QUESTIONS I NEED ANSWERS FOR PLEASE

[HazelLynn]

Hi,

1.  I had a mastectomy a month ago and have not as yet seen the Oncologist.  My doctor/surgeon said that I was only going to have Tamoxifen, but that I would see the Oncologist as a matter of course - a months seems a long time to wait, especially if he thinks I may need treatment - is this a normal amount of waiting time.

2.  Also, having had my lymph nodes removed - how long does it take before the horrible ripping pains stop?
I was told there was a multi focul element in my breast that was removed and on analysis I was told that was negative, it seems that there was FAT NECROSIS - what is this exactly?

3.  I started TAMOXIFEN a month ago too, and so far havent felt any significant changes - is that because its early days? if so, how long does it take before I have the Flashes and other side effects.?

4.   I was told that my biospy showed HIGH GRADE NUCLEAR with NECROSIS - I researched this and it all pointed to being a Grade 3 - but when I tried to confirm this my doctor said it was G2 - is that possible?

5.  Last question for now.  I started with 5mm of DCIS and 1mm became Invasive - were these always High Grade Cells or were they some other cell that mutated?  The 1mm was within the margin when I had my first surgery but then I had the mastectomy to be sure there was nothing else.  The ambiguity of DCIS confuses me as everysite says that its confined to the ducts and yet there it was breaking out - so is there another element that is invasive that is with the DCIS? or is it ususal that HIGH GRADE CELLS will automatically break out?

I am trying to get the complete picture so that when I sit down with my Oncologist I understand fully.

Thank you
Hazel

[japdip]

A months wait for the consult with the Oncologist is NOT unusual. Considerable healing must take place before any other treatment may be started (other than Tamoxifen of course). All the answers you seek will come from the Oncologist. They are usually very good at telling you all the details of any upcoming treatment.

[mamaboulet]

I can only help you with the fat necrosis, having had that. Supposedly, the main cause of fat necrosis is trauma to the breast. The location of the fat necrosis often suggests that seatbelts are one of the sources of the trauma. It also turns up in plastic surgery. Usually only about 50% of people remember a specific trauma to the area. Anyway, it tends to go through a couple of stages as it heals. The first stage may show some sort of smooth-edged lesion. The late stage is where it starts looking scary. My fat necrosis was BIRAD-5 scary. As in spiculated stellate form with those nasty irregular borders, AND with accompanying microcalcifications. Scary enough to send everybody into a tizzy. But benign. And I think it is more common than the literature suggests, as I've been seeing it crop up on these breast sites with some regularity. But nobody seems to be explaining it to anybody, or bringing it up as a possibility before a biopsy (it would have eased my mind during the waiting to know that there is a benign condition that looks exactly like a malignant lesion).
There are a couple of scientific articles on the web about it, as well as info at breast cancer sites.