Cancer fear

[shailza]

My mother 45 years old got lumps in accordance with menstruation cycle but this time the lump did not fade away..we did ultrasound and it is about 1 cm diameter...the doctor has suggested FNAC(fine needle biopsy)..will it be cancer??? Really petrified..please tell me what will be the proceedings if it turns out cancer..

[Hidden]

This is an excellent video series about cancer. It is in 11 parts but so worth it. It's information to help you make some informed decisions and know the truth. Advertising.not.allowed.hea...

Edit by admin: this post by no means helps to relieve the apprehension for the person in original post. You are trying to promote unproven products and in fact encouraging people to deviate from scientifically proven treatments. One more such post and you will be banned.

[MsLockYourPosts TeamBCI in reply to Hidden]

Personally I find people who advocate that people use only "natural approaches" to be dangerous. I know at that Dr. Shah can tell many stories of patients who tried this and did not see a medical doctor until their cancer was too advanced to be successfully treated.

[MsLockYourPosts TeamBCI]

A biopsy is clearly your mother's next step. It will determine whether her lump shows cancer cells. If not it will be watched over time. If it does then you need to have her see a breast specialist / surgeon, not a general surgeon. He will be able to assess the situation and advise your mother about her best course of action. My lump was found early, was "in situ" meaning that the cancer had not spread beyond it, so I had a lumpectomy to remove it with three lymph nodes also removed and checked to be sure it hadn't spread. As it hadn't, and the margins or outside of the area removed showed no cancer I did not need chemotherapy, but did have radiation as a follow up. That was in 2007 and I have had no sign of further problems. Hopefully your mother's case will either show no cancer or will be similar to mine.

If the cancer has gone outside of the lump itself or into the lymph nodes then treatment is more aggressive, but you need to know more about the biopsy results before suggestions can be made about how to proceed. Waiting for those results is very difficult. Try to be calm and to reassure your mother during this time. Know that there have been many advances in breast cancer treatment and even if your mother has a more advanced case her outcome can be very good. I am amazed at how many times I am in a conversation with another woman when breast cancer comes up and I discover that we are both survivors who have moved on and, other than being good about monitoring, we really don't spend much time even thinking about it.

Pat

As you are discussing personal information you might want to change the setting of your post to community only. It protects your privacy and your mother's as well as that of anyone responding. Dr. Shah can help if you have trouble doing it.

[sumeet_shah Administrator in reply to MsLockYourPosts]

Beautiful explanation there, pat. There is nothing much for me to add here.

I am out of town and am not able to edit the post to make it restricted to community. I shall do so once I come back by Sunday.

I agree with you, when will we see a day when we stop seeing people sabotaging peaceful communities by advertising of their naturopathy and other things; and trying to claim that they work wonders and everything without a single scientifically proven trial. I have edited healthyfoodmaven's post by removing the link.

[anuppayyanadaan in reply to sumeet_shah]

I have come across similar propaganda in Kerala, some guy who himself was a cancer patient (cancer in salivary gland), after 24 sessions of radiotherapy he ate a fruit locally called ' mullu aatha' and herb 'lakshmi tharu'. Now he is presenting his case as a testimonial and claiming the magic worked because of the fruit and herb. In fact the doctor who treated him (Dr.V.P.Gangadharan) clarified through media that the guy had been cured with RT. The propaganda infact misleads poor ignorant patients, who are always on the look out for an affordable cancer treatment.

Actually the social networking sites are being misused by people for such propaganda.

Anup

[TUTUROSHAN in reply to anuppayyanadaan]

Dear ANUP

Ilive in Bangalore. Mine is stage2. had a masectomy .8chemos. now 17 cycles of HERTAZ .targetted therapy ,taking in Sankara cancer hospital. let me talk to your wife

[anuppayyanadaan in reply to TUTUROSHAN]

Thanks for the concern dear friend, in my wife's case ..she is her2 neu negative, so after six cycles of chemo, there wont be any infusions I presume. Obviously RT is a must, it might be a four to six weeks ordeal. I will get a correct picture of RT only after the completion of chemo. She was prescribed 6 cycles and one more is left. Take care.

Anup

[jitenthacker]

Please get the FNAC done without a day's delay. Hopefully the lump will be benign, but even if it is cancerous, "A Problem known is half solved". Just get the treatment started immediately.

Today Medical Science has enough knowledge and expertise to cure Breast Cancer; only cases that are detected at a later stage turn fatal.

My wife had 3rd stage breast cancer in end 2008 & touch wood she is hale & hearty with God's Blessings & good wishes of family & friends.

I hope & pray the lump is benign. But, don't worry, detecting cancer early is winning half the war. Just don't waste time, go for the test & if detected "START TREATMENT IMMEDIATELY".

[shailza]

Thanks everyone for replying...its such a tough time digesting the fact that something so dangerous like cancer is a possibility now for my mother..

I read your replies and I feel better..please guide me in future also..I'll let you know what the biopsy says

[kontak TeamBCI]

Hi Shailza - be brave to face any situation. Now a days the science is very much advanced and we can save the life.

Just is to follow a proper scientific path. Take care and keep posting

[MsLockYourPosts TeamBCI]

Please don't let anyone rush your mother into decisions about treatment or surgery. My first surgeon was a general surgeon. After my lumpectomy he called and told me that I needed a mastectomy on a Thursday and scheduled me for the following Monday without advising me about my options regarding things like reconstruction - against the law here in California - without talking to my hematologist which I asked him to do (I see her for my leukemia and she was going to do the follow up, as the case looked very simple and she has experience with breast cancer) - without even telling me that he had scheduled the surgery. I called his office and told them that I was not a piece of meat!

Be sure your mother is working with a breast oncologist and/or surgeon! She does have time to make sure that she is comfortable with her doctor and what is being advised and to get additional reads of her slides or second opinions! I got a second read of my slides and found a breast specialist. The recommendation was for a second lumpectomy, which showed clean margins and radiation. No mastectomy needed in my case. That was in 2007. My surgeon was wonderful and I have had no further problems - regular checks.

Let us know what the biopsy shows. People will be able to help your mother through her next steps once she has that information.

Pat

[MsLockYourPosts TeamBCI]

A good web site for becoming familiar with the terminology that will be on your mother's report is breastcancer.org. You might want to do some reading and either download pages which you can mark up with notes and questions or just take notes so that you are a bit familiar with what is being discussed. I also recommend taking a recording device (or phone with a recording app) to appointments. It's easy to have the brain just shut down when stressed. It helps a lot to be able to go home and listen to the information again.

Pat

[kontak TeamBCI]

Hi Shailza - how is your mother now? Whether the reports have come

[shailza]

hi guys, i couldnt reply sooner because a lot happened in the mean time..we changed our doctor and city also because there is no oncologist in my city..then the ultrasound,mammography and fnac happened..i m writing down the fnac report as i couldnt find a way to upload it..

CYTOLOGY

GROSS: 5ml greenish brown fluid aspirated

method: microscopic examination

site: FNAC lt. breast lump

adequacy: inadequate

cellularity: cellular

CELL MORPHOLOGY: smears shows many bimodal population of ductal epithelial and myoepithelial cells. few cells are showing apocrine change.no malignant cell is seen in the smear examined.

Background: lipoproteinaceous and few bare oval nuclei.

final impression: FNAC lt. breast lump- shows sign of beningn breast disease.

[shailza]

the doctor did the fnac twice and has told us that no operation is required..just to get the lumps checked once a year..

please tell me what you all think..is it actually and truly harmless?

[sumeet_shah Administrator]

There is no cancer at all in the FNAC. Not to worry. Just ask your mother to continue her follow ups.

[shailza in reply to sumeet_shah]

Thanks for replying..