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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Breast Cancer / January 2004Feeling Stressed
Hello All, I hope you will forgive this long post and, perhaps, spare a little time to respond. I am not, at the moment, going through, anything like many users of this NG but I could do with a little moral support. The cancer patient is my mother, not myself. She was diagnosed as having a malignant "lump" in her breast in 1997. A mastectomy was performed and her oncologist was confident that surgery had been 100 % successful. A follow-up mammogram towards the end of 1998 revealed what looked like another lump. This was removed there and then without the need for hospitalisation. It turned out to be a benign cyst. Things were quiet until the end of 2002 when another mammogram revealed changes in breast tissue. My mother's oncologist, together with other members of the same department, where convinced that the changes were due to benign calcification. However, they did not want to take any chances. My mother was admitted to hospital and the tissue was removed. As suspected, it was benign calcification. Throughout the years of seeing specialists and having treatment, my mother has tended to "mix and match" private consultations and tests with treatment on the British NHS. My mother was not due to have another mammogram until the end of 2004. I had asked her to consider seeing her oncologist privately before this and she was in agreement until this morning. My mother has received an invitation from her General Practioner to have a mammogram on the 14th January. It is entirely routine and the same invitation will be sent to all female patients of the Group Practice who are fifty or over. My feelings are that this is great for the patient who has never had cancer. In my mother's case, I can't help fearing what it might expose something that, even if benign, will result in months of fear as we await the results from the NHS. I also worry because I can't give all the help I would wish. I have an ongoing illness myself plus new commitments. Other family members are either no much use or live too far away to offer any support. Perhaps I am worrying too much too soon but I just can't help feeling frantic! Regards, Tracy Hi Tracy, I'm so sorry that you and your mom have to go through this. There is no doubt that awaiting tests results is very stressful for the patient's family. Since my own mastectomy a year ago, my personal decision is not to even mention any future tests to my family until I know the results myself. But that is my way of handling it because for me the added worries of my family justs compounds my own fears and makes it worse for me. I'm not suggesting that others can or should do the same. We all have our own methods of dealing with this horrible disease. Your mom had her mastectomy in 1997 and now it's 2004 and as far as she knows she is still cancer-free. How wonderful! She is over the 5 year mark, which from what I understand, increases her overall long-term survival rate. If your mom had a mammogram at the end of 2002, I don't think it's unreasonable for her to want another one now. The reassurance of a clean mammogram will boost both of your spirits enormously. It's been over a year, and many doctors recommend yearly mammograms, both for known cancers, and for patients over 50 years old. I know I intend to have yearly mammograms. All I can suggest is for you to try and keep the fears in perspective. You probably have yearly pap tests done on yourself, most of us do. Annual mammograms are the same thing really. Checking things out just to be sure everything is okay, and if there are problems being able to have treatment early enough to do some good. Best of luck in the new year, both for you, and your mother. Marianne > Hello All, > [quoted text clipped - 39 lines] > > Tracy Hi Tracy, I understand your concerns and anxiety along with those of your mom. There is no way to predict. I am a little confused. You write that your mom had a mastectomy in '97. Did you mean lumpectomy or are the lumps in the other breast? > Hi Tracy, I understand your concerns and anxiety along with those of your mom. > There is no way to predict. I am a little confused. You write that your mom > had a mastectomy in '97. Did you mean lumpectomy or are the lumps in the other > breast? My mother had her mastectomy in 1997. The benign lump found in December 1998 was in the other breast, as was the benign calcification that was removed in January 2003. She was given a clean bill of health following the operation by her oncologist and radiologist. She was content to stick to her "routine" of regular check-ups, tests, etc, until the letter of yesterday, which is not a recall. Regards, Tracy Hello Tracy, > My mother has > received an invitation from her General Practioner to have a mammogram > on the 14th January. It is entirely routine and the same invitation > will be sent to all female patients of the Group Practice who are > fifty or over. My feelings are that this is great for the patient who > has never had cancer. Well, some might be recalled, the waiting period could be as difficult for all of them as it is for your mum. > In my mother's case, I can't help fearing what > it might expose something that, even if benign, will result in months > of fear as we await the results from the NHS. It shouldn't take months. I've always had results within a week. What I can't understand is why she hasn't had annual mammos since her first lumpectomy. The over fifty screening is a national scheme. usually patients attend every three years but people with a history of cancer have them more frequently as a matter of course. > I also worry because I can't give all the help I would wish. I have an > ongoing illness myself plus new commitments. Other family members are > either no much use or live too far away to offer any support. Perhaps > I am worrying too much too soon but I just can't help feeling frantic! Please don't be frantic, it won't help either you or your mum. If there is a problem it will be dealt with very quickly, that's the UK bc policy and it seems to work. Well, it has done in my case. Mary Leeds > Regards, > > Tracy Hello Again, Thanks to all who have replied. When my mother's oncologist gave her the ""all-clear" following the removal of benign calcification in January 2003, he indicated that her next mammogram would be towards the end of 2004. She planned to discuss bringing it forward when she sees him for a check-up in early spring. What concerns me about the appointment that arrived yesterday is that it has nothing to do with what has occurred between 1997 and the present. It is not a recall. It is simply a general invitation to all women over fifty in this locality. It is not part of my mother's "cancer routine", for want of a better expression. I would be happier if she were to stick to this routine, discussing the way forward with the oncologist and other specialists who have treated her so well since 1997 instead of breaking the pattern. However, the decision is not mine to make. At the moment, I think my mother plans to discuss the issue with her General Practitioner. Thanks again, Tracy > Hello Tracy, > [quoted text clipped - 34 lines] > Mary > Leeds |
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