New Here

Hi Bojango

Welcome to the community, I'd like to say its all a nightmare and you'd wake up and it's gone. 

But it's reality and thank goodness you had a mammogram and they discovered this early.

As for the rest well you've just started on this journey. 

I'm 21 days post op for a lumpectomy and axillary node clearance. 

I'm waiting for my results of the operation this will happen tomorrow. 

I am oestrogen plus ,HER negative. I'm not sure now what stage I'm in as I get results these might have changed. 

If there are any questions or just a friendly hello  

Just ask away someone will answer. If it's more specialist scroll through as someone will know or have had that experience. 

M

X

Thank you M - It seems I am on the same path as you. My op is also a Lumpectomy and Axillary node clearance. I don’t really understand about HER although the Consultant did refer to it but I didn’t take it all in. I hope you receive good results from your op tomorrow and wish you well. Please let me know how it goes for you tomorrow x

Hi, sorry to hear you're on this journey, but glad you've found this site, I think it offers a lot of support. I noticed your comment on HER.  As I understand it, some cancers are Oestrogen positive which means they “feed” on the hormone oestrogen. Some can be HER positive, which means they feed on HER2 (I think that's a protein) Herceptin is the drug used to treat HER+ cancers and basically reduce the amount of that protein in your body.  I hope I am making sense.

Hi Irishgirl16

Thankyou for the info on HER - it’s really helpful. I’m also glad I found this site and all the support it offers. I think being in touch with others on this journey will help me to feel less overwhelmed by it all. X

I have Invasive Lobular Cancer too. Like you it was picked up on a routine screening mammogram. I was called back in early Feburary and was warned by the radiologist who did my biopsy that she didn't like what she was seeing. Once I received the cancer diagnosis I had to have a contrast MRI (an interesting experience!). Apparently ILC doesn't form lumps, but has strings of cells which can be hard to see on a mammogram. They wanted to check that what they could see on the mammogram was all there was - thankfully they didn't find anything else :D I had my lumpectomy and lymph node sample done on 11 March, and was told yesterday that they're satisfied they got all the tumour, and that my lymph nodes were clear. Now I have to see an oncologist in the next couple of weeks to see what happens next - probably radium and hormone therapy.

It feels like a lot of waiting about for results, information, what happens next. Personally, I've found the waiting to be the hardest aspect of this whole experience. I'm so glad I went for my mammogram. When I was recalled, the first thing I did was check myself (again), but there was no external signs of a problem. I should have had my mammogram a year ago, but covid has pushed everything back. I'm not sure if there would have been anything to see on a mammogram a year ago, so I'm feeling very lucky!

Hi Shegar - Thankyou for sharing your experience so far - it’s really helpful. Things have all been a bit of a blur since diagnosis. I got my op date today - 21 April and pre op assessment on 12th. I will be having Lumpectomy and Sentinel Node Biopsy - not Axillary Node Clearance as I thought - my fault entirely on misreading the info given to me. My head is a bit scrambled at the moment! Like you, I had no external signs of a problem and the radiologist said it would not have been detected by touch as it is very deep in my right breast. I agree that the waiting for results is the hardest part. My last routine Mammogram before this one was three years ago and there were no abnormalities then apparently, so this has developed some time in the last three years. As I said before - I almost didn’t attend the screening - Thank Goodness I did. Wishing you the best of luck with the Oncologist appointment and please let us know how things go for you. L x

For me, having that op date settled me a bit. On the one hand, it's fantastic that things happen so quickly once they suspect there's a problem; on the other hand, it's a pretty wild ride that leaves your head spinning with fear, emotion, facts and information. I found that the break gave me a breathing space to digest it all.

Maybe it's a little different for women who find a lump and self-refer (and I certainly don't mean easier!), but for me it was a bolt from the blue. When I got the recall letter and read again that I wasn't to wear deodorant, I realised I'd completely missed that for the first mammogram so I'd convinced myself that the only reason I was being called back was because the deodorant was showing up on the x-ray. I asked the radiologist her thoughts on what she was looking at, expecting to be fobbed off, and she told me straight up that she didn't like the look of it and if the biopsy came back negative she'd want to repeat it. Although it was a hell of a shock, I didn't spend the next week convincing myself it wasn't cancer, it was just a question of waiting to find out the extent.

I hope your surgery goes well, and that your lymph nodes are clear. Thank goodness you attended the screening, and they've caught it in good time. Take care xx

Hi 

I’m very new here. In fact I’ve only received a letter after my mammogram 2 weeks ago to attend another 3d mammogram and biopsy on Monday. So all week my stomachs has turned and so many sleepless nights. 
I know this could be a benign reading but breast cancer is very high in my immediate  family

the screening showed calcification I don’t know where or how bad as yet  anxiety has got me reading articles on cancer all day and night  such a frightening process of not knowing what level and if it’s contained   
Monday can’t come quick enough in one way and the next I don’t want to know  

really struggling  

Hi Army

I too get my results on Monday. Like you I had a biopsy for an area of calcification that showed up on my original mammogram. Unfortunately, a tiny lump also showed up on the enhanced mammogram they used when I was recalled for further investigation last week so that has been biopsied too.

I've kept my mind occupied, as much as possible, by doing things that I enjoy to stop it straying off into 'what if'. 

Definitely stay way from google because although it is full of useful information you won't find what you're looking for, ie. it to tell you that you definitely don't have cancer, but you will find lots of scare stories that will just make you feel worse.

Let me know how you get on and I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for both of us

Edit - I think I've misread your post and you haven't actually attended the second mammogram and biopsy yet. 

x

Thank you for your reply latchbrook. Your so right about Google. My mind can’t focus. I think if you know what your dealing with it helps 

I hope your results on Monday are as good news as can be will be thinking of you too x