Hi,
I am 42. I had a missed miscarriage earlier in the year (I was pregnant for the first time with much wanted twin girls).
A month after this - I found (or I suppose came to terms with) that one of breasts was slightly larger than the other and although I thought this might be due to the pregnancy, I went to the doctor. He thought it was probably nothing to worry about but sent me for a mammogram.
What another terrible day. It was a one stop shop, and by the end of it I had found out that I had some calcification in the left breast and was looking at surgery. ‘It’ was initially diagnosed as DCIS but then the MRI showed some invasiveness.But - I had no node involvement on the scans and was not looking at any treatment apart from the surgery.
Four weeks later, I had a mastectomy and reconstruction (this was at the end of April). The Pathology report showed HER2 positive with some lymphovascular invasion. Not what we were hoping for. I am starting chemo next week followed by Herceptin for a year- but this week am finishing off an IVF cycle to freeze some embryos before the chemo starts. The nurses and doctors have been very supportive.
Anyway - I have been up and down until today when I have felt really very, very low. I had a grizzle with the IVF nurse who was lovely but I have spent most of the day in tears. (doesn’t help when its raining)
Its been a roller coaster of one nightmare after another. I was so happy in January expecting the babies and can not believe that I am now in this situation. There is no real history in my family although my Aunt did have it but much later on in life (and it was a different type).
I am trying so hard to be positive. I realise that I am very lucky (I probably would not have discovered it had I continued being pregnant).
Is there anyone who has something or been through something similar?
Hi Lily i didnt want to read and run. Im not in the same situation although i found out when i was pregnant and am sure i would not have found the lump if i wasnt so would not have been treated as early. What a rotten time your having. I hope the harvest goes really well for you and you can freeze lots of embryos for the future. The Chemo stage seems to be going really quickly for me and you will be through it before you know it. The drugs you have for IVF can make you feel like your on a rollercoaster cant they. Sending lots of positive vibes and please keep posting. x
Hi Lily41
Sorry for late reply - I don’t come on this site as often now as having gone through about 2 or 3 BCC website changes over the years, I have found this new change the hardest to get to grips with and to be honest it has put me off as a regular visitor so I just pop in occasionally now.
You have gone from joy to despair in a few months - life can be very cruel. I have posted a link below which you may find helpful. You can also find a thread containing this link if you read through the ‘Pregnant with Breast Cancer’ posts.
rcog.org.uk/files/rcog-corp/GTG12PregBreastCancer.pdf
You will also be amazed at the amount of people dx who have no family history and don’t tick any of the boxes as high risk for breast cancer.
Sadly I can’t help with regards to IVF as I have not been in that situation. I was pregnant when I was dx in May 2006 and had surgery, chemo, rads and herceptin.
It is a rollercoaster of emotions and we have all gone through the lows and dark, dark days and that is why this forum is normally so helpful and supportive. I just worry that because of all the recent changes it has put off a lot of ladies responding and that is why there aren’t many replies. Hope someone can come along soon who has been in a similar situation to you and can offer you some help and support.
Good luck with your treatment. Love xxxx
Hi Lily - another one here who doesn’t log in very often any more, but I had a very similar experience to you:
Aged 36, got pregnant, miscarried, one boob showed a dimple, got pregnant again and got boob checked out, breast cancer diagnosed, mastectomy and full lymph node removal, miscarried again (nothing to do with the surgery), tried IVF embryo freezing but it didn’t work, followed by the works: zoladex, chemo, radiotherapy, herceptin, tamoxifen.
It all started 3 years ago, and I am now creeping up to my 40th birthday in December, and have an appointment next week to have an AMH ovarian reserve test as my periods haven’t yet come back and I don’t know whether to stop tamoxifen and give pregnancy a try or what. My surgeon and oncologist have given me the OK, as the latest research doesn’t indicate another pregnancy increases your chances of the cancer returning, although they’re not all that happy it will mean coming off tamoxifen early.
It’s a very difficult time. I was very upset when our embryo freezing didn’t work. They only got one egg from me and it didn’t fertilise, and chemo needed to be started so we couldn’t try again. Two miscarriages - both the kind where the baby doesn’t develop at all, known as a ‘blighted ovum’ - and a failed fertilisation don’t bode well for me, I think, so even if the AMH shows I have eggs left, I don’t know if their quality will be any good!
I hope you have been more successful and now have some embryos in reserve, and also that the chemo is treating you kindly. Sounds daft to say, but I wasn’t very poorly with mine at all. Hugs xxxx