Cancer picked up in a screening yesterday

Hi 

Sorry to see you joining this very active group, but pleased you found us.

Until you actually get the full result details and your treatment plan this is very much still in limbo, but this is how J's diagnosis panned out...

Mid April Breast Unit - biopsies 2 week wait for results - Only symptom previous to this was a nipple starting to invert.

Mid May Surgery (left side mastectomy) 10 days after results.

June 3 weeks post surgery chemo sessions started, followed by radiotherapy later in the year.

Some have chemo prior to surgery - Some do not need chemo and go straight from surgery to radiotherpy.

Do you have any other results details like ER/PR or HER2 results as yet ?  Don't worry if all this means little to you at the moment, you will soon get the hang of it 

There are new members joining daily, so there is always someone at a similar stage to share 'stuff' with and you will get more replies from the lovely ladies here, it's a great group...

Hope this is of some help, G n' J

I was recalled from my first routine screening.  On recall I had biopsy and results a week later.  That was 3/6/2015.  I was told my pre op was the following week then surgery ASAP. I had a holiday booked for 5 days later so told to go on it as I wouldn’t be in surgery for at least 10 days .  There was a bit of delay with surgery due to surgeon and radiographer annual leave ( I had wire guided biopsy ).  I had surgery mid July.  No chemo required so radiotherapy in September and treatment over .

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. No nothing  yet to be quite honest I was surprised they could tell me it was cancer at the screening but I guess experience does that!

the radiographer showed me the images but they didn’t make a lot of sense to me. I was expecting to see a spherical shape but it wasn’t. It didn’t really have a shape! Do certain cancers take on a different guise?

Oh ok pretty swift!

i’m concerned About not being paid for time off so I guess I could postpone any post surgery treatment to after my 3 months probation (that’s provided they take me on) .

Hi 

There are 4 more common types of BC but even those have variations. Some actually have lumps, others are not so obvious.

If surgery is the first treatment option, although most are slow growing I don't think I would like to wait as long as 3 months to be rid of it :-/

G n' J

Ok what are the common types?

You can find further info about Breast Cancer here.

Mind you don't get info overload though - it is easy to take in info about things that may not apply to you.

I think that you'll need to wait until next week to find our if it's ER+/-, PR+/-, HER2+/- or triple negative.  If it's small and only hormone positive (ER+ and/or PR+), your lymph nodes are clear, it isn't grade 3 and after testing the tumour is low risk of recurrence, then it will probably be a lumpectomy, radiotherapy and tablets for 5-10 years  so the time off will be post- surgery recovery and some time off for your radiotherapy,  which is usually over 3-4 weeks. 

If its triple negative or HER2+ (or ER/PR+ but tests as high risk of recurrence) then you'll probably have chemo,  which takes at least 5 months. Some people manage to work through some of it depending on what you do.  You might also need a second surgery if they don't get clear margins or a sentinel node is found to be positive after surgery  (about 20% of the time this happens to ones which look clear in the scan) so that would add a few weeks from a second surgery. 

Next week they might not have the HER2+ results yet as they take longer, but at least they'll have more of an idea what  the plan might be. It could change after all ther results and again after surgery,.

Hi,

thanks that’s useful information.

they scanned my lymph nodes and they are clear, so that’s good.

i know I need to wait but I can’t stop thinking about it all.

Hi

welcome to the community if you look at 

my profile you will be able to see my timetable Also 

I didn’t have a lump but what is called calcification. 

Just remember we’re all different and there are so many combinations of treatments . The plan of treatment you get is tailored to your needs .

kee coming here with any questions or if you want to scream . Or even have a giggle !

If you can’t sleep come to the awake thread 

nearly always somebody else awake. 

The waiting is the worst we all have found that 

So breathe it won’t be long then you can sort out a plan for work