View Single Post
Old 01-03-2016, 07:21 AM   #4
Lien
Senior Member
 
Lien's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Haarlem, the Netherlands
Posts: 835
Re: Advice From the Group

In my country, the Netherlands, Europe, where we have similar outcomes to your country, we have the following schedule:
Checkups every three months for the first 6 months. Then twice a year until year 5, then once a year until year 10. After that, it depends on what the doctor and patient think is best. Either once a year or once every two years.
We only have a regular mammo every six months for the first year, after that once a year. If any lumps or other unusual phenomena are noted, an MRI and/or ultrasound is done. Cysts can be seen clearly on an US and MRI's are well known for their false positives. If there's any doubt at all, we do a biopsy. I've had several, always turned out to be ok.

The thing is, that we are very scared after a breast cancer diagnosis, and we feel safer if we have a lot of tests. Unfortunately, the tests are not 100% accurate and there's no guarantee that any treatment will cure us permanently. We need to regain our trust that things will work out for us. We need to let go of the urge to control our fate. And that was the hardest thing for me. I'm 12 years NED this month and I've learnt to let go, but it took me several years. You will feel better too, with or without additional testing. The tests only tell you that you probably have not developed a recurrence since your last test. It doesn't offer any guarantees about the future.

So believe me, you will be ok. Whatever happens, you will be able to deal with it. Just like you did these past three years. Three years NED is great, because most Her2 positive BC recurs within the first two years. And with Herceptin and chemo and radiation you pulled out all the big guns, so perhaps it's time to exhale a bit and learn to trust your body again?

Hugs

Jacqueline
__________________
Diagnosed age 44, January 2004, 0.7 cm IDC & DCIS. Stage 1, grade 3, ER/PR pos. HER2 pos. clear margins, no nodes. SNB. 35 rads. On Zoladex and Armidex since Dec. 2004. Stopped Zoladex/Arimidex sept 2009 Still taking mistletoe shots (CAM therapy) Doing fine.
Lien is offline   Reply With Quote