hello

Hello there
Welcome to the site and sorry you had to join us. Don't panic about the CT and Bone Scans - they are totally normal done to see if the cancer is anywhere else before they decide on the treatment plan. With all the information to hand they will decide on chemo, surgery, RT, hormone treatment as required. Sometimes chemo is done first, sometimes it is surgery. Pretty much all patients get the whole range of treatments but some do not depending on what kind of cancer, the size and grade of the tumor and where it is. Please don't worry - it is an awful time waiting on the tests then the results. Once treatment gets under way you will feel a bit more at ease. Nothing can prepare you for having cancer but rest assured you are not alone. The ladies on this site understand what you are going through and are so helpful in dealing with this new journey.

Best of luck

D

Welcome,

sorry to welcome you but you are in the right place here, the girls are great & you will always meet someone who has the same cancer with the same markers as you. Dane7 is right, all these tests are normal, they do all the scans & bloods & biopsy's before deciding your treatment plan. Some have chemo first some have surgery first, some don't have RT etc., etc., so don't sweat it yet. Cancer ain't easy but you must believe that you will beat this. Don't be afraid to post any questions here, there's bound to be someone who'll know the answer.

Take care.

You are ver welcome and as the girls say it's a good place and everyone here has been brilliant to me. I had invasive ductal ceranoma and had chemo first then lumpectomy and am starting rads on 19th march. I'm off to lanzarote sat week before I start rads so I'm in a good place but you'll be fine the doctors are fantastic

Hi - another newbie unfortunately. Also had my initial tests done on 6th February, diagnosis on 13th and .............fast forward to mastectomy last Saturday, its been a whirl wind and havent had time to think, but board has been fantastic whern i have had a chance to log on for really helpful info and insights. So really feel that I am not alone, and just wanted to say hello and thanks. Will get pathology results next week and know what the plan is thereafter, but think i have jumped the highest hurdle already xx

Welcome to our club Minefield and Leitrim Lady.
As the others have said - it's awful at first when you are faced with the diagnosis but once you start on your treatment journey, it really does get much easier....
I had invaisve lobular as well as invasive ductal tumours and had my mastectomy last October - and am now 2/3s the way through chemo.
CT scans, MRIs and bone scans are all normal to assist the docs in designing your treatment plan but the key thing to know is that with early detection, a positive outcome is very likely.
My advice is to take each step one at a time. The duration and the type of recovery jouney can be different for everyone but whilst I still have more chemo, radiotherapy and reconstructive surgery ahead, I still can see the light at the end of the tunnel growing stronger every week.....
Actually I feel having cancer has opened up a whole other world to me - for the first time in 20+ years I wont be working during the summer - yahoo - and am really enjoying the time catching up with friends, family as well as myself!
Best of luck in coming weeks
Liz x

I'm having a little titter here at amaryllis calling you minefield (mine craft) maybe it's a more apt name?? Lol. Oh I agree with all my girls early detection is the main thing and I now know that three are so many different types of breast cancer as this time last year I thought breast cancer is breast cancer. This is a wonderful forum. Like amaryllis this will be the first time in 33 years that I will be off for the summer happy days and if course we are going to get a scorcher this year because amaryllis and myself are off. I'm enjoying life now that chemo has finished and like all the women will tell you , you look at life differently and you come out of it all a completely different person, but I think a much better person and friends and family are so brilliant you feel really loved and cared for. It's a great feeling.

thank you all so much for the welcome and replays ,its all so scary,the MRI showed up one node has cancer ,it also showed up the tumor is not 2cm its 7cm,have the bone test Monday and was told to let the kids sleep elce where ,did you all do this ,cat scan Thursday and a meeting with the oncologist to see what's next,options are chemo before surgery to try and shrink the tumor,or a mastectomy then chemo ,anyway this decision is not entirely mine ,they surgeon seemed to be steering me towards the chemo first choice ,I would hate to pic chemo first only for it not to work and the cancer spreads ,solo worried,my mam died last may of gallbladder cancer ,it spread to her liver. bone ,kidneys so quickly ,I will Google tonight ,trying to take it all in.thanks

Welcome , sorry you had to find us.

Ultrasound and MRI do the best to size tumours but it is not an exact science so please don't be concerned that it could be way bigger, they really only know when they take it out.

Different medics opt to do surgery or chemo first, much depends on size and where it is located. Please note that they don't make their decisions on there own, you case will typically be reviewed by a multi disciplined team who collectively will make the right choice for you.

If they think it has got as far as the nodes then bone and CT scan are part of the info gathering exercise. For the bone scan they used a radioactive substance which is not good for small kiddies. I have had this scan three times but have never farmed out kids, just kept clear of them for 24 hours.

Hopefully you will get dates for these scans soon enough. When all the scans and tests are done then the medics can put a plan in place. This time is the worst by the way, the not knowing is a killer.

Please stay away from DR Google, honestly his bedside manner is crap and he will give you nightmares. Post here if you have questions and will will try to answer honestly and openly.

Lindylu

Hi Minecraft

Sorry you have joined us,but we are not a bad bunch and all of us are at different stages,so well equiped to answer any questions.
I started out with a 1.5cm tumor untill mri showed up 2nd one that was 2cms and dcis in between the two.I had chemo first folowed by mastectomy and imediate recon.Chemo first completely obliterated the cancer and after surgery there was only 5mms of dcis left.I didnt farm the kids out either just kept my distance for 24hrs.
Once you get started on treatment plan things will settle for you.
Definately stay away from google you will drive yourself nuts ask away here any questions you have one of us will be able to answer.

sending hugs
xx

[color=#8000BF:3jsp9xvy]Remember so well going back to hear what the surgeon had decided to do in my case. I listened as he told me what was going to happen. Its only last week I realised its not as simple as I thought. I went to a talk in our local cancer support centre and during the talk the nurse explained that it takes many people literally sitting around a table to make a decision on treatment plans. She said up to 40 plus people are involved in the decision....it may be the surgeon giving you the treatment plan but he has got that information after lengthy discussions. It really reassured me and I wish I'd known all this as I sat down with my surgeon on day 1 of being diagnosed. Hope it helps people new to the whole process and wondering whats best for them. [/color:3jsp9xvy]

Hi minecraft, I wouldn't worry so much about it spreading, if you start chemo first, the drugs will stop the cancer cells dividing and spreading, and if you go for surgery first, then the cancer mass will be removed. The way I thought about mine was that whatever they decided to do is going to halt the cancer in its tracks. It's caught now, you can only get better from here, you are young and strong and you will beat this and come out the other side!!

Hi I remember the time of getting all the results back as being very difficult. All these new words to learn and the feeling of being completely out of control. They said it would get better, I didnt believe them but it does. I was diagnosed last oct with invasive lobular. The difficulty with this cancer is that it is not just a lump its kind of like a spider web sometimes with a centre. Anyway the scan and mamo said it was 3.2cm. The MRI and Blue die thing said it was over 7cm with one node. I had a mastectomy and when the final biopsy came back the tumour was 4.4cm, the nodes were negative and there was a scattering of non - invasive precancer in the breast. Hang in there, this is the worst time,,,,, it does get better.

thanks for all the reassurance and for sharing your stories ,I am starting chemo on Tuesday ,very anxious about it all ,am under Dr.Kennedy and getting it in the Hermitage ,about time I used that vhi,went to buy new hair don't know what I expected but came out with none and felt deflated.think its all only sinking in now,might get my hair cut short if I feel up to it this week ,then in will have to get a short style hair wig ,went to roaches in kimmage for the wig ,felt it was slipping on my head. but I still have all my hair and there is lots so should I wait till my hair is gone and go back .in the grand scheme of everything that's going to happen and I am very worried about hair lol, thanks for listening.

[b:2omcdly9]EDIT by Webmaster[/b:2omcdly9]: this post has been edited to remove an unproven claim about cancer causes and treatments.