I was diagnosed 20 November, biopsy showed grade 3/HER2+ cancer, but then had to wait 7 weeks and 6 days before surgery. From reading other comments on the site, this seems to have been a very long time to wait as no other treatment was given during this time.
Has anyone else had to wait so long for surgery?
I don’t think this is an abnormally long wait.
I was picked up on a routine mammo done in mid-May but didn’t go to Breast Care Clinic until June as I was on holiday when the re-call letter arrived.
After ultra-scan, biopsy etc confirmed that I had BC I then had SNB and WLE mid July. After a further 2 weeks wait for results I had to have further surgery in late July because of lymph node- involvement. I really don’t think those few weeks would have made much difference.
My own query- to which no-one seems able to give me an answer, is how long I might have had the cancer before it was detected (as I had NO symptoms at all - but it was already Grade 3)
I’ve been trying to work out how long I’ve had these tumours before they were detected and I can see that in 2007 I had a mam and all was apparently clear at that time. I went through a very bad time and didn’t sleep for over six months, changing family situation, no business coming in so I was stressed out. I used to sit up all night until it became daylight and then proceeded to try and get business in. That took me into 2008 which was just as stressful. I started to feel extreamly tired permanently about June 2009 and it became a drundge to do anything at all.
I don’t know if this was the start of the illness but given the last 2 years of stress etc I feel that this illness could have started 6 months before it was found.
I never found anything I had a pain in my shoulder and went to the GP as it just wouldn’t go away and she examined me but couldn’t find any lumps but said she was worried that the lymphs seemed swollen…the rest is history.
Hi,
I am afraid you have joined what alot of us call “The Waiting Game” I was dx end of November but went to the see the surgeon early Oct. By the time you get biopsy´s, bloods, etc, time flys by, you hit that rollercoaster and before you know it my op was on the 17th Dec, I can´t believe its coming upto 4 months, since I found and reported the lump.
this is what my partner keeps reminding me off! He also panicks that nothing is being done as I dont start my chemo until Feb, like you nothing happening until then, he thinks its a whole month wasted! But it´s not they like to give your body time to prepare then repair! This is how my surgeon put it.
Hi Finn
I also had nearly two months to wait from first visit to doctor till op. Given mine is an aggressive cancer that was not there at a routine mammogram 6 months previous to me finding lump I feel that was far far too long. I personally think that this is an issue that really needs to be addressed. Surely the quicker surgery is done the better but when I brought this up I kept being told another few weeks won’t make any difference. I don’t agree.
Anne x
hi been reading ur post finn nearly 8 weeks thts disgraceful u poor thing u must hav been going out of your mind. where do you live i live in york n went to th breast clinic n was in surgery 13 days later tht seemed long enough had to wait 15 days 4 results as was over xmas n new year but then had to go backin 4 clearance n tht was only 11 days tht was last monday 18th going back on thurs will see when starting chemo but wound seems a bit swollen tday mite hav to ring. hope theyv speeded up th rest of your progress th sooner we get rid of the SHITS (thts my view sorry) the better!!! xxxxx
Hi i had to wait six weeks before surgery and had no contact from anyone and i was a wreck.
what i didnt get and prob still dont is that my cancer was grade 2 at diagnosis and following biopsy but after surgery grade 3. So i now wonder if it was left to grow for six weeks. I also dont get how they can say they are sure its not spread as i got my scan when i first got diagnosed and havent had another since.
Throughout the six weeks i went out my mind panicking and thinking it must have spread elsewhere in that time.
Thanks for all your responses.
I live in Aberdeenshire. It seems that this is another “postcode lottery” issue - where you live determines how quickly you receive treatement. At diagnosis I was told that they didn’t think any lymph nodes were affected, although will obviously need to wait for path report for confirmation of this. I did ask my breast care nurse if by leaving me so long before taking any action I was not at risk of having the ca spread to my nodes but she claimed that they could not put me in a situation where I would be at risk of that happening, but I still think that 8 weeks is more than ample time for an aggresive tumour to spread.
I am very swollen after my surgery and don’t know if this is just normal post op swelling or seroma - can anyone else comment?
hi finn, hope ur nodes r all ok they told me mine looked clear on the scan n wen removed looked good to the eye but wasnt lets hope ur lucky honey. just try to keep an open mind i was convinced i was ok n knocked me for six originally told grade 1 no chemo, then everything was a double whammy. make sure u dont wait if u hav to hav anything else dun say u cant cope with waiting anything to get it over with hopefully now ur in th system u wont hav 2 iv got swelling at th moment it seems most people do but like u not sure what is normal im gonna wait til morning see if its worse. take carexxxxx
I was diagnosed with multi-focal IDC on 8th Dec, I am not having surgery until 3rd Feb, almost 2 months from diagnosis! I would not have taken that long normally but with an existing heart prob and a very disorganised transfer to another branch of the hospital…nightmare!
I think it is a ridiculous amount of time to sit there knowing you have cancer sitting there waiting to be removed…but wait is all I can do.
Paulaxx