Hi,
I was diagnosed with high grade DCIS with an area of grade 2, invasive carcinoma on 19th December and I’m still waiting for a surgery date. To be honest, they turned around my biopsy results really quickly to give me initial diagnosis, compared to some of the other ladies on the forum.
It took quite a while to get my head around the fact that I have this ‘thing’ inside me, but now everyone knows and we have had several chats with the surgeon and BCN and finally decided on procedure.
I’ll be having a mx with immediate reconstruction using Strattice mesh and an implant, but I don’t have a date yet and I’m worried that I have delayed my own operation by asking too many questions…
My local hospital has test equipment called OSNA which can test the lymph nodes during my operation, which why I’m still waiting for a date and now I’m paranoid that it will have spread to my lymph nodes, and that it’s my fault for insisting on this new test being used!
Does anyone have experience of OSNA, and am I being crazy thinking that it could have spread to my lymph nodes in the month between diagnosis and surgery???
Any advice would be welcomed :-/
Hi JJnA,
The waiting is just the aboslute pits, and in the early days after diagnosis there is that mixture of everything happening too fast and nothing happening at all when we are utterly petrified. If I can start at the end of your post, will a month make a significant difference to your diagnosis? No, it won’t. Despite how it feels to us, cancer doesn’t appear or spread overnight, it can take many years, even if it is high grade. There are target timescales for surgery, but many people wait a bit longer for all sorts of reasons with no ill effects; try not to worry to much a few days either way won’t affect your outcome. In the meantime time, give your BCN or your surgeon’s secretary a quick ring as paperwork may have stuck in the system over the holiday period… they may be able to give you a date verbally and follow up in writing.
I hope all goes well for you. I had a mastectomy, node clearance (I knew I had affected nodes) and immeidate LD reconstruction nearly two years ago, and am now finally at the top of a wiating list to get the ‘good’ side reduced to match. Beyond that I am healthy, happy and lving life to the full - I hope you will find the same is true for you.
Thanks RevCat,
You’re so right, at the beginning everything was going at a hundred miles an hour, now nothing and all I can do is think about what I should or should not have done or be doing… Truth is that I can’t do anything now, apart from get stuff organised at home (freezer full of chilli and bolognaise sauce after mega cooking session on Sunday…) and get a bag ready for hospital, until I get a date.
I’ll take your advice and give the hospital a ring. In fact, my surgeon gave me his secretary’s number during clinic on Saturday.
I’m pleased to hear that all is going well for you 
Thanks xx
Hi Ladies
I too am waiting on a date for surgery although my situation is slightly different from yours JJnA. I have already had my chemo therapy as more than 4 of my lymph nodes were affected. I know I need a mastectomy and full node clearance followed by radiotherapy. At present I am triple negative but pathology may come back different following surgery. It is hard waiting on things to start getting going but RevCat is right, a month or so is not going to make any significance. Saying that I hope you get sorted soon. Sorry, i don’t know anything about OSNA 
RevCat, I was interested when reading your post to hear that you had immeidate LD reconstruction despite lymph nodes being affected. Perhaps you didn’t require radiotherapy. I get the impression that I will not be suitable for immediate reconstruction. However, I have not seen surgeons since diagnosis in Aug (initially i was to have surg first followed by chemo but they decided on the other way round for me).
I have just really started looking into surgery again after getting through the chemo. Could I ask you how your post op recovery was following your LD flap? How has your arm been since lymph node clearance and have you had problems with lymphoedema?
Many thanks for any help you can offer
Helen