I’ll just add a W00T! to this thread then. And yeah, that counts. The big C has to lose a few, and even the early losses go on the tally, to teach it to mind its manners.
That’s such great news!
My grandmother is just past her 15-year ‘I beat breast cancer’ anniversary. She had a total mastectomy and chemo, and even with the drugs they had then, it hardly slowed her down. Don’t you dare tell her she’s not a cancer survivor, though, because she’ll knock some sense into you real fast. That’s a hell of a club to belong to.
Onco #1 is saying lumpectomy and 5 days of radiation.
Onco #2 is saying mastectomy and IV chemo.
I’m scheduled for a whole bunch of body scans. I’m really confused, highly pissed off, and I have a headache.
Crap.
Ouch. I wish I could say I was more surprised. My mother’s experience with cancer, although ovarian rather than breast, was definitely of the roller coaster type. She’s find now, but she got very pissed off over some mixed messages she was sent early on.
From our Book of Common Prayer:
O God, the strength of the weak and the comfort of sufferers: Mercifully accept our prayer, and grant to you servant ivylass the help of your power, that her sickness may be turned into health, and our concern into joy; through Jesus Christ out Lord.
I was coming in to add my “Woot, great news!” comment and then I read your last post Ivylass.
I can understand your frustration and confusion.
I hope they decide on the less radical of the procedures. I’ll keep you in my thoughts.
I am so glad to hear this. Keeping good thoughts in mind for you, ivylass!
How can two different doctors come to such totally different treatment conclusions? Surely they’re looking at the same information? 
Heh. Welcome to cancer treatment. When my MIL had cancer (in her nasal passages :eek: ), her oncologist and her radiologist nearly came to blows more than once.
Hang in there, get a third opinion if you want. Is City of Hope an option for you? I’ve trusted them with my loved one’s lives and they’ve come through.
Sorry, honey.
Coming from another area of medicine:
Because medicine is not black and white. Different experiences, different studies and research papers read, different training, different comfort levels, and simply different opinions on what is right (based on the evidenced studied) can give different treatment possibilities.
I hope perhaps they manage to communicate and reach a compromise, and I hope that whatever happens will be the best treatment possible to you. 
Oh, I too was here to add congratulations, as a cancer survivor. I’m sorry to hear that it’s now a split decision. But thanks for keeping us abreast of the situation.
So to speak.
Best wishes for you.
I just wanted to say that I’ve been keeping an eye on your threads, ivylass, and I’m so relieved that everything is looking good. Continued luck with the situation.
ivylass, I’m now almost 14 years past my breast cancer, which was a 4 centimeter “egg” in my right breast. There was no lymph node involvement, and it was hormone-responsive. I had four very mild sessions of IV chemo because it had been a very fast grower, radiation five days a week for five weeks, and took tamoxifen for six years. Three years ago, my stepmom had breast cancer with one of the four lymph nodes they tested having some cancerous cells. She had far more severe chemo than I did, and radiation. In both cases, of course, there was a lumpectomy where the cancer cells and some tissue around it were removed, and lymph nodes for testing - in my case thirty-one of the suckers, making that part of the surgery considerably more difficult than the lump removal was.
I can’t imagine a doc recommending a mastectomy for pre-cancerous cells unless there was evidence of spreading throughout the breast. I think he’s being cavalier with the idea of removing a breast because functionally it won’t hurt you, and hey, he gets along just fine without a boob!
A mastectomy wouldn’t kill you, but it’s way more serious surgery and seems so unnecessary. Get a third opinion! You should be able to take the test results directly to the doc and get an opinion on the spot, I’d think.
In any case, best of luck. I’ve always felt almost guilty with the idea of “surviving cancer,” because actually, the tamoxifen and the chemo put me into premature menopause, and I would have taken the deal if I’d been offered it. What I went through for treatment was far easier than all those years of periods would have been! So I know how you were feeling.
I’m hoping my surgeon can tie all this together. The chemo doctor was showing me on the MRI report where the radiologist found other areas of concern, and that my lymph nodes were “prominent” in my armpit.
My sister is a nurse and she suggested I Google the doctors and see what I can find. I’m hoping chemo doc is just being overly cautious, and radiation doc is the one my surgeon will go with.
Yikes. What a fricking roller coaster.
My sister went through similar. In the end, she went for the more radical course of treatment. Which was good because by the time she had the mastectomy, the cancer had invaded two lymph nodes and she very likely would have been back to take the rest of the breast.
It has got to be frustrating to hear one thing (which is pretty minor) and then here something different (which is a big deal).
Remember that with a breast, with a reconstructed breast or with a bra with a bag of jello in it (or even going for the Amazon look), you are still the same person.
Make sure you ask about chances of reoccurrence for your type of cancer with each treatment option. My sister wasn’t intending to go through radiation - it was originally deemed unnecessary for the type and size of her tumor. Two weeks from finishing chemo, a new study was released, for her type of tumor, radiation cut the chance of reoccurrence for 12% to 7% (or something like that) - she decided that was worth it and went through the radiation.
Uh, ivylass? Shouldn’t they do the lumpectomy first, then make the treatment decision based on the biopsy of both breast and lymph node tissue? For Pete’s sake, that would seem the greatest urgency!
As I said, in my case they took 31 lymph nodes, making my lumpectomy a little rougher surgery, but that was because I was pretty young (38) for breast cancer and had no family history whatsoever, plus no kids. But they extracted the lump as soon as they determined that it wasn’t a cyst whose fluid could be removed via hypodermic. The next day they had the biopsy (my biggest reaction was surprise - no one, including the docs, had expected it to be malignant) and scheduled the lymph node removal for a week after the lump excision. Only then was further treatment discussed, because then we had the data to go on.
I certainly wouldn’t be willing to have a mastectomy based on “prominent” lymph nodes! For Pete’s sake, you could have some kind of minor virus that could be enlarging them.
Well, I’ve had the biopsy, and it came back cancer. There’s a couple of suspicious areas on the MRI that seem to bother one doctor but not the other.
I talked to my surgeon’s nurse today, and she confirmed yes, he’ll be talking with the oncologists and looking at all my test results. So, as Ivylad said, we’ll let the surgeon make the decision because he’s the one doing the cutting.
ivylass, you are one of my favorite posters. You started the very first “Finish the story thread” and I’m grateful for all the fun they have given me. You will be in my thoughts and prayers as you go through with this. If you ever need a non-family ear to bend, you have my email, and I can send a phone number.
Still sending good thoughts your way. Lefty seems to want to stick around, so I hope he gets the chance.
If you need some virtual hand-holding, there are a lot of Doper hands.
Ivylass, I’ve not been following closely because of sporadic internet access, but have now read everything and am so glad to hear this is treatable. I hope the chemo won’t be too bad for you. You’re in my thoughts.