Glad to be in a club no one wants to join!

SeasideLandlady yes it is a club you wouldn't choose to join.

I'm 60 and was diagnosed from a mammogram. Had a lumpectomy and sensory node biopsy at the end of December. On Tuesday I had another operation to remove any pre cancerous cells and removal of all the lymph nodes.

Will be getting the results of my next course of treatment on 5th February.

How I've coped is taking one step at a time. Concentrate on each operation not looking further than that. Please don't Google as that is sometimes out of date information plus you can scare yourself.

This is a good site for information.

Hope your operation goes well next week.

Wheels x

Hi

i was diagnosed in June with invasive mucinous carcinoma (ER+, HER2-) and had a lumpectomy with sentinel node biopsy in July ( and an extra op in August to improve margins). I then had 15 rounds of radiotherapy in October 

Like you, I’m 49 and pre-menopausal and I know exactly what you mean about it muddying the waters! I’ve ended up with additional hormone therapy rather than chemo because of being on that boundary 

i hope Tuesday goes well for you. Once they have the final results back, they’ll be able to give you a much more concrete plan- I found it is easier to cope with when you know exactly what you have to deal with

Wishing you the best

Mollusc 

Thank you, it’s the lack of a route map that’s getting to me at the moment!. I’m told 5 day intensive radio and tamoxifen are definite, rest will depend on post-op results.  Really hoping to dodge them coming back for a second slice as it’s so complex in Covid times.

Good luck on the 5th. X

I was originally told it would be the 5 days radiotherapy but that changed once I actually spoke to the radiotherapy department! My lump was grade 3 so was sent for Oncotype testing (I don’t know if they’ll have mentioned that to you yet) and my score of 21 was equally as borderline as my age! So they wanted to give me booster doses as well which wasn’t feasible just with 5 sessions.

Fingers crossed for you

SeasideLandlady Hi seasidelandlady, I was also diagnosed with invasive ductal cancer that was hormone positive and I'm a couple of years older than you. The waiting at each stage is the pits and it's the worst bit of the whole process.  I was told the same as you, that I would have 5 days radio therapy and some form of hormone blocking meds but wouldn't know about chemo till after my surgery.

I had my surgery 16/1/21 and got pathology results today and fortunately the 4 lymph nodes removed were clear and I had clear margins so no chemo or second surgery.  

I made it very clear to my surgeon that he should feel free to take extra breast tissue out to try and get clear margins and that I didn't mind being flat as a pancake after.  Not sure how much it influences them but I wanted him to know that I wanted him to err on the side of caution - it can't hurt to tell them this if it's what you want too.

Try not to worry too much, they will come up with the right treatment for you and remember that breast cancer is very treatable these days.

Sending a big virtual hug xx