Hi Pie, sorry that you find yourself here, but you will get a lot of support, so you are in the right place. My situation is similar, I am 43 with 2 boys 9 and 7. 3 years ago I went for a mammogram/ultrasound because my nipples discharged ever slightly. I also was told that they looked clear other than a tiny something that they saw but not at all suspicious. My cancer was in my right breast and for the past couple of years I have had the tiniest itchy patch that I did go to the GP for, but he was not convinced it was any sign of cancer. This summer I felt a lump near my nipple, I went to my GP, who felt this one and found another! He referred me straight away to have a mammogram/ultrasound which was at the end of August. I found out on the day I had breast cancer. A week later my core biopsy results came back as grade 2 IDC in both lumps, hormone positive, HER neg. My lumps were estimated to be 8mm and 16mm so I had my operations (mastectomy and a full lymph node clearance, following a Sentinel lymph node clearance first. The tumours were actually 2cm and 3cm). I started chemo last week.
I think in your case, it could be that because your tumour is 6cm, they will want to shrink it before operating. My friend had her chemo first and only has one more chemo cycle to go, her recent scans show that the tumour is gone which psychologically is great. She will have her surgery in January, followed by radiotherapy. Once you see your oncologist I am sure that your treatment will begin fairly swiftly. You will find that it is a roller coaster of a journey but you will get through it. Try not to worry too much about the thought that the cancer is growing, now that they know you have cancer, the doctors will not delay your treatment unnecessarily. Grade 2 is not grade 3, so although it is faster growing than grade 1 it is not the most aggressive. I was diagnosed end August, SLNB end September, mastectomy and ANC 1st Nov and ct and bone scans mid nov, chemo started 4th December. The waiting of results is the absolute worst, but stay positive.
I believe that once you are in the system for cancer, you will be well treated. The doctors will only be wanting what is best for you. Each case is individual, sometimes it takes longer for some people than for others, because there are many permutations involved.
Try to remain strong. The waiting of results is definitely the worst. Once you do finally get all the details and your full treatment plan it does get easier.
Apologies for rambling...but putting this down to being only 7 days post chemo! Join us on the December Angels thread under monthly chemotherapy threads. It looks like you may well be starting your chemo this month.
A x
