I'm new here.

[Guest guest]

I am recently diagnosed (8/15 was when the doctor called me) with

breast cancer. We thought I had invasive cancer in the right breast

and only DCIS in the left, so my oncologist referred me to a breast

surgeon for lumpectomies. On August 26 I had lumpectomies to remove

cancer from both breasts, with sentinel node biopsy of the right.

When the radiologist was placing the wire for my wire localization,

she spotted an area in the left breast that concerned her, so she

marked it as well. It turned out that the new area was invasive

lobular carcinoma. They also found evidence of atypical hyperplasia

all through my left breast. The tumor removed from the right was 1.8

cm (we'd thought it was about 9 mm). My nodes on the right were

clear, but we didn't get clean margins on the right.

So now my surgeon has recommended a left mastectomy. She's also

suggested (although I do have the option of refusing this) of a right

mastectomy as well. I've decided to go ahead with bilateral

mastectomies with immediate reconstruction, given the fact that there

is so much going on there in my left breast (some of which we didn't

find until surgery) and we just don't know what might have been

missed on the right. My surgeon had originally ordered an MRI as

part of my staging, but my insurance refused to approve it without a

lot of paperwork being mailed to them for review. The MRI might have

seen what else is there. Rather than let them play roullette with my

health and wait and worry, I feel it's better to have both breasts

removed and decrease my risk of recurrence.

We don't know yet about whether I'll have chemo - that will depend on

the pathology from the left nodes. Also, my medical oncologist will

determine this, based on further pathology on that 1.8 cm tumor.

I have my second consult with the plastic surgeon tomorrow

afternoon. I've pretty much decided to choose tissue expanders and

implants, with nipple reconstruction.

I've been on a rollercoaster ride ever since my oncologist called me

8/15. Oh, and the reason I already had an oncologist is that I

conquered non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2003 and I'd gone to her for my

sixth-month check-up. I let them schedule a mammogram for me, since

I hadn't had one in awhile. And this is what they found. Thank God

I did that!

My name is Estelle; I'm 50 and married to my (most of the time) best

friend, Dave; we have no children, but we have five " furkids. " I'm

an educator, so I have thousands of " kids " that I've taught.

I look forward to getting to know everyone and getting some help and

encouragement for this journey on which I find myself an unwilling

participant.

Estelle