After 5 long weeks of waiting I finally have my pathology results from my mastectomy and full lymph node clearance at the end of April. No big surprises with the tumours, one was 44mm and the second 20mm. I also had extensive DCIS but the surgeon didn’t seem too concerned about this? One of my tumours was graded as a 3 which was disappointing as provisionally they were grade 2.
With my lymph nodes I had 18 removed and 5 were positive, but 3 were micrometastasis
Did anyone have anything similar? I knew I had at least one positive one but was hoping that was as far as it had reached.
My pathology has pushed me into Stage 3 but my surgeon said I should stop googling for my prognosis as it’s not specific to each individual person and is very generalised. It’s so hard to stop when it’s on your mind 24/7.
Sending lots of love to everyone going though this 🩷 x
So sorry for what you are going through. It’s hellish I know but you just need to trust in the treatments and remember that thousands of women survive breast cancer, and the treatments are improving all the time. I’m glad to say I’m one of those women. Had a 45mm grade3 tumour with satellite lesions and 3 positive nodes 16 years ago and another 25mm herceptin pos primary in the other breast 6 years ago. 2 mastectomies and two rounds of chemo/radiotherapy later and I’m perfectly fit and well.
All I can say is keep yourself as occupied with good stuff as you can, lean on your friends/family and trust in the medical process until you are through it.
I had 3 positive nodes one macro and two micro. My tumor was 12.5cm and I had mastectomy and a full lymph node clearance - had 34 nodes removed. Mine was lobular BC very advanced and invasive as you can see…have not seen many ladies talking about centimetres when discussing their tumors…had 5 months of chemo, 15 RT sessions, 2 years of Abemaciclib and 7 years on Letrozole.
Try to stay positive and live in the now. Mindfulness helped me a lot. Just enjoy your life as much as you can…we can’t really change anything and living every day worrying is not worth living…
Thankyou @Eily and @mun4o for replying to my post. You are both right and I should just listen to my medical team and not keep googling for stats as it really doesn’t help.
Although I had two tumours I also had extensive DCIS which made it a lot bigger but my surgeon said it’s the invasive tumours they count for staging. Tbh it was the lymph nodes bit I was more interested in. Although it was only 2/18 which were positive, there were the further 3 which were micromestatasis so they are counting it as 5 positive in total.
I am not speaking to my oncologist until the 10th so another week or so of waiting to find out what the plan is. I think I’m having biphosphonate infusions as well as chemo, radio, zolodex injections and letrozole (I have an inherited gene which means I cannot have tamoxifen). Did either of you have the biphosphonate infusions?
Yes, I am on Zoledronic acid and will have my last infusion in October…I was on Zoledronic acid for 3 years twice a year…I am also on a 3 monthly Prostap injection to keep me in the medically induced menopause as I am on Letrozole…I was only 43 when first diagnosed. Didn’t have a mammogram or anything like that before my diagnosis and was sent to the one stop breast clinic as unfortunately, I was already symptomatic…no lump though…my nipple was inverted…
The bisphosphonates are used to treat osteoporosis and also they were found out that somehow they help with stopping the cancer coming back…though you need to be very careful with your teeth. I had to have a wisdom tooth extracted and my oncologist was absolutely not happy as high risk of necrosis of the jaw…and the bisphosphonates stay in your body for 10 years…I had the extraction done in a hospital and had stitches to prevent infection so yeah lots of things for you to consider…it’s your body and you have to advocate for yourself as nobody else will…always have a list of questions to ask your oncologist and bring somebody with you just to listen…
I had arimidex(rather than letrazole) which was ok for me once I discovered co-enzyme q10 helped the joint stiffness. Also second time around I had zolendronic acid (bisphosposonate) infusion every 6 months for 3 years, which I found very easy. It is helpful when the tumour is hormone positive as there are more ways to zap it.
Funnily enough I did a mindfulness course too and online mindfulness meditation. It helped with the ‘mind spin’.
When you get through all this Jayne look for a BCN moving forward course near you. It is great to be in touch with other women in your area who know what you’ve been through.
Don’t worry, when you start treatment they will give you loads of advice on managing side effects etc. Also the breast care nurses at your hospital and here at BCN are always available for advice.