Mum diagnosed with breast cancer today

[violetcuriosity]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone could help please. Mum has been officially diagnosed with breast cancer today and this is the information we have so far, she has a CT scan next week to double check for spread but she said she left the meeting feeling 'vaguely positive'. Her little book with info has a page titled 'surgery for early stage breast cancer' which I think she's clinging onto bless her.

Details-

The tumour is a mix of invasive ductal and mucusoid with an area of high grade DCIS.

• It's 35mm
• It's grade 3 so they want it out via lumpectomy asap
• It's ER+ 8/8 and PR+ 8/8
• HER2 0
• out of several lymph gland biopsies 1 came back showing involvement
• consultant is confident it's 'treatable'

Any insight into any of this info would be greatly appreciated, thank you xxxx

[Worldgonecrazy]

Sorry to hear your mum is going through this. All I can say is that the treatment these days is really good. I’m guessing she is also post menopausal and those tend to be less aggressive so fingers crossed for you. My mum lived with breast cancer for nearly 20 years. The treatment can be horrible, though my mum often joked the worst bit was not being able to enjoy unpasteurised cheese whilst on chemo.

There will be lots of support available so don’t be scared to reach out.

Best wishes to you and your mum for a good recovery.

[jannier]

I had BC about 10 years ago a grade 4 triple neg I'm still here with no more risk of an occurrence than anyone who has never had cancer. I had lumpectomy, chemo and rads. Hope this helps.....

Do not Google if you want to ask questions go through Breast Cancer now or McMillan or you will find a lot of extreme views outlandish treatments and negativity.

Wishing her well

[jannier]

As a note I'm a childminder I had a week off for my op, a week for chemotherapy number 1 then continued working just taking Friday afternoon resting the weekends and had 4 weeks of rads working am going to pm appointment and returning to work. Treatment isn't great but it's doable you don't have to be throwing up etc like in the films they give you meds for that.

[thesandwich]

Echo pp- treatment is v good for bc. Stick to breast cancer now or Macmillan for info.
Treatment is tough but so much support/ info out there. Check for local support groups. Had similar diagnosis aug 2021 and finished treatment june 22.
Doing very well. Breast cancer nurses are fantastic.
it’s a long haul and I wish her well.

[YourWinter]

Mine 15 years ago was pretty similar. I had a mastectomy and simultaneous DIEP reconstruction. I was in hospital for 10 days as my particular plastic surgeon wanted the wounds to stop draining before I was discharged. Some patients went home earlier, with drains in place and the drainage bag carried in a cotton shoulder bag.

I was offered 4 months aggressive chemo or 7 months less aggressive, I opted for the longer course with fewer side effects, then 3 weeks of daily radiotherapy. I had the cold cap before each chemo to reduce hair loss, the prospect of which particularly bothered my then teenage DS.

I was post-menopause so had Tamoxifen for two years then anastrazole for another three. Oestrogen-receptive (ER+) tumours are perhaps well suited to hormone therapy.

The tumour was attached to the nipple so later I had a nipple reconstructed using tissue grafted from my groin, and an areola tattooed around it. All done very well.

I definitely did not want a silicone implant and had my teenagers been older perhaps I wouldn’t have bothered with reconstruction at all. I was already single and had (still have) no inclination to ever again strip off outside of a hospital setting. Easy with hindsight though.

It’s all do-able. So many women are facing this and treatment options are increasing all the time.

I did not want to talk to anyone about it IRL but I found the anonymous support forums on the Breast Cancer Care website invaluable all the way through.

[WhenRobinsAreNear]

I'm going to start by echoing other PP thay the BC treatment these days has come on so so much and that yoh should 100 percent only stuck to the official sites when it comes to looking up the type of BC your mum has. And when you are looking up mucinoid make sure you're reading about BC not other areas as you will scare yourself silly.
The wort bit is the waiting game, waiting for the Ct then waiting for the results then waiting for the next steps. That's the hardest bit but once you have a clear plan you can jusy focus on being there for her.
I would expect surgery, radiotherapy and drugs for a minimum of 5 years. More than likely chemo unless she's been told its one thay doesn't respond well to it.
💐

[AnnaMagnani]

I don't think she is 'clinging on' to hope, she has rightly understood that she is more than likely going to be cured.

[Run4it2]

It sounds like her team are positive. Just take it a step at a time, and try not to overthink.

[violetcuriosity]

I just thought I'd come back and update in case anyone else finds themselves in the same position. We're now further on in the process, she's had CT scans of the whole body which have come back clear and she had a lumpectomy and lymph node clearance last Wednesday. She will go back in a few weeks to check they got all the diseased tissue and then will discuss next steps. She still hasn't been given a stage, I suppose this happens once they know how many lymph nodes are involved. I'll update again in the new year- so far the worst part for us all has been waiting for the CT scan results.

[FirstFallopians]

Wish you and your mum all the best OP.

My mother had tongue cancer with lymph node involvement five years ago- the weeks between finding out it was cancer and then getting an idea of progression and treatment was torturous. She’s past it now, after a rigorous treatment plan.

It was obviously horrendous for her, my sister and I found it very challenging to remain upbeat and positive when we had no idea what was happening. Despite being 30, married and mother myself was just in a spiral of thinking I still needed my mum- I don’t think that ever leaves you. Take care of her, but also remember to take care of yourself as well.

[Catinawhirl]

I found the MacMillan forums useful, as there were no support groups around me, so its felt a bit like a virtual support group. However bear in mind there's bias to more negative experiences, and I actually held off from posting my more positive experiences in case I seemed to be gloating. 10 years ago, radiotherapy and 2 lumpectomies, no chemo, all fine now.
Waiting for results was the worst thing. And I didnt get on with my breast nurse who was too much tough love, in retrospect I should have asked to change nurse.

[AnnaMagnani]

That is great news for your mum.

Although they haven't given a stage yet, until they have examined all the lymph nodes, you know it's definitely not stage 4 which is fabulous.

[catsnore]

Just to say my mum had a very similar start to her breast cancer journey. She's still with us seven years down the line. The first round of operations/treatment was the worst. It has recurred twice but been picked up immediately and dealt with via surgery. I am so impressed with the care she has received. The NHS absolutely know what they are doing with breast cancer. Best of luck to your mum.