Hi sweets, I have been doing my homework on here too and found out so much in a short space of time. I looked at cancerresearchuk, Macmillan and NHS and they all explain the grades and stages. When I was first diagnosed (2 weeks after mammogram, ultrasound and needle biopsy), my doctor could tell me the size of the lump, the grade and whether my hormones were receptive. They now have to find out the stage by a process called TNM (tumour, node, metastasis). My doctor booked me in for a CT scan, MRI scan (this is because I already have breast implants) and a bone scan. All these freaked me out but I was assured that EVERY diagnosis at my hospital has to have them done. I also had to have the sentinal lymph node op (I was in at 8am and out by 2.30pm) and this was to see if my nodes under armpit we're clear. The ultra sound didn't pick up anything but this is routine to back that up. The first place breast cancer is likely to spread is to the nodes (I was told not to panic if it had because they would simply remove all nodes from armpit). There is a tool online called predict.nhs and my oncologist shoes me a similar prediction, where you can type in your age, grade, hormones etc and it will show you whether chemo would benefit. Everyone has told me to stay away from google so the best advice I can pass on is stick to the websites above and the booklets from the hospital then you will be getting reliable information. I was driving myself mad with survival rates and statistics but most websites are really outdated. I hope this helps xxxx
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