Er8 Pr7 her2 negative 6cm tumour

Hi Marie31, Sorry to hear your news. I am also in the same situation as you but a few weeks further a head.

I was diagnosed with grade 2 IDC, ER7 PR7 and HER2 Neg in july, had a lumpectomy with a LICAP reconstruction with sentinal lymph node biopsy on 11th October. It sounds like a long time between the two but they found another lump whilst doing mri and i had to have numerous biopsys, mri's etc..to find out more about that one before they committed to surgery. That came back as LCIS so they were happy to continue with the planned surgery.

Currently 4wks post surgery, they removed the lump and got clear margins which was great news so no more surgery but was told it had gone into the lymph nodes, waiting for an oncology appointment to decide on next steps.

The waiting is by far the hardest bit about the situation as its all out of your control. I found it easier to deal with when i knew what the plan was. 

My advice to you would be to keep yourself busy, go for a walk and stay off google..Talk to friends and family about how your feeling, if you feel you cant do that then write down how your feeling. i found that easier than talking about it. Theres lots of helpful people on her dont be afraid to ask.

Hopefully you wont have to wait too long for your treatment plan. 

Hear if you want to chat. x

Thank you for replying it’s good to hear from someone who is abit further ahead than me. I also had to have mri which then showed lumps in the left and then had to wait for an ultrasound to see if that was also cancer but thankfully it wasn’t. How big was the lump the removed from you via lumpectomy if you don’t mind me asking? I’m fearing I will be getting a mastectomy due to the size of mine. My nodes were showing clear on scans but you don’t know when they remove any if they will show any signs of spread it seems a long time to wait between each test. I can see on hear that everyone seems to be in the same frame of mind with worry waiting for treatment to start. Just want to get started so it can be over faster hopefully and also the worry of it getting worse while we are waiting. I had small lung nodules show on my ct scan but they don’t seem overly worried about that and just said they will re scan in 3 months but can’t help worry can you. I hope you don’t have to wait too long for your appt! Will you keep me updated with how you get on xx

The lump was 4cm x 3cm in the outer side of my left boob. I was the same as you fearing the worst based on reading other peoples experiences, but you just need to remember everyones treatment is different and each nhs trust works differently.

Because mine was dragging on so long trying to get a conclusive result for the 2nd lump they gave me the option to have both lumps removed by Mastetomy before the results came back.

Id waited weeks for results so in my head what was another week of waiting. If im honest about it now i was prob still in denial about the whole situation and thinking the longer i can keep my boob the better. So i decided to wait for the results and im so glad i did.I was then given a different set of options for surgery.

Its a lot of information to take in so i asked for details about each one so i could go away and decide which was best for me in the long run as some of them were a No from me.  Being a single mum i was thinking about recovery times and long term impacts. Dont be afraid to ask questions or ask for more information to take away.

i phoned the next day with my decision. I felt i needed that bit of time to digest the info and have that bit of control over the situation. 

It is really hard with all the waiting but having all the facts gave me more options. So the wait was worth it in the end.

Surgery went well although my scar is bigger than i was expecting which was a bit of a shock but its down my side and in the crease of my boob so not as noticable as i was expecting. The more time that goes on the more pleased i am with it. Im looking for the positives It could have been worse.

Fingers crossed for you. Let me know how you get on, and once i get my next steps ill let you know.

Be kind to yourself. x

Hi, just noticing your specific question. I had a 55cm lump, removed with lumpectomy. I'm pretty large so there was no need to “even up” on the other side and whilst it looks smaller, once I have a bra on you there's no noticeable difference.   Best wishes 

Hi x I am recently diagnosed and pretty similar to you as well in terms of diagnosis apart from the fact that I am grade 3 and I have 1 lymph node involved with 2 more looking suspicious. My lump is at least 6cm so on the larger size compared to others on here. 
I have had breast MRI, CT scan and waiting for bone scan. The bone scan is needed because whilst they said the CT was clear they did see two small dots on my spine which they have classified as low suspicion but they need to check. Each test means more waiting and worrying, because of the lymph node involvement I just want to start treatment as soon as possible. 
Originally I was told surgery, chemo and radio but now they are saying chemo first, I am awaiting an oncology appointment. I think chemo first will hopefully shrink the size of the tumour, I have seen on here that some peoples tumours have shrunk significantly during chemo which can then affect your surgery options. 
I have been told it will be mastectomy as it currently stands. 
Sorry for the long message. I am 45 with two kids age 11 and 8 who I haven’t told yet because I want to wait until I know exactly what my treatment is going to be. That is the bit that is more painful for me, I can’t bear the thought of scaring and upsetting them. 
sending positive thoughts x

Hi, just wanted to say I had chemo before surgery and my lump shrunk to the extent there were no active cancer cells left, so I only needed a lumpectomy.

and this link might give you some ideas about talking to your kids. Best wishes 

Link - talking to young people about cancer

Hi Marie31

Sorry you have to be here but welcome. I just wanted to send love and support to you during this part of this journey which is, by far, the hardest. Like you I had a MRI which threw up other things and meant more tests, more waiting for results and surgery being postponed twice while decisions were made. It’s natural to worry about things getting worse while you are waiting, I did too, but please try and trust that your doctors would not do anything to put you at further risk. Although it was awful at the time, I am now thankfully able to reflect from a place of full recovery and am glad all this happened as I am confident my team were thorough and it meant I had the right surgery and best outcome for me as an individual. 

Someone else has already mentioned it, but writing about how you are feeling is so helpful to get out and work through the emotions you are likely feeling. Good luck with everything. x 

Morning, thank you for that info it’s good to hear of someone with the larger size tumour having it removed by lumpectomy. I’m secretly hoping I may get this option but not holding my breath. I hope the rest of the horrid journey is going well for you x

Thank you for replying it’s nice to hear someone that is in full recovery from this terrible journey. I will take your advice and write down how I’m feeling as I try not to talk about it tbh as I just end up in tears. Hopefully the wait is over soon and I can get cracking on my plan thanks again for taking time to reach out it means a lot to me x

Morning, thanks for replying. I know exactly how you are feeling. I had to wait a week for my mri results then had another 2 week wait for next test it’s mentally destroying all the waiting but I’m trying my hardest not to be in patient and tell my self that they are working out my best option. I’ve got a phone call appt on Wednesday with the breast surgeon I’ve had this appt for about 3 weeks and my BCN told me it was for the genetic testing which I’m waiting for? I can’t see it being about that now and surely the breast surgeon wouldn’t be ringing me to discuss that. I’ve got 3 kids age 17, 16, and 11 and I kept it from them for a week while I was awaiting the results of my ct scan to see if it had spread anywhere. They were real Upset at first but have been amazing since my youngest even went to school the next morning as wanted to carry on as normal. We try to make a joke of it and that sounds terrible but I think it’s my way out f dealing with it. 
I also had a small something on one of my bones (she didn’t say which bone) and something small on one overie but she said they was nothing to worry about as these scans show every little tiny thing that most people are living with and it doesn’t effect there life. At the time I didn’t even question it but I will ask at my appointment what bone she was on about. 

telling the kids will be hard and I think you have done a good thing in waiting for your plan to tell them that takes some strength. 

Please update me on your results and treatment options as I think we are in a similar boat. 

sending you hugs from 1 worried sole to another xx