Invasive Ductal Carcinoma

FormerMember over 3 years ago

5 replies
473 subscribers
903 views

Hi,

I was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma on 17th May and I’m 40 years old.

I had MRI, CT scan and bone scan in the 2 weeks following my diagnosis and then I was at an appointment with my consultant on Tuesday and I now have a plan and know I have stage 1 IDC, ER+ PR+ and HER-

My tumor is big enough so I will be having a mastectomy on the 23/06/2022 and they’ll be removing 3 lymph nodes to check them. They don’t think it has spread to the lymph nodes (I actually went in with a small lump under my arm which was checked and was clear but the mammogram found BC in my left breast. I count myself lucky that it was found by chance!) so the consultant is hoping I’ll just need to mastectomy and then hormone treatment.

I’m aware thing can change in a heartbeat but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it stays this way.

My emotions are mixed regarding the mastectomy, I want this tumor gone from my body but I am feeling scared about losing my breast and dealing with the emotions that will go with that. They’ve told me they will reconstruct but not immediately in case I need other treatment so it maybe 6 months or a year or longer. Such a huge surgery and mixed feelings of happiness and also loss

Also, I’m trying to arrange work (I can work from home on a computer) but wondering what the recovery time is from a mastectomy before being able to work again? Least of my worries to be honest but head is going crazy with questions

Thanks

FormerMember over 3 years ago

Hi Pisces,

I had a double mastectomy on May 4th. I was frightened and upset at the thought of losing my breasts.
During the hours and days after their operation, pain was really controlled. I went home 3 days after operation and I could do easy everyday things.
I know you will not have reconstruction for a while but please understand that when you do it will be fine- you will look normal.
The important thing is that all has been got early and there is a plan in place. Take great care,

Bernadette.

Daisy53 over 3 years ago

Hi Pisces25

Welcome to the forum and sorry to hear that you have been diagnosed with breast cancer and need a mastectomy. It's perfectly understandable that your emotions are mixed, I know that when I was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer in September 2020 I was hoping that my chemo which I had first would shrink the tumour in my left breast enough so that I would only need a lumpectomy, but at the same time if a mastectomy was needed to get rid of the cancer I'd take that.

Wishing you the best of luck with your surgery when you have it.

Best wishes

Daisy53

Emma_56874 over 3 years ago

Hi,

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. I was diagnosed with exactly the same as you in April. I am now 4 weeks post op from a single mastectomy with reconstruction. The first week was tough, I struggled to get up from sitting as I couldn’t use my left arm to push myself up and I had to sleep on the sofa because I kept slipping down the bed and it was excruciating trying to get up in the morning. I was also super tired for the first two weeks and had to nap every afternoon.

In terms of working I felt like I could have started doing something from 3 weeks but my personal choice is to wait for my results to come back because I don’t want to get back into day to day tasks then find out I need more surgery or treatment.

Good luck with your surgery next week. Take it easy when you get home and get lots of rest. You will need it!

Take care,

Emma.

FormerMember over 3 years ago

Hi I am new to the group and have just had some breast surgery and two lymph nodes removed one was positive. Now I have to have chemo and lymphnode removal later after chemo. My question is able the cold cap and what other peoples experiences of this are Can anyone provide any help with this ?

FormerMember over 3 years ago in reply to Daisy53

Hi Emma I was sorry to hear of your diagnosis hope all goes well x

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