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Pleomorphic or not, you are still where you are. DCIS. That's the main point. The talk with the surgeon about options will put much of this in perspective. It will help a lot! Good luck!
LCIS, or more specifically PLCIS
I went in for a pre-op treatment the other day. Different place than my normal mammogram place where my biopsy had been done.
They saw 2 other areas of increased calcifications that they thought should get checked out and recommended two more biopsies. Now awaiting those results. Surgery is still scheduled for the end of the month.
In addition to the PLCIS found last month, at least one of the new biopsies show ILC (Invasive Lobular Carcinoma)
MRI still on for the end of the week, another consult with the surgeon after that.
In addition to the PLCIS found last month, at least one of the new biopsies show ILC (Invasive Lobular Carcinoma)
MRI still on for the end of the week, another consult with the surgeon after that.
OP, I so hate to hear this.
Keep us updated and know we’re out here wishing you the very best.
In addition to the PLCIS found last month, at least one of the new biopsies show ILC (Invasive Lobular Carcinoma)
MRI still on for the end of the week, another consult with the surgeon after that.
Ouch! So sorry to hear this!
File this under the "every cloud has a silver lining" category, but in an odd way the additional diagnosis might clarify some things. Instead of waiting and worrying that the LCIS might become cancerous someday you now know there is something that did...and you found that out earlier, not later. It could focus a lot of your thinking, not complicate it. I know, I know, that silver cloud is pretty tiny, but if you're like me you'd rather know, not wonder or guess.
My heart goes out to you OP. You've been handling a miserable situation so well. Here's hoping for more good info this week!
Last edited by Parnassia; 02-18-2020 at 02:39 PM..
Thank you so much. I don't feel like I'm handling this well, I've kind of had a meltdown in the last couple of hours.
These are now my words: I have cancer.
Unbelievable. I freakin have cancer!
Yes, thank God they found it before the surgery I was supposed to have next week. The first place that did the biopsy didn't even see these areas (both the new biopsy locations show cancer cells). The surgical place saw the areas from the original places films! It wasn't like they took new films and saw something different, it was the same set of films that alerted them. I am blown away.
The patient advocate at the first place reached out to me the other day to see how I was doing and I don't even know what to say. Hello, I now have cancer, no wait, I had cancer last month and you missed it!!
WHEW!!
This is supposed to be invasive, but slow moving and non-aggressive. (invasive and non-aggressive sound the opposite to me, but that's what they say)
They say it's very treatable, curable, low grade - but damn it's still cancer. And one that can come back.
Even if the MRI doesn't find anything additional I am probably looking at more than a lumpectomy. And I may be looking at chemo now too.
I never ask for prayers, but if you are so inclined, to please ask your higher powers that whatever the MRI finds be at the very least, contained and not spread out through my body. Because it seems the fun thing of this type is to sneak back somewhere else and I don't know how long I've had it for. I've been complaining of not feeling well for a long time, it would be a kick in the pants it was cancer causing that all along.
The patient advocate at the first place reached out to me the other day to see how I was doing and I don't even know what to say. Hello, I now have cancer, no wait, I had cancer last month and you missed it!!
You don't have to say anything but the truth. Unfortunately it happens sometimes. She'd probably respond by saying thank goodness for the review and that second set of eyes!!
This is supposed to be invasive, but slow moving and non-aggressive. (invasive and non-aggressive sound the opposite to me, but that's what they say)
Invasive means that it has the ability to spread to a structure other than the one where it started; the opposite of in situ. Slow moving means just that. There is time to watch and time to consider alternatives and then act. Many BCs are relatively slow moving. Now that they know it was there once, they'll be watching and not likely to miss another before it gets very far in future.
They say it's very treatable, curable, low grade - but damn it's still cancer. And one that can come back.
Different grades help describe how disorganized and "immature" the cells are which implies how fast they are reproducing. Curable implies how sensitive that particular tumor type might be to treatment. To being damaged enough (either by chemo or radiation) that they can't persist long enough to divide. A low grade malignant cell is well "differentiated"...its structure and behavior is more like a normal slower growing/reproducing cell. A higher grade poorly differentiated cell is the opposite.
A non-aggressive cancer is good news. Chemo and radiation damage both healthy and unhealthy cells. However, abnormal cells have less resistance to stress...a forced change in environment, even something as simple as pH or change in hormone level. They are more likely to be damaged to the point they can't reproduce. Healthy normal cells are more resilient. More of them will withstand the forced temporary change caused by treatment and go on to replace themselves with equally healthy descendants.
Even if the MRI doesn't find anything additional I am probably looking at more than a lumpectomy. And I may be looking at chemo now too.
Hard to say. When you decide how extensive surgery will be they'll probably want to sample some axial lymph nodes on that side to see whether any cancerous cells exist there. They disperse through the lymphatic system. If there are none, the cancer is probably still restricted to breast tissue. You may not end up having chemo, just radiation. Part of the recommendation will depend on the type of malignancy as well as surgical sampling. Radiation is "local" treatment...killing any remaining malignant cells in that breast that didn't happen to be found on a scan. Chemo is systemic. If they find malignant cells in axial lymph nodes it is an indication that there MIGHT be more drifting through your lymph system outside the breast. There might not be either. There's no way to know for sure, so chemo is a way to stack the odds against unhealthy malignant cells surviving to form another tumor.
Remember, surgery is "treatment" too. It is the primary treatment. You remove the known tumor and you take more than you think you need to be certain you got the edges. Chemo, radiation, and hormone suppression are adjunct to surgery. Add-on, designed to less the odds of recurrence.
I've been complaining of not feeling well for a long time, it would be a kick in the pants it was cancer causing that all along.
FWIW, you probably weren't feeling badly because of this. BCs can be present for years before anything, even a lump, is detected. Most don't even cause any local discomfort until they are very obvious.
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