Positive post to give some hope at a difficult time

Diagnosed with breast cancer DCIS/LCIS
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Hello Lovely Ladies

I will be honest and admit I have um’d and arr’d about sending this update but decided that hopefully new and anxious people joining this site will see this post as a glimmer of hope.

I had my routine mammogram in July this year. Got called back for a 2nd screening which took place the 3rd week in August and was told I had DCIS of the left breast the following week - treatment required a mastectomy!

I had surgery, a simple mastectomy without an implant and sentinel node biopsy at the beginning of October.

I left hospital the same day without any drains and didn’t feel at all like I had just had surgery.

I did my exercises religiously every day but succumbed to some cording and a little bit of seroma. The seroma corrected itself but I have been having weekly physio sessions with the most wonderful physiotherapist which has got rid of the cording and now 6 weeks after the surgery the range of movement in my left arm is almost back to normal. I have some stiffness in the removed breast area but my physio is still working with me to improve this.

4 weeks after the surgery I received the brilliant news that the 3 lymph nodes removed showed no sign of invasion and the extensive area of DCIS showed a minuscule amount of microinvasion. All of which means I need no further treatment- no tablets, no radiotherapy and no chemotherapy.

I can’t quite believe that my journey has been so quick and has ended (for now at least) so positively.  I have gone from carefree, to concerned about the future, back to, well not carefree but extremely relieved and if I’m honest in a state of disbelief.

All in all the past few months have been surreal and continue to be so, but for now I am going to try and live my best life and hopefully many if not all of you reading this post can take some hope from this post and get back to living your best life very soon too.

I don’t know what’s round the corner, this disease reminds us all of that, but until someone tells me otherwise I’m going to stay positive. I hope lots of you do too.

Love and hugs

Diane :revolving_hearts:

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Congrats! Your diagnosis was quick-some people wait much longer! Where do you live? I too had a DCIS, but have to wait till Friday to see if the sentinel lymph node had been affected, but have been told I’d probably need radiotherapy and anti-hormone treatment too, so its all very confusing! I am 76 though, have taken HRT for many years as well, so maybe that makes a difference? At least my bones are like rocks!!!

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Dear Itiswhatitis

i can’t thank you enough for this post. Less than a month ago I found out I had high grade DCIS & would need a mx & snb. Surgeon seems confident that would be it. Clinic have made it all seem like this is a doable thing that will be okay. But trying to find online someone who has had just this experience has alluded me until now. I was feeling so stressed tonight as I have my pre-op tomorrow.  I am so happy to have found your post. I don’t know what’s ahead, but this helps so much knowing that it could “just” be this. I hope you are doing okay xx

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Lovely news.  Hope you continue on fighting x

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Thank you Diane for this. I have been diagnosed with high grade DCIS 7.5mm and due to have surgery (mammoplasty) on 3 August. I was diagnosed on 24 May. The waiting has been extremely trying at times. Obviously I can’t be certain what is to follow until I get the post surgery results but the plan at the moment is radiotherapy. Living with uncertainty is hard and I have resisted looking at forums like these as, understandably, they are often full of people in very difficult and complex situations when what I am looking for is hope. Your post has given me this and a reminder to just deal with what I know to be true then tackle whatever is to come when it arises and not get swept away by what ifs. 

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