After my diagnosis, the multi-disciplinary team (MDT) needed to meet to discuss my case. They review every patient's scans and biopsies and come up with a treatment plan. I was told that this meeting takes place every Thursday in my hospital, so my first appointment was booked for the 4th of April.
During this appointment, I met with my breast surgeon, Dr B. He confirmed that I have grade 3 invasive ductal carcinoma, which means the cells look very different from normal breast cells and are faster growing. However, on a positive note, the score is provisional because it is only from the biopsy. The full result will come after the surgery, so my score may change then. Another positive note is that the cancer's hormone receptor is strongly positive (ER7/PGR7), and the HER2 result was still pending. Also, no abnormal nodes were observed.
Dr B and the MDT discussed that despite its grade, it would be beneficial to carry out surgery initially and examine the pathology findings. Afterwards, they could make a more rational recommendation to fine-tune any systemic therapy following that.
This was the first time I heard a medical professional not mention chemotherapy, which was reassuring (on the day)
Dr B went on to explain the surgery I would need, and he even drew a sketch to help me visualize it better. It's going to be a lumpectomy with a flap breast reconstruction and sentinel node localization and biopsy. It was a lot to take in, but I felt like I was in good hands.
After this appointment, I went straight away to pre-assessment to check my overall health. It's mandatory to complete this before you're given a general anesthetic.
Finally, the day of surgery was booked for the 17th of April. I felt anxious but also relieved that there was a plan in place.
