Think of your breast as a clock that someone is looking at - this is how it is marked in the world of breast cancer. So my first biopsy a month ago showed, at 11:00, ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) - ('in situ' means 'in place') - there are cancer cells stuck in a milk duct and they haven't gone anywhere. Homebodies. (There is not yet a test that will tell if they will burst out and go traveling via the lymph glands to the rest of the body - or just stay home. That test is on the foreseeable horizon, though.) Treatment for that is the same as if you have traveling cancer cells - lumpectomy, radiation, and tamoxifen or something akin to it. (Chemotherapy has never been on the table for me. )
The surgeon at Fred Hutch saw another place on the mammogram at 1:00 that he thought needed to be looked at - hence the MRI and then another biopsy last Thursday. Yesterday morning the surgeon I have chosen - Dr. Tori McFall out of Valley Medical in Renton - called and told me I have invasive cancer cells at 1:00. Yuck.
Interesting combination. Still a lumpectomy, but that will now include a sentinel node biopsy to see if the cancer cells have traveled to the lymph glands. I hope they have not absorbed my love of travel and instead have opted to remain close to home! Treatment options will not be decided upon until after the surgery which should be on May 27, the day after I get home from my week in Hawaii. Dr. McFall said there was no reason not to go to Hawaii, even with the new diagnosis.
I see a reconstructive surgeon Thursday to ensure I get a new 3 inches to replace the old 3 inches! 11:00 to 1:00 is a wide spread!
The good news - I may have moved from Stage 0 to Stage 1, but I will be just fine. I have been off sugar and dairy and eating so much dark green raw food stuff I have lost 5 more pounds and the uniform from RTB I ordered is not going to fit. I am really working on alternative treatments. I will be ready for the Rock and Roll June 26, although the wound has to heal, so it may be July before I can swim. Thank you for all your love, support, and prayers - I hear them, I feel them, I know they are there. This can be scary only if I let it be so. You all are helping me stay on top of this. I need each of you!!! love, cathy
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