mcalot

Also needed a strapless bra to wear with an evening gown for a formal occassion. I went to Nordstroms in tears with dress in hand. The woman who does the prosthesis fitting spent a while with me and found a beautiful strapless bra that worked and they put the pockets in it for me for free. I have worn the bra many times in the summer and it has solved so many problems with summer shirts and dresses. As it is getting a little less supportive-I have used it so much- I started putting my lighter foam forms in it and it is much cooler in the hot weather.

SamEyeYam,
Thanks for the information. I will check that out. My insurance is fairly good-Uniform Medical (WA state retirement system) just does not recognize that the DIEP is different from a Tram or implants- pays the same for all three. Good luck with your surgery!

Thank you for all your responses. I have been to all the sites before and found them so useful. I did see Dr. Isik and very much liked him and he has a good success rate. My insurance would only pay him 1/3 of what other insurances pay so I cannot blame him for not accepting mine. I will just need to pay the rest of the amount. I would love to hear from any of you who used him and how you like the results. There is also a new PS at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance at the UW that is now doing the Diep. Anyone use him (he takes my insurance, but he is soooo new)?

Marsha,
Hope that your discussions are going well. I was stage III 8 months after a clear mammogram. Needless to say, I was not very trusting of their ability to find another ILC in the other breast. My oncologist and surgeon assured me that they would monitor me with yearly MRI's and find anything new at a much earlier stage. I wanted to do both at once, but I was not 100% sure so they suggested that I do one, get through chemo and rads and then do the 2nd if I still felt that way. After treatment I found that I did not like having just one breast and worried about having to go through treatment again if anything happened. My oncologist and surgeon said both reasons were fine with them and scheduled the surgery (insurance paid). I have not regreted it at all as I was so asymetrical. I sleep a whole lot better not having the breast and not worrying about it anymore.

Dear Grandma3,
I want to echo what Tender said to you- get the symptoms of the cough and weight checked out. Your oncologist needs to be more sensitive about all of this as it is very life changing- we are in our 60's, but these sympotms are well beyond age related. I am 60 and also on Arimidex and have the same side effects. Gained 15 pound, trigger finder, carpal tunnel, and stiff most of the time. I have upped my walking as I am training for the 3 Day walk (30+ miles a week). All the walking, and changing to a low fat-higher protein and veggie diet, and doing strength training has reversed the weight gain and I have lost 5-7 of the pounds. I did have carpal tunnel surgery and have to get shots for the trigger finger once in a while. My other symptoms did totally reverse for a few months (I did not stop the Arimidex or switch to a different drug), but are now right back to where they were before. I also feel, as some of the other women stated, that the aromatase inhibitors are really helping us stay alive and the pain is the price that we pay. I wish that we did not have to paid it, but it is our best chance. Best of luck to you, you are not alone and it is not the age!!!

Laurie