Hoping this goes well for Kendall, Peg. Prayers are with her, and you also.
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Well, at least it's a good start! Glad you've got someone on your side now. Two and a half hours, wow!
Hi there, I just saw your post. It sounds like you are dealing with Inflammatory Breast Cancer? I was diagnosed with that on Dec 20. I've had 4 rounds of AC and have 12 rounds of TC. I have 4 more rounds of the TC left. Then a 4 week break, Double Mastectomy, then radiation. IBC is so rare, only 2-5% of all breast cancers are IBC. I am also Triple Negative which means none of the hormone receptor drugs will work for me. I just wanted to reach out and say hello. Most of the breast cancer survivors I meet with this type of cancer have this protocol. Most of the tumor type breast cancers get TC only and for a much shorter time... So far I've been very blessed with little to no side effects except neuropathy in feet and hands. I wish you well... I'm going to Disneyland next month during my 4-week break. I'm surprised they didn't insert a port for your chemo. It was mandatory for me. They told me the AC would destroy my veins and literally eat them up alive.
guys. My BC was grade 3, triple negative, too, with two nodes positive - which developed 11 months after a totally negative mammogram, so it was very aggressive, also. Had surgery, AC/T and radiation, as well.
Just as a positive, cause I liked to hear the good stories when I was in the thick of it, I never had a recurrence, knock on wood, in 15 yrs. Hopefully that helps to hear! The reading is terrible that's out there.
I had similar choices and I went with the lumpectomy. My (Harvard Medical School professor) surgeon explained to me, and I researched, that the type of surgery I chose wouldn't determine whether I'd live or die from this disease.
There were other reasons, too - I was working and had to figure in all the time off I was taking, I had two young children, risks of more involved surgery, etc. But it's been a good choice for me. My original cancer, they say, is gone and likely won't recur now (after 15 yrs); my risks of getting another cancer are the same as anyone else's. Should that occur then I'll have more choices to make.
I had similar choices and I went with the lumpectomy. My (Harvard Medical School professor) surgeon explained to me, and I researched, that the type of surgery I chose wouldn't determine whether I'd live or die from this disease.
I was reading an article recently about the "Angelina Jolie effect" which basically stated that they are probably doing more double mastectomies now than are needed as people think it's going to be "better". But one really needs to do a lot of research for themselves to figure out exactly what the actual statistics say, and then decide what works best for them. Last I read, which was about several months ago, lumpectomy had similar survival rates to mastectomy for certain/many cancers and situations. If it's given as an option, than it's a good one to think about.
ETA people should also understand that recurrences can happen even with mastectomy because breast tissue extends down to under the arm and above the clavicle in some cases, so it's impossible to remove all of it. One of our posters here, Feralpeg, had cancer in her surgical mastectomy scar.
I am replying to this post above, but I'm also saying this for the people reading here. Knowledge is power, and it's good to have all the facts.
Yes, being gene positive would definitely influence that decision.
It makes most sense to have it done then and there because you are already sedated and prepped and all the players are in place - including the surgeon and the pathologist. What happens is that the surgeon removes the sentinel node and hands if off to the pathologist. The pathologist checks it for signs of cancer while the sugeon continues on doing surgery. If the pathologist finds no signs of cancer in the node, that's done. If there is cancer, the surgeon goes back in and takes out more that are nearby, then they are sent to pathology lab where they are all studied using a longer process that could take more than a few days. My sentinel node was positive, so my sugeon removed eight, total. I found out at my two week post-surgical check that two were positive - until then I only knew that the sentinel node was positive. So waiting will cause a much more drawn out process because it will require an additional procedure and more waiting. Hope that helps.actually the thing i'm really confused about right now is axillary node dissection...
i don't know what to do...
i don't know the pros and cons...
backing up...
this is referring to the cancer side - not the healthy side..
they will do a sentinel node biopsy on the cancer side....
but they'll do the pathology while i'm still in surgery (while i'm still asleep)..
i don't remember what he said - but based on a given finding in the pathology, they will do a first and second level axillary node dissection right at the same time as the mastectomy given the outcome of the sentinel node biopsy...
so the question i have - and it only came to me after we left the surgeons office:
can i wait to have the axillary node dissection at a later date?
that is, do it in two steps rather than one step?
and what is the theory behind each method? having it at the same time as the mastectomy or later...
i have to try to find out before the surgery !!
