I guess I came and written this as I have read alot of your messages and I felt I knew some of you could poss help?
Im a 30 yr old and doing the usual cheking when in the bath to reveal a pea sized lump in my breast… I sat with a very heavy heart and thought it has all the classic signs of that horrid word…Cancer! Sat there and thought oh its nothing but the more i did the more my concious said get to the doctors!! It must have only been there 3 weeks no more… I went on the friday and on the following Monday I was being examined at hospital. Both Doctor and radiographer were almost positive it was a Fibroadenoma. Having had the mammogram, ultrasound and core biopsy I went home and researched Fibroadenoma feeling pretty positive, went for my result 7 days ago and diagnosed with Grade 3 cancer…I almost fainted…really…!
He explained that it was a rare type of cancer and that it shows up on mamograms and ultrasounds as normal, its only when they do a core biopsy it shows up…! It sounded like a mucinoma…i asked how long it had been there and he said it was hard to tell…
He asked if I wanted a WLE or Mastectomy…well how they hell did I know I couldnt even hear him properley for the alram bells ringing in my ears. I opted for the WLE and blue dye and and he would also check my lymph nodes incase it has spread. Once after my op I would have Chemo, & Radio and they would also do an ER, PR and HER2 test…Becasue I couldnt take everything in, he asked if I wanted a copy of the letter he was sending to my doctor. Having received it say “grade 3 invasive carcinoma” there is a “heavy lymphoid stroma” and the apperances suggest it may be a “medullary carcinoma of a special type”… i feel sick! I dont understand what all of that means, and I cant bring myself to ring the BC nurse becasue i cant even acknowledge myself what I have cancer.
I have my op in two days time and I am soooo scared I feel i dont think i can take more kicking if they tell me its spread…
I am sorry ladies, but all i can think of is very dark and morbid thoughts.
Hi Lynne,
Firstly I am soooooo sorry. I know exactly where you are coming from. I was diagnosed 7 Jun, again, was told by my GP it is probably nothing. Didn’t get worried whilst waiting 5 WEEKS for my appointment. Got there and had all the tests. When they told me I had BC I kind of went into a surreal state. I had my lumpectomy and lymph nodes removed 26th Jun and am now waiting for the results. I am scared - but some days are brighter than others. I didn’t get a copy of my letter and don’t really know very much (ignorance is probably not the answer but I can only take so much). I go back Thursday for the outcome.
I hope you find this site as friendly and supportive as I have this past week or so. I logged on for two weeks before having the guts to join - regret that now and wished I had joined at the beginnning I maybe wouldn’t have had so many dark days. Believe me - some days will be brighter and hey - if not - log on someone will be around. I have found the site wonderful and feel like I have new friends without leaving the house.
Hope you feel better soon (sounds poor considering). I am here if you need to off load - thinking of you, (and understanding where you are coming from),
Tracy xx
Welcome to the Breast Cancer Care forums, I am sure you will receive valuable information and support from your fellow forum users. In addition, you are welcome to contact our freephone helpline on 0808 800 6000 , where you are able to talk to someone in confidence about how you are feeling at the moment and any worries you have. The line is open Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm, Saturdays 9am - 2pm.
Breast Cancer Care have recently published a Resources Pack which you may find helpful to read, it is filled with information to help you better understand your diagnosis, test results and the various treatments available. You can download it from the following link or you can ask for a copy to be sent to you via the helpline: breastcancercare.org.uk//content.php?page_id=7514
Sorry to hear you have been diagnosed. I was shocked too as mine was also a rare kind of breast cancer and didn’t show up on any of the tests I had until I had the lump removed. Mine was something called glycogen-rich clear cell carcinoma of the breast.
I would ask the doctors to explain how your kind of cancer differs from the normal kind, mine has exactly the same prognosis as ductal cancer of non specific type. I worried myself silly looking it up on the internet but only found a few cases and with rarer cancers the few cases can skew the results.
Welcome, I’m sorry you have to be here but welcome all the same and I do hope that my story may give you some hope.
My story sounds similar to you in that I found a tiny lump whilst showering one day which I was told by my GP and by the Breast Surgeon that it was a Fibroadenoma. Then the biopsy showed it wasn’t. I was diagnosed on 2nd June last year age 30 with Invasive DC with positive nodes. I had a mastectomy with no reconstruction. I’ve had Epi-CMF chemo which at times wasn’t so nice and 4 weeks Radiotherapy. I’m now on Tamoxifen and Zoladex for 2 years as my cancer was ER+ve. I’m HER2 -ve so don’t need Herceptin.
Last month I had my first post treatment check which was fine - NED (No Evidence of Disease)- and then I went and bought a new car. I am now the proud owner of a lovely wee red convertable.
Also last month I went back to work for the first time in 11 months and it was great; I felt like I’d never been away and my colleagues had banners up to welcome me back.
I never imagined last year that I would ever be happy again but I have to say that my treatment flew by and here I am sporting a new tufty hairdo and having fun.
I’m going back to see the Plastic Surgeon in August about having my new boob reconstructed so I’m very excited about that too.
BC will always be in my mind but it is behind a lot of other more important things now!
Best of luck to you and try to stay strong. Just ask if you want to know anything else.
I was diagnosed with a Grade 3 cancer last month, with much the same features as yours. I am a little older than you at 36. I had it removed, with the lymph nodes and started chemo two weeks ago. It’s natural to feel morbid and dark thoughts at this time, and yes it is bl**dy difficult to get through - but you will get through it I promise you. Remember that you are going to have curative surgery that will remove the beastly thing, and any other treatment will be decided after that.
We’re all here for you, if you feel down - you are not alone in this. Good luck with the surgery.
hi girls i was like ye found a lump which i wudnt even call a lump i taught it was abone, went to doc she taught it was acyst, within a week was seen by consultant then had ultrasound and biopsy done 2 days later they rang me to go to the consultant again i knew straight away summit was wrong…
i have grade 3 ductal breast cancer this all happened last week since then iv had partial mastectomy done and lymp nodes taken for sampleing, can anyone tell me what the blue dye is for??
Welcome to the forums, you will find information about surgery and various treatments for breast cancer, including why the blue dye in sentinel node biopsy is used, in our resource pack which has been designed to help anyone who is newly diagnosed to better understand their treatments and results. You can obtain a copy via the following link or by contacting our helpline on 0808 800 60000 which is open Monday to Friday 9am-5pm and Saturday 9am-2pm. The helpliners are either breast care nurses or have experience of breast cancer and can offer you information, support and a ‘listening ear’.
hi there
I was recently diagnosed with a grade 3 invasive ductal cancer, and a large lump under my arm which they are also suspicious of, because of this i am having chemotherapy 1st , then surgery rads etc , i am nor er + and they are not sure about herceptin responsive yet, i have now decided tot to focus on infected nodes, what its receptive to etc, as you can scare yourself and concentrate on beating it !! i am feeling a bit c***p after chemo but it shows it must be working, please bear in mind everybody has different treatments in different orders so concentrate on yourself and please stay as strong as you can, i am 36 years old and it was a bolt out of the blue i found my lump on the 1st day of a 2 week hloiday in spain !!
love galen xxx
Thanks so much for the warm words of incouragment from ALL OF YOU. Bits from each and everyone of your messages have touched me in some way. No doubt I will be back after my op on Thursday ;-(
I know I should concentrate on getting my surgery over - however the dread of what people say cheno is like and the losing of the hair etc scares me.
Does anyone know if I should keep away from certain foods/eat certain foods to help me body or any tips for anything would be greatly appreciated…??
Bettyboo - Let me know how you get on, on Thursday…I will be thinking of you (well in my state of unconciousness myself)
Carla - I take my hat off to you and say well done in moving on with your life!!
All - thanks once again for giving me something to look forward to by logging on and knowing that I have support/friends… Its wonderful…
Needed to talk - very worried about my op tomorrow. I am due for my WLE and axillary lymph node staging and blue dye. I am so terrified that they find somrthing else. Because they told me its stage 3 and invasive - Every ache or pain I feel I associate it with cancer pacing round my body - am I daft for thinking this? Im also so worried about Chemo - does it really knock you off your feet for a week? Is there anything I can eat/use to keep myself as strong as possible throughout my treatment?
No, we all have thought like that - don’t worry !! It is entirely normal to think that they will find something or that the cancer has spread. Remember the Consultant has examined you and he obviously thinks it is confined to the breast area, or he wouldn’t be doing that operation.
Try not to worry about the chemo at the moment - it does knock most people a bit, but some ladies sail through it. The best diet to eat is a good, healthy diet - lots of fruit and veg, lean meat etc.
I had the same grade tumour and same op as you and it wasn’t bad, really. You will get told the pathology of the lump at a follow up meeting. I had to wait 10 days but for some people it is sooner. I had mixed news, lymph nodes all clear but they did also find DCIS. However, I didn’t have more surgery and am carrying on with the planned treatment.
The chemo isn’t exactly fun but we all react differently to it. I was worse yesterday after my second one than I was with the first and I don’t feel that great today but I wasn’t ill as such for more than the first day last time, just tired. By the second week I was much improved and able to go out quite a bit and we had a couple of really enjoyable days out the middle weekend. And last week I was more or less as normal and we went to London for the weekend.
I went to the Penny Brohn Centre (what used to be Bristol Cancer Care) for info about diets and supplements - they do leaflets you can ask for - but my oncologist doesn’t want me to get into this during the chemo and just said to eat what I like. I am taking him at his word! I have been told to cut down on dairy products as my cancer was strongly positive for oestrogen and as a vege I ate too much cheese etc really.
It is natural to think every ache and pain is to do with the cancer but tomorrow they will take the lump away and all the following treatments are your insurance policy.
I will be thinking of you. You are naturally apprehensive at the moment but I am sure the op will go better than you think.
I have posted this on behalf of Terry
Kind regards
Joe
Moderator
Breast Cancer Care
Hi Lynne,
I can only comment as a carrer as it is my wife who has the BC. She is grade 4 and has been diagonsed over a year now. She was too far gone for them to bother with any surgery at all so she went straight to chemo.
The type of chemo you get is what determines the possible side effects, but at this site everyone will tell you they are all different.
The Main thing is to stay mentally positive, yes you will get down days and tears no doubt, but remember all those chemicals they are putting in are going to help you, not hurt you.
Most people suffer from aches and pains due to the chemo and some bad tastes in the mouth, frozen fresh pineapple helps with that, get some in the freezer before the chemo.
Remember you will almost certainly be tired so be prepared to make the most of the good days and just relax with a good book on the tired ones.
I was diagnosed in April this year and had a WLE lumpectomy and sample node removal in May. I started my chemo on 12th June and had my 3rd session yesterday so I’m now at day 30 of my treatment. As the ladies mention everyone has different drugs etc and they come with varying side effects. I’m on a UK TACT2 Trial and having intravenous Epirubicin for 4 cycles and then onto tablet form of Xeloda for a further 4 sessions. I know I have been extremely lucky in that I’ve not suffered from any sickness at all. All I can advise is take the anti-nausea drugs they give you after each cylce even if you don’t feel you need them. The only other side effects I seem to have had is a few mouth ulcers and heartburn in the second week after treatment (this is when your immune system will be at it’s lowest). My hair has thinned somewhat (comes out whenever I comb and wash it - only wash it once a week now to minimise the loss) but so still have a good all over covering at day 30 and I have been using the cold cap when I’ve had treatment - ask your hospital if this is available. Doesn’t work for everyone but I was willing to try anything. There are are some great hints and tips to be found on this board.
Thank you all - each day since I first posted I find my days are getting a little easier and I know all of you are here should I need anything - which is the comforting thing.
I find myself waking up troubled with something and know you ladies/gents are always here. I am truly grateful to each of you.
Stay in touch and let me know how you all are getting on.
Just to say I’m thinking of you as well. I’m Carole 41, diagnosed with DCIS with invasion into 2 out of 10 nodes with a grade 3 tumour. I had a full mastectomy and node clearance on 11th June and I had my first chemo on 3rd July. I felt exactly like you and asked the consultant if the cancer was going to be whizzing around my body, his response was a few weeks wait isn’t going to make the slightest bit of difference, take your time now and make the right decisions for you (I was thinking about immediate reconstruction at the time, which I decided not to go ahead with)
The thing that helps me is to look at what I’ve achieved so far not what is to come. Things like I got my arm a bit higher today, that’s great, I don’t feel as tired today, you know, little things. If you look at the whole picture it can be a bit daunting so break it down into little bits and it doesn’t seem so overwhelming.
On the food front I was advised by my chemo nurse to eat foods rich in iron because your blood count will fall and this is what makes you tired. I hadn’t even thought of that, sometimes it’s the simplest things that make all the difference. So I’m on the dark green leavy vegetables at the moment and drinking orange juice with my meals which helps iron absorbtion and I do think it’s making a difference.
Take care of yourself Lynne, will be thinking of you tomorrow.
Hi Lynne,
I had a lumpectomy and nodes removed on 26th Jun. I get my results tomorrow. It is a worrying time and I am glad you are finding the site as useful as I have over the last week or so. I have been looking into the diet thing during chemo as I am worried sick about putting weight on as I have taken the last 8 years to lose my excess and maintain it. I have been introduced to a product by ‘forever living’. This is a company that specialises in the use of the Aloe Vera plant but in its natural form. I have spoken to my breast care nurse who is happy for me to take this as a supplement. Aloe Vera is a healer - inside to out. I haven’t yet started using it and cannot say whether it will work or not but it certainly won’t harm me. It has something to do with the immune system. Let me know if you are interested and I can give the name of the stuff - there must be someone in your area that sells it?? Again, I haven’t yet used it but apparently our local hospital (St.Mary’s Portsmouth) have a lot of ladies on it during their Radiotherapy. Let me know, if not don’t worry, it isn’t for everyone.
For now, just think about getting through tomorrow, I will be thinking of you, sending lol,
Tracy xx