit to a quiet relief that I don’t need chemo so far (never say never, she says crossing fingers) just rads and tamoxifen.
Who would ever have thought that having bc could ever seem like a “just” but after so many whatifs in my head, only stage 1, grade 1 with DCIS and wle, snb, re-excision, rads, tamoxifen feels like a blessing.
I noticed CM that you have a treatment plan and it is 6 FEC and no TAX, hoping that feels like a “just” FEC and that you are relieved to avoid the TAX bit which seems to have some nasty SEs. Do they do herceptin in parallel or do they run one after the other? When do you start and how is the OH. Has surgery happened yet? x
Yes, isn’t it funny what we can now use “just” with!
Chemo starts on 10th March (should have been a week or so earlier but I put it back as it would have meant missing a friend’s wedding later down the line). 2 weeks after that I start Tamoxifen and radiotherapy, and 2 weeks after that I start Herceptin, as it is particularly unpleasant in conjunction with the C in FEC, so there’s a 4-week after chemo ends before Herceptin starts. OH’s op is tomorrow, and he could be out as soon as Tuesday next week!
My "just"s include:
“just” 13mm and not massive
“just” lumpectomy and re-excision, not mastectomy
“just” in the breast and not in the nodes (woohoo!!!)
“just” FEC and no TAX
“just” around the corner for the hospital and not miles away
“just” … oh well, you get the idea.