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2 months post delivery and now diagnosed with DCIS

AWW
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Hi, 

I am new here, was recently diagnosed with high DCIS with micro invasion component. I am still in shock and just looking for answers every where.

They said I will have to have mastectomy on the affected breast and need to stop breastfeeding my 2 months old baby with the unaffected breast, even though right from birth I never breastfed him with the affected breast, I have only always fed him with the unaffected breast. As I am struggling to take in my diagnosis it gets pretty emotional for me when I hear my baby crying wanting breast and refusing bottle.

I have asked if I could keep feeding him before surgery but the hospital says they want the breast to have run dry before surgery though date for surgery hasn't been booked yet because surgeon is off for the Easter break. 

Does anyone have experience with this(breastfeeding before surgery )

Also if it is high grade DCIS does that mean the lypth nodes could be affected (biopsy results for the armpit not out yet) and if so, does that mean I will need chemo? my head is just all over the place

Thanks. 

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    Hi, sorry you find yourself on here. It must be a struggle to have all this going on while being a new mum, my heart goes out to you...

    i think it all depends on what the tumour is ref chemo....for example my tumour was her2 pos.....which means I'm having chemo, but there are different kinds of tumour with different treatments, my nodes were also clear, but because I'm oestrogen pos..the risk is slightly higher ...hence chemo...

    try not to be getting worried about treatment until you have your results ( difficult I know) no amount of worrying will change anything. Don't look too far ahead, take each day as it comes.....

    this forum has been a god send to me and I hope you find comfort from it too....xxxx

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    Hi,

    A very warm welcome to our community, although I'm so sorry to hear of the symptoms you're having as a new mum. I breast fed both of my children and, wonder how I would have coped had I been forced to stop feeding either of them. It must be particularly difficult when your baby is not taking to the bottle, but I hope that he will adjust with time.

    I haven't had experience with stopping breast feeding, but I have had 2 bouts of breast cancer in the past 9 years. I am not a doctor, but as far as I know, there is always a chance with any cancer that the lymph nodes may be involved. Whether or not you need chemo will probably depend upon a number of factors - type of breast cancer, grade, whether HER2+ or HER2-, lymph node involvment,etc.  You will know more when you get the results of your armpit biopsy.

    I had a lumpectomy first time around and a double mastectomy a year later. Fortunately, my lymph nodes were unaffected and I only had Letrozole after surgery. I didn't need chemo. I hope that you are just as fortunate.

    Have you got a date to receive your results yet? I do hope that you get them soon. Please let us know the outcome. We are always here for you.

    Kind regards,

    Jolamine xx

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    Hi.

    I am so sorry you have to go through this especially 2 months after giving birth. I am still awaiting my diagnosis (suspected breast cancer - came back clear so waiting for tests for lymphoma).

    I can't answer your questions but thought I would give you some tips that worked for us in case you have to stop breastfeeding. I gave birth 5 months ago however due to health problems my milk started drying up. My baby girl wouldn't take any of the bottles we bought and it was so heart breaking . Some mums on my baby forum suggested using nipple shields to get her used to the taste of silicone. I havent tried that yet as we had some success with NUK First Choice bottle. We started by feeding her when she fell asleep on the breast (switch breast for bottle). It's still a struggle but she will take it now. If not I feed her with a cup.

    If you dont manage to find an answer here you can try speaking to your HV. Maybe she can give you contact details for a lactation consultant. There is always a chance they have come across this before. Or you can post on the Macmillan forum in the breast cancer section. Or maybe ring the nurses from breastcancer.uk support line. 

    I hope you will be allowed to bf your baby as long as you can before the surgery. I will be thinking of you and your little boy xx

     

  • Offline in reply to Jolamine

    Thank you Jolamine, the results are due in by April 11th, I try not to think ahead but it's really difficult not to. 

    I pray my lymph nodes are clear too but I am worried because they would not have done a biopsy if the scan was normal.

    I will update you all. 

    Thanks. 

  • Offline in reply to Anita83

    Thank you Anita83, I will try your method and see how he carries on.  If not I contact one of those you suggested. 

    Cheers xx

     

  • Offline in reply to Marlyn

    Thanks Marilyn for the explanation, my results are due by 11th so I will get to know. 

    I will also try not to think too far ahead but sometimes I just can't help it, especially thinking how long does the surgery last? and things like that... 

    I will update on here. Thanks once again  

  • Offline in reply to AWW

     

    Hi AWW,

    Try to takes things one day at a time. There are too many unknowns still to try and take it all in, and it is just too much to try and deal with all at once.

    I have my fingers crossed for your results on 11th April.

    Kind regards,

    Jolamine xx

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    I am sorry to hear this! But how did they diagnosed yr DCIS? They you have byopsy or MRI? It's not very easy to see DCIS and that's why it's so dangerious!

  • Offline in reply to I_Mi

    Hi, 

     

    I had a mammogram and then biopsy. 

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