Can anyone advise?
I have been diagnosed as having DCIS, it is very early and only 6mm. I have just received my date for in patient surgery, however I have a long holiday coming up in the next two months.
What I would like to know is the timeline from surgery to radiatioin treatment if this is necessary, for example
Operation week after next, do the hospital monitor the removed cells for three weeks and then radiation arranged? I was under this impression and also that it would take a further 3 weeks to set up the radiation treatments.
If this is right then I am ok, if not it will have a major clash with my holiday, can anyone advise?
FormerMember
Hello Grannysmith,
Welcome to the club no one wants to join. I was diagnosed with IDC ER+ and the gap between my surgery and the commencement of RT was about 6 weeks ( opted not to have chemo), and I think this is about normal, as they like to allow you to heal from the surgery first, especially if you have had axillary lymph nodes removed.
Best thing you can do is, phone up and speak to your Breast Care Nurse (BCN), she will give you a rough idea of what to expect when. She should also be able to tell you how often and for how long the RT will take if the Oncologists have decided. I had to go for 5 weeks, every day ( weekends off), some people go for 3 weeks, it all just depends on your actual circumstances.
When I suggested delaying treatment, as we were due to go to South Africa for my 50th birthday, I was basically shot down in flames and told not to by my surgeon.
Hi. They will wt at least 3/4 weeks as they will want the tissue to heal.
Not sure if as radiotherapy can cause some skin damage - have to use lots of cream and some peole use anti-burn stuff too, if they may take a bit longer as they will want it to be as good as possible before starting.
Also unless there are any problems can't really see your doc's wanting you to miss out on a holiday they know how important these things are to their patients so have a word with them.
One thorny issue you may not have looked at is your holiday insurance, you may have to check your covered, would have thought you should be if was arrainged prior to bc. If you have problems try miaonline they deal with people who have a standing medical condition. Also on another post (cant remember where) other people have got some more links to good companys.
Wishing you all the best and coming from someone who was dreading it the op was ok really.
Thanks Zoe, it will be 8 / 9 weeks before I get back so it will be very close. As I have pre-cancer and only very small I am just hoping, but at the same time considering all the possibilities.
Sorry you missed out on your holiday, did you have to cancel? I should be going on a 17 day cruise and it is all paid for.
