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I understand that grade 2 means intermediate growing. I am er + too. For a mass near the chest wall should I request a mri, bone scan, pet scan, all of above?
@A MyBCTeam Member NED is "No Evident Disease". I would say it is the universal goal of everyone on this site. It is amazing the terminology that you will become familiar with over the next few months. I went from knowing nothing about any of this stuff to knowing enough to make me comfortable asking detailled questions from my doctor and understanding the answers.
I'd want a PET. (Heck, I'm NED, and I still want a PET every once in awhile.) I know the scan isn't infallible and that some things that aren't cancer can occasionally pick up some of the tracer, however, it errs on the side of falsely positively identifying things rather than missing things. I don't know if I'm being weird, but I kind of look at it as the gold standard in terms of telling me where I stand.
It's probably going to be the best way to stage you for certain.
However, imagery usually has a heirarchy, each set of pictures "indicating" whether there's a need for more different pictures. (Thanks insurance.) MRI and CT sometimes need to be done prior to a PET being ordered and covered.
80 present of women have DCIS while the other 20 present have ILC which is what I had. It does not show up on mammograms or ultrasounds so that is why mine was so advanced. Please ask for a biopsy ladies if you have a lump and they tell you it is only calcification! I would not be hear today if I didn't insist after a year telling them it was more than a cyst!
My cancer was also right near the chest wall and against the skin, grade 2 IDC. Sort of the 8 o'clock position on the right side. I think my doctors were expecting that the lump was actually in the chest wall and skin because it didn't really move, seemed anchored in place. I was lucky though, not in either skin or chest wall, so I am stage 2A with a low oncotype score. I did a PET Scan before surgery and breast MRi, then a MRI guided biopsy of the left side for a suspicious area, that turned out to be nothing. I would get as much information and as many tests and scans before the surgery as possible. Also, I was really only given the choice of mastectomy because of the location and size of the mass. Originally, they thought it was 2.5cm, but in the end it was 3.2cm. I also had DCIS, but not sure that really matters, I expect that everyone with breast cancer has DCIS. During the surgery though they removed about 10% of my pec muscle to get clean margins. I don't notice it though and I work out a lot. It took a little while to get the strength back, but I would say I am back to where I was. I do have some minor discomfort, not pain, occasionally even six months after surgery probably due to the missing muscle. It doesn't bother me that much and I don't need to modify my behavior for it. It is lessening slowly so maybe it will go away. All my scans and tests were covered by insurance through my employer with a small deductible. I am very grateful for decent insurance and a doctor who will push for scans when they are appropriate.
@A MyBCTeam Member I would share the concern with the surgeon that you've been told that it's near the chest wall so what tests would your surgeon suggest from the perspective of 1.) ensuring good margins during surgery, if performed and 2.) ascertaining whether the cancer may have spread (lung / lymph nodes). Asking somewhat open ended questions allows for discussion ( +/-) on approach and options. It's likely that some tests will need to be approved by your insurance co., btw.
Others who have had the chest wall proximity concern will chime in with their experience and suggested questions, no doubt.
Before I even made the decision to do a bilateral, my breast surgeon called for an MRI so that she could see the position and size of the cancer.
Anyone else have have bilateral mastectomy as total treatment for DCIS ER+/PR+ clsoe to chest wall?i
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