Hi!  

My 65 yr old mother was just diagnosed with cancer.  We have no family history and she has always been so healthy. Since the day we found out she has breast cancer it has been the worst fear I have felt in my life. She is taking it so well and says she will be fine. Sometimes I think to myself how about if I loose my mother to this horrible disease? How about if she does not get to see her grandkids graduate from school?  So many things have gone trough my mind and have made me loose faith in God.  She already had surgery and of 15 lymph node one came back positive. I took her to her first oncologist appointment.  The oncologist gave me what she called a crude plan of her treatment, explained that it is STAGE 2A so she will be getting ( 4 treatments of chemo and 6 weeks of radiology)  and she ordered a BONE SCAN and PET SCAN.  I asked her why and she said it was routine because as she explained she does not have xray vision to see my mothers body through the outside, plus my mother is going through menopause and has arthritis. I hate having to just wait for the day of the appointment and wait for results.  My question is why does she have to have them done if the oncologist already said her cancer was stage 2A.  Why not start with her treatments?  Wouldn’t that give the cancer a chance to spread?  I am so nervous and so scared.  If its routine why didn’t she get them done before surgery?    


Please help me get some accurate and true answers.    
Thank you and God Bless

After being diagnosed I have to have 2 PET SCAN's and a very very long MRI.  My surgeon explained to me that they can get a better picture as to how much cancer is there and what areas "specifically" need to be treated.  I had the most amazing doctors and treatment teams.  Pardon my language but that oncologist sounds like a bitch and maybe has never had cancer.  Cancer, even the mere mention of the word cancer, is very terrifying and the team working for your mom should be compassionate and caring as if they were treating one of their own.  That compassion is what got me through it some days.  My heart goes out to you and your mom.  Your mom is very lucky to have you advocating for her.  I found that no question is stupid and if you don't get the answers or care you feel your mom should be receiving there's always other places.  My thoughts and prayers will be with you and your mom as you go through this battle.  I am a survivor so it does happen.  Have faith and hope it will carry your through.  Take care.

Hi Mara,
 
These scans are routine and always done if any nodes come back positive just to ensure there's been no spread of the cancer, the onc needs to know the full picture before fully deciding on a treatment regime.
I know its hard waiting but we all went through this and its very unlikely the cancer has spread and there's every chance your Mom will get through this and be fine.  I know you're scared but life has no guarantee's anyway whether we have cancer or not, there are lots of long term survivors here that had far more positive  nodes than your Mom had so try to be calm for her.
If you check the chemo forum it'll give you an idea of how others are getting through this and reaching the end of their treatments too so hope this reassure's you!

Tricia Keegan...From Ireland Dx July '05 IDC 3/9 nodes pos..triple positive..a/c x 4..Taxol/herceptin x 12
Herceptin 1yr ..rads x35 oophorectomy Aug '06
Currently taking Arimidex /Zometa 1 x yearly
Carepage- survivortricia

The scans are routine and I certainly hope nothing is found.
 
I know the waiting involved is very maddening. At first I had to wait to see my surgeon. Then Spring break intervened which involved more waiting. After my lumpectomy I developed a bad infection. It got bad because I did not pay enough attention to it at first. Therefore, it took weeks to clear up and that delayed the start of my chemo. I know we all tend to want to get things going quickly lest the beast spreads while we're "wasting time".
 
I have no words of wisdom other than  to say we all seem to go through this "dance". We're on pins and needles while the doctor's takes things in stride and on their schedule. Fortunately, the vast majority of us survive.

Lumpectomy 4/14/05 at age 69
Stage 1, 2cm, Node Negative
Grade 3, Triple Negative
AC/Taxol, Radiation,
BRCA2 positive (It's always something!)
No Family History

Mara, I really have nothing to add but I just wanted to say hello and ask if your Mom has a computer.  It would be nice for her to be able to come on this site and meet a lot of amazing women who are going through their treatment and many survivors.  I had a Pet scan and a lots of MRI's.  It is routine.  It is so much better to know if there is any other suspicious areas before you start your treatments.  Please keep us posted on how your Mom is doing.  I am sending my best wishes to your Mom & you also.  She is fortunate to have a wonderful daughter like you.  Mary

Diag. Oct 2003 with 6mm mass, IDC grade III ductal carcinoma in-situ, Inflammatory Breast Cancer stage IIIB, Her2+++.   I had A/C followed by Taxotere (only had 2tx as I had heart problems from it); Left Mastectomy followed by 35 rads.  Recurence in 9 months as skin mets to mast. site. tx Carboplatin/Herceptin,  stayed on Herceptin every other week for almost 4 years only stopping when my ejection fraction would get too low. off herceptin & ned 3 years in 2010

Thank you so much to everyone for your kind words, it means so much to me.  I am thankful that I have my husband that gives me the support I need through this very hard moment in ours lives , my sister and now I have all of you and it means a lot to me.  I have two kids and being around them and being busy with them takes my mind off it, but when I am alone and think about it its when it hurts the most.  I do not want to see my kids see me sad so I keep a good face and I am as normal as I can be.  My sister and I were there in the waiting room when she had surgery waiting for hours until the surgeon came out and said it was positive in one lymph node.  I know I have so much more to learn because I have never been through this.  I thought the surgeon was going to have all our answers at that point and she didn’t and that devastated me.  We had to wait for pathology reports and now after going to her oncologist I have to take her soon to her PET SCAN and BONE SCAN and I am very afraid of those results.  I am hoping everything is clear and she can just start her treatment.  I hate just mentioning the “C” word and it really sucks to be going through this because I just think its not fare.  We are very positive and just trying to take everything day by day.  It just sometimes feels like a nightmare.  Like a dark hole that I want to get out off and I can’t.  


Unfortunately Mary I my mom is very old fashioned and its not at all into all this technical stuff so she does not have a computer thats why I decided to sign up and read everyones stories and learn more about BC.  It is all so new to me and everything seems so scary.  I am just glad that my mother is so strong, she hasn’t complained about anything and is happy and laughing like always.  



I will let you all know about her results when I have them.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart.  God Bless You All and take care. We will keep in touch.  

Mara there can be a lot of old and ill informed info on the net so stick to reputable sites like here and /or www.breastcancer.org  if reseaching and I really hope your Moms results will be fine:)

Tricia Keegan...From Ireland Dx July '05 IDC 3/9 nodes pos..triple positive..a/c x 4..Taxol/herceptin x 12
Herceptin 1yr ..rads x35 oophorectomy Aug '06
Currently taking Arimidex /Zometa 1 x yearly
Carepage- survivortricia

Thank you Tricia for your kind and uplifting words and your thoughtfulness :)  

God Bless You

Hi Everyone:

Its been a couple of hard weeks of testing and waiting for results.  My mom PET SCAN and BONE SCAN both came back NEGATIVE and I had not received better news since she was diagnosed.  First chemo was 4/3/12.  Wow! I am never going to forget it.  So nerve racking not knowing what CHEMO really is because I have never seen anyone go through it.  My sister, my mom and I were nervous but of course never reveal our true feelings out loud.  It was very hard to see my mom go through it.  Such a long process but we made the most of it by telling jokes and telling our mom that we have to go shop for wigs so that she can have a whole new look. She has accepted that she will loose her hair and that makes me feel better.  Acceptance is something I have tried to gain and havent yet since she was diagnosed, and I cant because of course I think why her and its just not fair.  I will hopefully get to that point. 

Thank you all for your best wishes.  Will keep you posted.  :)

It is a difficult time when someone is diagnosed.  The family is usually there going thru the emotions.  It is a new experience and something that really cannot be anticipated as to how someone will react.  The only thing that you can do is be there to comfort.  If you are truly having a difficult time, see if there is somewhere local that has a support group for loved ones that are going through cancer.  Maybe that will help.  Your mom may want to seek one out to help her.  Survivors in the groups are more than willing to share their experiences.  Maybe they can give her some pointers on making it thru the chemo side effects.

Tina    
dx 2/1/11 DCIS
Lumpectomy 2/27 results DCIS/LCIS Stage 0 ER+ PR+
Bi-lateral Mastectomy 4/26 with expanders 
6/3 Surgery to remove contaminated expander due to infection.
7/22/11 Surgery to reinsert the expander. 
10/11/2011 Surgery to replace tissue expanders with implants.