Be honest, what does it mean if breast cancer is attached to the chest wall

4mymom71

Hello everyone,
I am new to the site. I have been reading posts on and off since my mother was diagnosed with stage IIb malignent breast cancer. She has had 6 rounds of chemo(TAC). We met with the surgeon today. He said that he will try to get it all, but that the tumor is still attached to the chest wall. We are not sure what that means. He said that he could not remove her ribs, but he would try his best to get it all. My poor mother is so scared, that she will not research at all...and there is no way that I can get her on this site.
I am sorry for everyones pain, but you certainly do seem like a strong group to me.

Ritzy

What a sweet daughter you
What a sweet daughter you are! I wish I was an oncologist so I could explain what I know about your Mother's condition, but, I am not. You really need to talk to this over with your plastic surgeon and get all of your questions answered to your and your Mother's satisfaction. Can you call and make another appointment soon to go over this more thoroughly with him? Write down all of your questions and make sure you get all of your answers.

We are a strong, great supportive group here. I don't know what I would have done without everyone on here. They truly are my sisters, my sisters in pink.

Wishing you good luck and praying for your Mother.


Sue

jo jo

Thats great your doing this
Thats great your doing this for mom!
I agree with Ritzy you really should talk with your doctors again until you understand what is going on...one thing is true is that there is fear in the unknown.
Good luck and i will be prayin for you and your mom!

Angie2U

jo jo said:

Thats great your doing this
Thats great your doing this for mom!
I agree with Ritzy you really should talk with your doctors again until you understand what is going on...one thing is true is that there is fear in the unknown.
Good luck and i will be prayin for you and your mom!

Ritzy is right, you do need
Ritzy is right, you do need to speak with the doctor. Update us as to what you find out.

Hugs, Angie

seof

Ask your doctor
I agree with the other posts, your Dr. is your best source of information. You can go to some reputable websites (research hospitals like M.D. Anderson, or American Cancer Society), but your Mom's Dr. knows her individual body and the specifics of her case. If the Dr. does not answer your questions to your satisfaction, ask again. My Dr. and I had t learn to communicate with each other. He soon got used to my orange spiral with my list of questions. I wrote down questions in between visits, then I took it with me to write down what he said. My husband went with me because 2 heads are better than one. Sometimes he heard something I missed, or he came up with a way to rephrase my question to get more specific information. It is great that your Mom has such a supportive person to be by her side through this.

Take care, seof

sal314

I Agree with others..
Everyone's breast cancer is unique to them. Having it "attached to the chest wall" could mean different things to different people. It all depends on the pathology and staging. Like everyone said, you need to have your doctor sit with you and explain what that means for your mother. Write your questions down and tell your doctor you want to understand your mom's situation better. If he don't take time to do that, then find a new doctor!! Any doctor that isn't willing to sit and talk to you about your situation isn't worth keeping your business! Remember, they work for YOU! If you're not satisfied, move on! JMO.

Best of luck. Keep us posted:)

Sally

roseann4

They like clear margins which may not be possible.
Sounds like your mother's doctor is saying that if the tumor is attached to the muscle of the chest wall they can't take enough to get clear margins on that side of the tumor. They like to take a certain amount of non-cancerous tissue around the tumor to be safe that they haven't missed anything. I know about this because I have a friend who was in a similar situation. Don't let it alarm her. They are using other treatments as well as surgery which may take care of any stray cells. I agree with the others who suggested going back to your mom's doctors but that was my friends situation and it sounds like your mom's as well. By the way, my friend is doing fine.

In the meantime, continue to encourage your mother to talk with a survivor who has gone through what she is going through. Stage 11 is still considered early stage breast cancer so her prognosis is good. Fear causes lots of stress and she doesn't need that right now.

It's great that you are there for your mother during this difficult time.

Roseann

Lighthouse_7

Hi and welcome. When I was
Hi and welcome. When I was diagnosed with bc back last April, my doctors at Mass General siad they had to do other tests prior to my treatment for breast cancer. It spreads to liver and chest wall. I had a CT of my chest with contrast and they saw some swollen lymph nodes. At that point, they scheduled me for surgery with a Thorasic Surgeon and he went in with a scope and also took off some tissue of lymph nodes for biopsy. They determained that they were not cancerous and had me re-do a CT this past May.
I don't know what made them determain the chest wall cancer, but I'm sure it was similar to what I had done.
They can do remarkable things now and it sounds like they are going in to remove whatever they can. I know if I had it there, they were going to remove it first or start chemo on that issue before they would put me in for my lumpectomy.
I wish you and your Mom the best and maybe someday she will come to this site because for me, it has been a Godsend.
Bless you both,
Wanda

gillyv

Hi my name is Gilda Vezzolini so glad I found this site I was diagnoised with stage 3b breast cancer also in chest wall I have 6 months chemo surgery 6 weeks of radiation reconstruction and 1 year of shots for immune system I 70 years old live alone I going with family in Redondo Beach ca to do chemo treatments since I have no family here I would like to talk to others please send me your email I be praying for mother bless you both Gilda without God ibin my life I couldn't do this