Breast lumps

Good, Reyn. Hope it's not serious.

Hi Bathy,

Great news that your lymph nodes came back negative for cancer.

Keep talking -- you've still got lots going on.

(( gentle hugs ))

Hi all,
I hope to hear GOOD news from Reyn about his wife. I know this is slow torture and I don't know why tests have to take so long. Sending really good thoughts to you and your wife, Reyn! I know she appreciates your loving support.

I have been reading a lot about ultrasounds vs. mammograms for detecting breast cancer. Seems MRI's are the best bet but money is a factor, so they aren't done unless a woman is high risk. This seems silly to put women at risk because of money. ALL women should be screened by the best possible method! I had ultrasounds rather than mammos, and I understand that they can detect cancers sooner than mammos but mine still wasn't seen until it was 2 cm. I had ultrasounds every year. Last year ductal ectasia- but no tumor- showed up on the same side as the breast cancer so if any of you women have that, follow it up closely! I waited another year rather than push for another check in 6 months. A biopsy is better than a mastectomy.

I am trying to stay busy and active. We hiked a few miles into the woods yesterday. Boy was I sore last night! But it was worth it to sit and watch boats go by on the sea and smell the fresh air.

I am totally confused about my results and get conflicting reports from not only the internet but from the B.C. Cancer Agency. I guess it's good to have negative nodes, BUT I have this thing called HER2 positive as part of my breast cancer diagnosis. From an article I read on MedScape, they said it doesn't matter whether you are lymph node negative or positive, if you have HER2 positive, your 10 year survival is about 70%. I don't know how they know this since the drug used to target HER2 positive cancer, Herceptin, has not been used on HER2 positive women for 10 years.

If any of you are good at looking things up online, which I am not, I'd be happy to see something valid about this HER2 positive, lymph node negative diagnosis. It seems hubby and I were premature in our glee at getting the results and being classed as Stage 1. So I'm back in the doldrums again wondering if we'll celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary in 20 years.

I see the oncologist Wednesday to discuss giving me poison (chemo) in a few weeks. If any of you are familiar with Jane Austen's books, this guy reminds me of Mr. Collins in Pride and Prejudice and I just don't like him. He's creepy. So I am hoping to get another opinion from a great female oncologist in Vancouver soon. Any Canucks in B.C. who have an oncologist they can recommend?

Dutchy, Izzy, ehBeth, Sozobe, JPB, thank you for the hugs and encouragement. Please keep talking to me! I hope I didn't leave any names out. That's one thing about the new a2k - you can't scroll down and read previous comments! And my memory ain't what it used to be.

I am hoping to be among the 50% that the drug Herceptin helps, and also hoping to NOT be among the Herceptin patients who develop heart problems from the drug. A scary time, indeed.

(((((HUGS)))) back from old Bathy to each and every one of you dear people. ehBeth, you will win the world record for the most knitting ever! I wish I had that talent!
All the best ~
Dianne
PS -2 weeks post op double mastectomy (owch) but healing fine.

I knew I couldn't remember all of your names. But I want to say a BIG thank you to osso, devriesj, littlek, and jespah for your kind words. You guys are all awesome folks!

Hi JPB,

Trying to stay positive in this whole messy business. JPB, I think you said you have some experience with chemo ports? I believe they are talking about putting one in my upper arm that will be there for quite some time. Do you know anything about how one lives with a needle stuck in the arm for months? I supposed swimming and bathing are out? Any information you could give me, good and bad, appreciated! Do they ever pull out accidentally? Then what?
Dianne
Bathy - funny, probably no bathys for me for awhile!

no -- not me. Osso, maybe?

I'll try to dig around some today and see what I can find on the correlation between HER2 positivity and Negative lymph nodes and progression.

One day at a time, Dianne.

I'm glad you're still talking.

Hi,
Still reading along and wishing you positive vibes. If you have any questions regarding ports ask away. I've never had one but I participate in the placing of the ports. Our department places both arm and chest ports.
If I weren't off to work soon I'd write more but I'll tell you now that the needle is only in place for one or two days at a time to reduce the risk of infection. So basically, when you go for a chemo treatment they will access the port and when done flush the port and remove the needle. So once the small incision is healed from the port placement and there is no access needle in place you'll be able to swim and bath.
Sorry if I didn't answer all your questions regarding the port but will check back in after work.

Have a great day.

I've been reading some of the published study data. I'll try to answer any questions on the data but it sounds like you're going down the right path.





and

Well, Dianne, I have experience but not precisely equivalent. I still think you might check Susan Love's Breast book (I have it somewhere, still packed in one of 23 boxes - but there is probably a new edition) or do some looking at online breast cancer sites like Sloan Kettering, or the equivalent. Perhaps the Mayo clinic website. Susan Love may have a website, although I think she is no longer a practicing surgeon.

I was probably her2 positive, I'm almost remember I was - it probably says so in my notes, but I'd have to find them, my surgeon gave me copies of the data - and likely estrogen receptor weak (the pathologist found no receptor, but the sample was small. My tumor was 0.5 cm. My sentinal node was neg, done on my second lumpectomy. I'm sure that was considered stage 1. I'd have to review the stages to comment, but you'd best talk with your doctors and do some research for better information than my comments.

I'll try and find my data and confirm I was her2 pos.

Hi Martybarker,

Thanks for the info on the ports. I had one patient tell me that they leave the IV in the upper arm. She said it was a hassle bathing, etc. I didn't realize they could be removed. Do they make an incision and just re-insert the needle or make a new incision each time? Ooowchhh.....

Dianne

Hey, JPB, thank you SO much for this info. You certainly found a lot of stuff! I will read it asap. I am sort of heading toward the direction of no chemo, and looking at alternative medicine. There doesn't seem to be much info around on the HER2 pos, node neg women, does there?

Hi ossobuco,
I have an old Susan Love Breast Book, and I am also asking her some questions via her website and blog.

Interesting that you may be her2 positive as well. I have some questions for you here:

Do you remember what your lymph node status was?
Did you get chemo?
Did you get Herceptin?
Any heart or low blood count issues?

How many years back were you diagnosed, Osso?

How are you feeling - you look good if that is you in the avatar!

My surgeon told me I was Stage 1. Staging goes by tumor size, grade...mine was 2 cm but I am node negative. Hope to hear from you soon. You guys are keeping me afloat and I thank you so very much.
Dianne

Anyone heard from Reyn about his wife? I am praying for good news!
Dianne

Checking in, as I read more than I post here, but I will ask him (Mr Reyn) when I tease him next.

Keep yer chin up,

Rock

Well, I checked Susan Love's site, here's her comments that I could find so far on her2 -
http://www.dslrf.org/breastcancer/content.asp?CATID=20&L2=3&L3=7&L4=0&PID=&sid=132&cid=582

about Susan Love -
http://www.thecancerblog.com/2006/12/16/dr-susan-love-blogs-latest-in-breast-cancer-research/

I'll check a few more sites that I can think of off hand.

Here's the mayo clinic diagrams on breast cancer stages, pages 1-7, and their survival rates.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stage-of-breast-cancer/BR00011&slide=1

Hi, thanks for asking.

Good news on my wife's situation. She was told by the ultrasound tech that it was a cyst (water-filled, I presume) and she didn't need to worry.

Apparently, for women in their 50s (my wife is 50) it is not unusual to get cysts in breast tissue? This what she was told.

She will continue to get her annual mammogram. I wouldn't be surprised that this could become a familar scenario for us, with the checking of "suspicious masses" every year.

Again, apparently, when women have a mammogram done, and they do have cysts in their breasts, they can change shape in the process of the tests and give false positives.

Either way, we are breathing easier again.

I hope all is well with you.

Good news, Reyn...

Bathy -
One more article, about chemo and Her2 positive, ER - (read as far as the dots lower on the page) --
http://www.medpagetoday.com/HematologyOncology/BreastCancer/tb/6924

Good to know these things, but really, you should be discussing all this with your surgeon.

Bathy, I missed your post back there.
I had a mammo with two little calcifications on a monday, sept 10, and the radiologist decided to do an immediate followup with ultrasound, which took another half hour or so, looked at the results, said, yes, this was concerning, and suggested a needle biopsy. I visited my gyno, a few blocks away, and he recommended where to get the biopsy.
Being pushy, as previously described, I had a stereotactic needle biopsy the next day, on 9/11/01. Got the results on a friday. I had a lumpectomy the next thursday. The surgeon didn't like how far away from the duct the admittedly small lump was and decided to go in again to clear out some more tissue and also check my nodes, so the next lumpectomy was with a general anaesthetic. The sentinal node was negative.
I didn't have anything but radiation, which is common with lumpectomies, and perhaps with the small size of my tumor, I don't remember.

I still have to dig around in my papers to find my records on all this. I remember something being positive and it might have been the her2. My surgeon met me on a sunday when her office was closed and we went over everything, with her giving me all the statistics, re all the results, for doing this, that, or the other thing, fostering my decision making. She's highly involved in breast cancer education, always goes to the San Antonio meetings, etc. I had the radiation in January and a bit of February, and that was that. Though as I said early on, I don't think we are ever quite the same after this stuff, re our sense of ourselves and our lives... though we all have differing situations.

So, just about seven years now.

Diane,

A port is a small metal/plastic hub attached to a catheter. The catheter is cut to the appropriate length to reach from the port(whether it is placed in the arm or chest) to the Superior Vena Cava or the large vein that dumps blood back towards the heart. Our patients are given IV sedation as well as a local anethetic at the insertion site. Since the port is implanted under the skin, the room is cleaned in a sterile fashion as is the operating rooms. Once the port is in place it can be used for chemo infusion and blood draws. The newer ports out now are compatible with the infusion pressure of CT injectors and can be used for any follow up CT scans.
Each time our patients go for treatment a special infusion needle is inserted into the skin, subsequently into the port. Then the needle is flushed and removed, no incision made to insert the needle. It just basically pokes through the skin into the port, the chemo drugs infuses through the needle, into the port and out the end of the attached catheter delivering the drug directly into the large vein above the heart.
There is a numbing cream that a lot of patients apply to the skin about 20 minutes prior to having the port accessed lessening the discomfort of the needle poke. Ask for Emla cream if you end up getting a port. The needle that accesses the port should not be left in for more than 2 days in order to reduce the risk of infection. While the port is accessed you cannot submerse it in water.
Hope all this helps.