Hi ClaireBee - I'm sorry you've had to join us on here. In case it helps, here is my story... I was diagnosed in August and then had two months (10 weeks) of scans and tests and consultations and waiting before surgery. I worried so much in the first three weeks that it had spread/ was spreading that I ended up with stress-induced backache (which of course I decided was the cancer spreading) bad enough to need prescription pain relief... of course it wasn't the cancer - it was all the anxiety. In hindsight I can see why all those tests were essential. The medical teams really are busy behind the scenes getting you to the point of treatment as fast as possible.... in the end I kept telling myself that they absolutely wanted me to beat this... quite apart from the altruistic/ compassionate motivation, logically, we only get more difficult, complicated and expensive as patients if it spreads, so even if they weren't the compassionate and caring souls that they are, the consultants and surgeons and nurses are still going to be doing everything they can to stop that spread from happening.

Thank you. Yes, I can absolutely see your logic.

I'm so appreciative of all the support on this forum. It really is making me feel better.

Thank you so much.

C.

Hi Agapanthus,

Welcome to our forum. I am so sorry to hear that you find yourself in this unenviable situation too. It is only natural to feel as you do. I am glad to see that you don't have long to wait before you have your MRI and lymph node biopsy. Unfortunately, you will then have another wait before you get your results. Make sure to as when you are likely to get your results before you leave the hospital. It's always a little easier if  you know when to expect them.

Do you know what type of breast cancer you have? Things will move pretty quickly once your MRI results come back, so there is little likelihood of spread in that time.

Please keep in touch and let us know how you get on. We are always here for you.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Hi Jolamine,

I have invasive ductal carcinoma. It's 8mm although I have dense breast tissue so the MRI will check I only have the one as lots of cysts too. I've gone from knowing nothing about breast cancer to this in 5 days!! 
I'm finding posting and reading posts on here really is helping as I don't feel so alone and out of my depth. I be back to let you know my next steps when we have the full picture of what I have been dealt.

have a lovely weekend 
 

claire xx

Hi Agapanthus,

I am sorry to her about your diagnosis. It's amazing just how much wecan learn in a short time. Just be careful to stick to the well-respected sites, as there is a lot of inaccurate, out of date, poorlysearched information out there, which is aimed at the more spectacular cases. Some of these will scare the pants off of you and serve no useful purpose.

I'm glad to hear that you are getting some help from participating in the forum. Unfounately, you are certainly not alone in your journey and, we are always here for you.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Hi ClaireBee

I was diagnosed with high grade DCIS in 2918. I took comfort from knowing that DCIS is contained within the Ducts and therefore cannot spread. Your MRI will be to ensure there is no evasive cancer behind the DCIS but if there was it would be tiny and the treatment for DCIS and small invasive cancer is the same.

My high grade DCIS was in both breasts, 6.5cm in one and 7.3 cm in the other. I had wide area incisions with healthy margins and radiotherapy plus hormone therapy.

Try not to worry, four years on I'm going fine and so will you.

Thank you jolamine xxx

Hi again Claire

There have been some great replies and support here already ,but I just thought I'd try and explain a little more about DCIS and your queries about once having cancer you always have it.

DCIS(ductal carcinoma in situ) is a different type of breast cancer to other breast cancers which most people are aware of, like an invasive breast cancer. The 'in situ' part of DCIS means that it has not broken through the duct wall, remains only within the duct and has only just started to form cancer cells in the area. Although there is always  a possibility after surgery that they may find some invasive cells, from your biopsy at the moment, it is staying only within the duct wall.

Intermediate means how quickly the cells are dividing - there are 3 grades -  low grade, intermediate and high grade, with many breast cancers being high grade. This means then that in your case , from the biopsy result , you don't have a high grade invasive cancer. There is more about DCIS here 

 Although cancers have the ability to come back after treatment, many do not, and the further time away after treatment, the less chance it has of returning. DCIS  does not have any invasive cells, is far less likely to come back , and your biopsy also has shown it isn't a high grade. Do give us a call if you need to on the number in a previous post-

all the best

Wanda

Hi Wanda

Thank you.

I don't know if this is different but I can see I have " grade 2 invasive ductal carcinoma with intermediate grade  DCIS at least 2cm. ER 8/8, HER2 awaited."

I don't know if I said that before. I think I may have missed it as I'm all over the place. I guess that that's worse than just the DCIS...

C.

Hi again

Grade 2 still means it's intermediate and invasive ductal means that it's what most people would say they have when it's breast cancer. It's not unusual to have both invasive and DCIS and this doesn't make it worse having both.ER 8/8 means that it's fully hormone sensitive ,meaning that hormone tablets are prescribed for the next 5 years or in some cases, 10 yrs. This can be seen as reassuring, as it means that a treatment can continue to be working for you after your surgery.

It will take a while to get your head round things so try and not fret about the details if you can and just now look ahead to the surgery . Do remember that many many  people with breast cancer do very well.

Hold your nerve, keep busy if you can and focus on making a good post op recovery.

All the very best

Wanda