Grade 1 breast cancer

[ohdoriswheresthesalad]

I have been diagnosed with grade 1 Non specific type breast cancer today with dcis in situ. Lymph nodes clear from ultrasound.

I am massively worried. has anyone had any experience of this?

• [Title and first post edited at OP's request - originally titled Stage 1 breast cancer]

Did anyone mention that the mri can help the surgeon see the outline more clearly for the surgery? Younger breasts are denser so they use an mri AND the mammogram to get the best image, purely so they can plan the exact cuts etc

That’s why I got an mri and my much older colleague with exactly the same diagnosis didn’t . They could see the outline much more clearly on her mammogram for the purposes of the surgery.

step away from chat gtp, its not helping

Yeah that’s been told to me, gold standard, double checking margins outlines etc.

Chat gtp can give wildly different results and inaccurate information . It’s better for composing letters and checking grammar, but even then can go off piste and you have to make sure it makes sense.

I’d take a beta blocker and call the helpline

Honestly- think how anxious you’d be if you HADNT had the mri, knowing that some people are given MRIs?!

I felt like that when a friend was diagnosed with bowel cancer at the same time; she got full body mris and thought I would be too! That panicked me till I realised how entirely different our diagnoses were

Don’t you dare panic about that, that panic belongs to ME!

Oh I’ve already asked why I haven’t had a full body mri!
a comment was made yesterday about waiting for mri results before I start going off on a “tangent” about being “ok” by my mum and her friend.
that’s where this has come from.

That’s great that you can pin point where it comes from.

try to catch the thoughts before they start having an early Xmas party in your head. Because they’re trashing the place!

that might be the time to take the beta blocker too - I’d perhaps discuss that with Gp next week?

And that’s an automatic sad face jar donation!

But it’s made me spiral all night and all this morning and I’ve convinced myself now that that’s going to be the plan Thursday and all going to be cancelled

Sorry you are spiralling but you sound like you need some medication. I'll straight talk now. You have an excellent prognosis. Nhs treatment is fantastic for breast cancer. Sometimes things do change, so you have to try your best to have a flexible mindset. Each step is based on evidence. Evidence they collect at each stage, as needed, and is patient specific. For example, I needed an mri due to size of tumor (very large) as I'd ignored it for years.
I now wait for results of a test that I had never even heard of. You have to put your trust in them

And take those pills... please do

@FcukBreastCancer
i get it. I do.
i appreciate the straight talking.
im sorry you’re having to wait for results too.

pills aren’t going to stop the catastrophic thoughts though are they :(

Beta blockers help to dampen down the nor adrenaline and adrenaline in your brain and body that are causing the rapid worst case scenario ideas.

counselling will help you to re train your brain to think in a different way so that you are better able to challenge those ideas for your self and put this into perspective . When you learn how to do that, you won’t get the release of adrenaline and panic.

It is entirely possible to think differently about all of this, and not feel so scared, but it does take some external guidance from experts who are trained in how to do this. It takes practise too.

we are just posters on a forum

But @Ikeameatballlunchyou’re all real people who have been through this. You’re all hear to tell these success stories. That’s what helps me

I’ve had two lumpectomies. Mastectomy was never mentioned either ( though I actually asked for one !!) I think they can tell if you will need it from the MRI which is very precise. I’ve never heard of anyone having a mastectomy without being told first.
My first BC was nearly 24 years ago ( at 35 yrs old) and the other 8,5 years ago. Honestly I promise they know what they are doing , trust them and just let them handle it would be my advice, Sending best wishes

If they haven’t given you a full body MRI it’s because they don’t feel you need one.I would take that to be reassuring.

@Nonamelassthe results from mri is Thursday.
which is why I’m worrying they’re sitting on information and I don’t know until Thursday, will walk into the room and boom another bombshell dropped.
it’s not about not being told as such, but I’ve prepared for lumpectomy etc, was told th date of surgery, I’ve prepared work for me to be off as that’s what my consultant told me the date was.
I’ve got visions of walking in Thursday and it all cancelled as I’ll need a mastectomy and I’m back to where I started and still waiting, more tests and now no work over Xmas as I’ve told them I’ll be off 4 weeks from 22nd which is what the consultant said!

mastectomy was mentioned but like “worst case scenario” but noone has mentioned it since and every conversation has been about upcoming lumpectomy.

Is it the pre-op assessment you have on Monday? They literally won’t tell you anything. It will just be with nurses. They do your obs and may take some bloods, swabs for MRSA. But they don’t know anything about the surgery (last one I had, she had to google it because she didn’t even understand what I was having done 🤣).

The reality is they may make a decision on the day to do whatever they need to provide the best care and outcomes. Their job is to do this right and make sure you come out the other end as well as can be.

I have stage 3c melanoma (so quite a different cancer and more aggressive), but they decided what to do with me once I was in theatre and they had a look at what they were dealing with. It meant a 5 hour surgery became a much bigger 9 hour one. But I’ve been NED (no evidence of disease) since (last October). They will take care of you, so step away from Chat GPT and try not to figure out what the different eventualities will be. It won’t improve how things turn out and it’s only going to drive you mad. Realistically, at the moment, you have the sort of prognosis that many of us wish we had. Be grateful for that and how early you’ve caught this. Focus on your next steps and getting better, not the worst case scenarios that aren’t going to happen.

I cannot recommend enough reaching out either through the breast clinic or MacMillan for some counselling. Assuming you are 40s or younger, there is a fab group called Shine Cancer Support that likely has a group that meets in your area. My local group has been a godsend of support.

@mindutopia
no I have mri results (and pre op I assume) Thursday 18th and then 22nd I’m booked for my lumpectomy, been told I’ll be a day case, procedure is around 60 mins and I’ll be home for bed time if all is well.
that was the conversation with the breast care consultant and surgeon (Same lady) last Thursday.

I appreciate your straight talking and I know this could be worse for me, but unfortunately my catastrophic thoughts are worse than my diagnosis which I’m trying to control but it’s proving very difficult.

And I really hope after the mri they won’t just go in blind and I’ll wake up and have no boob without telling me first? Good lord.
I appreciate they need to provide the best care and outcome but going into a procedure to have one thing that takes 60 mins and then having a mastectomy that is 4-5 hour op I think would be a little on the far side
of the worse situation I’m imagining.

I’ve terrified myself again by reading threads on here about people who have been diagnosed with low grade and still ended up with mastectomies and chemo. I’ve had to take some meds and going to take a sleeping tablet tonight.

I think is so so unlikely that they would be able to extend your theatre slot in order to carry out a mastectomy instead of a lumpectomy.

I hope you got some sleep

these stories are their success stories

they have got through and are doing well

the very thing you are scared of they are very grateful for

in the past they did just do mastectomies for all cancers. The lumpectomy is a more recent evidence based and successful invention.

I was a quivering mess ar my first diagnosis . I didn’t go anywhere near any online forums or information for months as I knew I would do the same as you, read the positive but only scare the wits out of myself with the least negative possibility.
I didn’t ask any questions of the drs either 🙃 Too scared of the answers It was my way of coping mentally.

I did get support from phone lines like Macmillan though .

Gently : worrying or not worrying won’t change anything but it will have an impact on your quality of life here and now .

As I said I’m still here nearly 24 years later 🙂 best wishes!

But they’ll cancel and reschedule 😭