Need your wisdom on DCIS

I used to post on the GERD forum (Kitt is an AMAZING! woman!), bu this is my first here.

I need your wisdom and advice. I have an extensive family history of breast cancer and have had biopsies and close calls, etc. Now I've had another mammogram with a call back and they found a cluster of microcalcifications; another trip to my specialist where she did a stereotactic biopsy. The result are back with DCIS, Grade 0, 6mm; recommendation: lumpectomy followed by 5 day mammosite radiation.

I'm a realist, I'm not afraid of a diagnosis; you can't be, not in my family, but what I can't wrap my head around is the need for any treatment for this. I've read that this is not a cancer, but a pre-cancer; another says, it is a cancer, but not invasive, but it may become invasive if left untreated.

A chance of this becoming a slow growing "real" cancer is not, to me, a reason to jump into a surgical intervention right now. Because of a long standing issue, I have been on estratest (ovaries and fallopian tubes removed in 04); I am more inclined to stop the HRT and wait 6 months to see if there is a change in the mammogram, rather than go in for another surgery. I've had genetic testing, I am not BRCA positive.

Does anyone, anyone, have words of wisdom that will help me to determine if this is a reasonable course of action? Am I just in denial, or is this the result of being diagnosed with a "less than" type of situation than my mother, sister, aunts and cousins?

Research out of Univ of CA is showing a different side to this equation and with more and more MD's speaking up against the notion of quick to surgery I have to ask these questions and hoping that someone here would have something that would quell the argument I have going in my head.

The personal side to my story involves multiple surgeries and so many procedures over the last few years that I've lost count; throw in chronic daily migraine and I am so sick of Dr.'s that the thought of one more surgery is getting the best of me, especially when this isn't tangible and the diagnosis is contradicted by "experts".

Thanks for your answers, it does help to put things in perspective.
Janice

Dear Janice,

Awww sweetie, how torn you are by this and I understand how you feel after all I watched my sister go through.  They did a Right radical mastectomy when they did her ovarian cancer surgery as they found the very thing you have after much testing and discussion my sister made the decision to have the total mastectomy instead of a lumpectomy.  The ovarian cancer was not related to the breast  cancer. Her ovarain cancer as you know took her life. 

Treatment of DCIS has a high likelihood of success, in most instances removing the tumor and preventing any recurrence, particularly a recurrence that spreads beyond the original site. The challenge is to avoid either overtreating or undertreating the condition.

Treatment options for DCIS include:

• Lumpectomy only
• Lumpectomy and radiation therapy
• Lumpectomy and the drug tamoxifen
• Simple mastectomy ^{Reference/Mayo Clinic}

I wish I had the right words to advice you but I think this is one time where you gather all the information and then way your odds and make an informed decision that works for you.  Bless you and know I will be praying for you.  You are one very special lady and I am saddened to know you are going through this.

Love,

Kitt

Janice,

I agree with Bill 100% but I understand.................you come back to the GERD Forum whenever you feel you want to.

Hugs sweetie,

Kitt

Thank you all for your posts, my goodness, what wonderful people we have on helaing well! Thank you for your support, information, advice, insight and words to ease a troubled mind. I checked out the NCI website and the information there seems so clear cut, that helped so much.

You have all helped and I so appreciate you taking time to do so; my lumpectomy is scheduled for June 19th and I know all will be well.
:)
Janice

Bev, thank you, yes, my GERD friends are so wonderful, I'm a lucky woman!

I've learned more since we posted last; the dcis is multifocal, high nuclear grade and both estro & progest +, so I will be stopping the hrt. The radiation is needed because it is multifocal and while it is not invasive the grade is quite high and the nuclei showed significant amounts of mitosis. The biopsies also show atypical hyperplasia and other abnormalities, so it appears as though I am just an event in the making!

I'm am one of these people who needs massive quantities of data in order to make an informed decision and the information out there is so contradictory; it does not help! I'll be doing the mammosite 5 day radiation, that seems like such an easier way to go.

Frayda, my Dr. agrees with yours; while I tested negative and my cousin did as well, there has to be some sort of genetic turnkey that is responsible for many of us developing this. When I talked to one of my cousins the other night, she told me that she was diagnosed with invasive dcis; according to literature, that too seems contradictory, but there is that point where dcis can turn invasive; hers did and with my being noted as high grade it's likely that mine would have turned eventually too.

Thanks again for your help.
Janice

Janice,

I emailed you back today and hope it came through. Thank you for your great email.

Hugs
Kitt