Hi KittyCarmichael,

A very warm welcome to our forum. I am sorry to hear how worried you feel about. I have had 2 bouts of breast cancer and I never even noticed the tracer being inserted, until I was told that it had been after the procedure. |It is normal process for most of us to get these inserted, as it helps your surgeon to pinpoint the exact position of your tumour. The blue dye is very straightforward, so I'm sure that you'll be fine.

Make sure that your consultant knows that you are a fainter though, as this will give him/her the heads-up and they can be prepared, just in case. Do you have a date for surgery yet?

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

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Hi sorry to jump in on this. I to is newly diagnosed  and having a mat seed I think it is. . Is the same  thing. I am having surgery  in January.  I quite scared as I hate hospitals.  

Hi Jo,

Sorry what is on Thursday? Not sure what Gl is. How are you? Are you doing anything for new year? 

Take care,

Lisa x

Are you having your magsed fitted tomorrow. X 

Ah, glad is good luck lol. Thank you, it's on Thursday. It'll be fine as similar to the biopsy with a local anaesthetic xx

Xx

Sorry, predictive text before. Meant gl!

Hi Jo, I've sent you a friend request x

OK.  Will accept where do I do that x 

Thank you for sharing about relatively newly diagnosed stage one breast cancer- I am in the same spot. Awaiting final biopsy result but been told I at least need a lumpectomy with treatment afterwards- Jolamine thank you for your encouraging words- you’re really inspiring. I am just very fatigued emotionally with the worry of how to best tell my elderly parents this news.

Hi MellyN,

A very warm welcome to the forum. I am sorry that you already know, that you need at least a lumpectomy, before you get your biopsy results back. Breaking the news to family, especially, elderly parents, or children, is always a daunting task. How they take the news, depends a lot on how you break it to them. You will find that the more positive you can be about the outcome, the better they will deal with it. With a stage one breast cancer, your chances are good. 80% of breast cancers are cured these days and the earlier you catch it, the better you are likely to fare.

I have had both procedures and both were very straightforward, although strangely, I found the mastectomies easier to deal with post-operatively, than the lumpectomy. Unfortunately, I wasn't a suitable candidate for reconstruction, due to previous non-cancer related surgery, but I manage well with a selection of breast prostheses for different activities. You will find out after your surgery, what your treatment will be. All treatments can be pretty tiring, unfortunately, but they are all "perfectly doable".

Try not to worry about what you cannot change - almost impossible, I know! Place your faith in your care team, ask all the questions you need to. You'll find it helpful to write these down and take them to your consultations, as they change from one appointment to the next. If you can bring someone with you to your appointments, please do, especially for any results appointments.

You are going through one of the worst stages of a cancer journey just now. Waiting for results is always hard. There are so many unknowns and our over-active imaginations don't help, especially in the early hours of the morning. Irrespective of the outcome, you will feel better once you know exactly what you have to deal with.

I do hope that your results come through soon. Please keep in touch and let us know how you get on. We are always here for you.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Many thanks Jolamine! I am sorry you have had to undergo so much intervention. It’s special of you to use your experience to reassure others thank you. 
I was fortunate that a wise friend advised that  I told our 18year old daughter when I first found the lump and was referred,  on the basis that she had left for her first uni term and it would have created a drama if we needed to visit her with bad news across her term. I could tell her when she was in our home at the start of the holidays. I am so happy that she is grown up and better able to take this on board being the age she is. I don’t take this for granted and I really feel for you if your family is any younger or more vulnerable.

I am waiting to tell my elderly parents once I have the full diagnosis this week following biopsies in the hope that it isn’t a worst case scenario and that they believe that I will make a good recovery. They have lost most of their friends to breast cancer. We are fortunate to be a generation younger with better outcomes -where a diagnosis is early- but I fear they won’t really take that on board.

Anyway, this is a very good place to read and write about this stuff thanks  and I will take the advice to write notes with the consultant and have someone with me. My biggest query is around why a lumpectomy and not a mastectomy  when this didn’t used to be the case. A touch cynically I wonder whether this is a policy driven by the efficiencies  of offering a speedy result of minimal intervention, dealing with the immediate cancer source and dismissing future risk of recurrence. If there is a serious risk of recurrence I would rather undergo one surgical intervention even if it were the more radical. Do you feel sorry that you weren’t advised to have your mastectomy from the beginning - May I ask whether you were advised one way or the other? It must be an extremely hard decision and one I hope I don’t have to make for want of a consultant deciding based on data outcomes including repeat lumpectomies. I am sorry to bring this up with you and hope you don’t mind xx Leaning on your being both patient and gracious in asking you this. Xx

Many thanks Jolamine! I am sorry you have had to undergo so much intervention. It’s special of you to use your experience to reassure others thank you. 
I was fortunate that a wise friend advised that  I told our 18year old daughter when I first found the lump and was referred,  on the basis that she had left for her first uni term and it would have created a drama if we needed to visit her with bad news across her term. I could tell her when she was in our home at the start of the holidays. I am so happy that she is grown up and better able to take this on board being the age she is. I don’t take this for granted and I really feel for you if your family is any younger or more vulnerable.

I am waiting to tell my elderly parents once I have the full diagnosis this week following biopsies in the hope that it isn’t a worst case scenario and that they believe that I will make a good recovery. They have lost most of their friends to breast cancer. We are fortunate to be a generation younger with better outcomes -where a diagnosis is early- but I fear they won’t really take that on board.

Anyway, this is a very good place to read and write about this stuff thanks  and I will take the advice to write notes with the consultant and have someone with me. My biggest query is around why a lumpectomy and not a mastectomy  when this didn’t used to be the case. A touch cynically I wonder whether this is a policy driven by the efficiencies  of offering a speedy result of minimal intervention, dealing with the immediate cancer source and dismissing future risk of recurrence. If there is a serious risk of recurrence I would rather undergo one surgical intervention even if it were the more radical. Do you feel sorry that you weren’t advised to have your mastectomy from the beginning - May I ask whether you were advised one way or the other? It must be an extremely hard decision and one I hope I don’t have to make for want of a consultant deciding based on data outcomes including repeat lumpectomies. I am sorry to bring this up with you and hope you don’t mind xx Leaning on your being both patient and gracious in asking you this. Xx

Hi MellyN,

I am glad to hear that you managed to tell your daughter in the privacy of your own home, before she went off to uni. My son was that age when I told him. He was old enough to understand the implications and he was a great support. I'm sure that your daughter will be too. 

I lost my own mum to secondary breast cancer. She took all treatment offered. Mercifully, diagnosis, treatment and after care have all advanced since then and there was just no comparison between the care which we both received. That was 27 years ago. I was diagnosed 15 years ago and am fortunate to still be around since then. I agree that your parents will possibly cope better with your diagnosis, once you can tell them exactly what you are up against. I sincerely hope that your biopsy results this week, will not be as drastic as you're imagining.

The question you have about why lumpectomy and not mastectomy is a common one. Many people ask to have a mastectomy in preference, but they are usually told that this doesn't improve the outcome. I suspect that this is partially due to improvements in targeting lesions with radiotherapy and greater choices of chemotherapy. Many of us, who undergo surgery, feel as you do "I would rather undergo one surgical intervention even if it were the more radical". Instead, the protocols seem to be to check you annually for 5 years post-op and to discharge you if you are still clear after that. One disadvantage of having a mastectomy, is that you can't have a routine mammogram after that, to keep a check on things. I must confess that, despite this, I feel much more hopeful of prolonging my life, since I had the double mastectomy.

I did have a discussion with my surgeon before my first surgery. My cancer was Stage 1, Pure Mucinous Breast Cancer, with no lymph node involvement. I was advised that, my cancer was rare (only affects 1% of people), slow growing, unlikely to spread and, if I had to have cancer, this was the best type to get. I did ask for a mastectomy, but was told that this wouldn't affect the outcome. When I discovered a lump in my other breast 6 months after my lumpectomy, my surgeon refused to test it and just told me that it would be nothing to worry about. I was advised to have radiotherapy after my lumpectomy, but my surgeon and I had a bit of a Mexican stand off". He continued to recommend radiotherapy, whilst I refused to have it, until my other breast was examined. This standoff lasted for 11 months, until I was referred to the surgeon, who was in charge of all the surgeons in the area.

When I saw him, I was initially dressed down for "refusing radiotherapy". I pointed out that I was quite happy to have it, if my other breast was examined. This second surgeon then agreed to examine me. He immediately felt the tumour and stated that he was pretty sure that it was cancer. Fortunately, after biopsy, it turned out to be pre-cancerous and it had to be monitored. This surgeon then offered to take over my treatment. We discussed the benefits of radiotherapy at this stage and the new surgeon referred me to two eminent researchers in radiotherapy. One of these gentlemen thought that "I might as well try it", whereas the other was far more convincing and cited several research papers, which I read. He advised me that there was no point in having radiotherapy, as more than 11 months had passed by the time I saw them. A year after my initial surgery, I noticed a second lump in my original breast. This time, I wasn't so lucky and it was another primary cancer, of the same type.

We discussed the possible options for surgery. Again, I was still keen to have a double mastectomy and my surgeon agreed that this might be the best choice, given that I had a cancerous breast and a pre-cancerous breast at the same time. I won't deny that it was a daunting thought to lose both breasts, as I was not a suitable candidate for reconstruction, due to previous non-cancer related surgery. I now find that I manage well with a selection of prostheses for different activities.

There have been many reports on this forum of people being offered a mastectomy and being left to decide themselves, whether to opt for a lumpectomy or a mastectomy. This is a decision that is difficult to reach without having the necessary medical qualifications and is one which leaves many people in a quandry.

Don't worry about asking questions. This is the only way that we learn and I am happy to reply to any questions asked.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Dear Jolamine

Thank you so much for taking the time and understanding to kindly explain your history. I am so sorry for all the difficulties and disappointments you’ve undergone.

As you say though we are really fortunate to live in current times with much improved procedures and outcomes compared to the generation before us many of whom we loved and lost through cancer.

Also how lucky if we can see our kids mature into young adults! I don’t take this for granted. Love to all and especially the younger mums out there who find themselves needing treatment.  Xx