I was diagnosed with a grade 3 Triple negative breast cancer late March and had a lumpectomy in April. There were 2 small foci. It’s been on my mind a lot that if the cancer returns in my breast I won’t discover it until it’s spread and I wonder if I should have been offered a mastectomy. My local hospital has just been slated as being inadequate and I’ve not had great support from my breast nurse. Her response to my query was that I should be more concerned about the cancer potentially spreading elsewhere despite having a clear ct scan 7 weeks after surgery. What has been other people’s experience with grade 3 cancer… are you offered /adviced mastectomy over lumpectomy??
I’m having my last chemo cycle next week and will start radiotherapy after.
I’ve also been told they are changing the radiotherapy and giving it over 5 days rather than 15 because there is good evidence it’s just as effective. Is this the norm elsewhere. I don’t have the belief that my local hospital offer the best treatment and want to cut costs? Any advice really welcome. I’m thinking of going to another hospital for a second opinion.
Hi Tamm
Well done for getting this far. This is a bit of a dilemma but, having worked in a school branded inadequate, it might be worth looking at the report to identify what exactly has been underperforming. All it takes is one inadequate department to wipe out all the excellence of the others and the problem may lie in administration rather than the clinical side. Having said that, you seem to have an outstandingly poor breast care nurse if she plants seeds of fear like that. She sounds the antithesis of mine, who has been able to help me put my fears into contexts and not be plagued by worry.
As regards the radiotherapy, I have read in the forums of someone having their radiotherapy in a single dose, to reduce the risk of infection, and I’ve read in the press about research confirming what your hospital has told you. They are still looking at ways to reduce the risk to patients of having to visit hospital and this seems a solution, rather than a short-cut. However, it would be a good idea to ring the nurses at the number above and ask them - they are very well informed and reassuring.
My cancer was grade 3, though I’d have to look up all the details (I know I had 2 tumours, one lobular the other ductal?) and I needed a full axillary clearance, so I was told I would need a mastectomy. However, if your cancer was confined to a smaller area and the margins were clear, a lumpectomy would make sense. I can understand your concerns though but perhaps it will help you to know that breast cancer can still recur with a mastectomy and I was shown how to examine my scar to be alert to any changes. I was a bit pissed off about that, I can tell you!
You are at a crucial stage of post-cancer treatment and your worries are going to be greater as you realise you’ll soon be let free and be ‘on your own.’ It’s scary, having been so dependent on hospital visits, to face this freedom. There is an excellent article I have read many times which helps us to envisage life after hospital. It was posted by one of the nurses here and is worth repeated reading. I hope you find it useful even if it’s a little early by a few weeks for you: workingwithcancer.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/After-the-treatment-finishes-then-what.pdf
I hope you ring the nurses to ask about radiotherapy and find your reassurance. All the best x
Hi Tamm, when I was first diagnosed I wanted a mastectomy just to be rid of my lump. My surgeon and BC nurse informed me that research shows there is no difference in life outcomes between a lumpectomy and a mastectomy. My tumour was localised so I was lucky . I have just read an article in the Telegraph Wednesday on radiotherapy being given during breast ops. One big blast to the site is apparently the new thinking. However, not all hospitals have the specialised equipment to do this. It then went on to say that five sessions of radiotherapy instead of 25 or 30 does the trick. So your hospital seems to be up to speed with current research. I think you’ve done really well to get this far on your journey which isn’t an easy one. It’s your right to have a second opinion, and also to be treated in a hospital of your choice. Good luck for the future. 