Pathology Report

I got the pathology report back and had my first follow-up about a week after surgery. The surgeon took five tissue samples during the surgery on the 8th:

1. For mass on the left breast near chest wall
2. For biopsy of tissue on the right behind the nipple
3. For the cancer on the right 
4. Additional tissue next to cancer towards the outer part of the breast
5. Additional tissue next to cancer towards inner part of the breast

Diagnosis

1. On the left, there were 3 fibroadenomas (largest 5 mm) and additional benign findings, including two intramammary lymph nodes.
2. On the right behind the nipple, they found sclerosed intraductal papilloma (1 mm) negative for atypia and malignancy.
3. The cancer was as expected (IDC and DCIS).  The size of the tumor was now 1.6 cm.  Did it grow 2 mm in two months?  Or was it just the measurement from imaging being off?  I don't know.  They also found 1 benign intramammary lymph node. The report was hard to understand, but my surgeon says we got clear margins here, which is typically 2+ mm.
• What they previously thought was a satellite site was actually the intramammary lymph node.
4. In additional superior margin, finds were benign.
5. In additional medial margin, they found more DCIS. For this, margins were less than 1 mm.

Based on the size of the tumor alone (< 2 cm), I would be considered stage 1.  But since I didn't do lymph node biopsy, I cannot be 100% certain there has been no spread.  

Given that the DCIS found in additional medial margin didn't have the standard 2 mm margin, the doctor gave me the option to have more surgery to get better margins.  She said that some doctors think it is not necessary to have full 2 mm margins for DCIS, while others may.  I was having more complications than I expected from the first surgery so I couldn't imagine doing this again.  I opted not to have additional surgery.