Amera

Oh gosh, I finally checked in and read the news from Joni. Know that I am thinking of you and sending all my good thoughts your way.

Will try to write more later. Things are the same here. You are all on my mind.

XXOO Amera

Hi Viddie, I haven't heard of this dr at BI but I did read his wife's book. If you can't get in with him, I'd go for sure with the young gal at DF. My onc (Jennifer Ligibel) is pretty young too. I'm guessing early 30's. But she consults with all the other docs on the breast cancer floor so I feel like I am getting the expertise of many docs for the price of one. She did her internship (?) under some dr who is always on the talk shows whenever some celeb shows up with BC. I think all of them there are pretty good and mine is really up on all the new stuff. I don't think she takes forever to get into either if you want to try her.

Amera

When I spoke to the nutritionist at Dana Farber last year, she was all fired up about Vitamin D and prevention of recurrence. I was not in the mood to take any extra pills so I held off. I cannot remember the dose, but I think it was a lot. I did ask my Dana Farber onc who didn't seem to put much stock in it. Funny how they both work at the same place and couldn't agree on the protocol.

Yeah Rebecca! So glad it went well. I wore my socks yesterday as well.

And I hear you ladies on the whole "I am a breast cancer survivor" thing. I do tell some folks when it seems appropriate. For example, a student of mine was very upset the other day because her mother had just been dx. She was shocked to find out I had gone through the same treatment a year ago. It made her feel so much better to see me up and working and ALIVE!

I work with a woman who had in situ 6 years ago and it's still almost the first thing out of her mouth. I'm not dismissing her journey, but it appears to have become her life. I feel bad for her but there's something she gets out of it, I'm sure.

Okay, off to tend to the crew. My parents are here. Dad looks and feels some better. My older daughter has a cello concert this evening with the youth symphony she plays with. She is quite excited, and impressed by the fact that the older boys will be wearing black tie. Fancy, huh?

Have a great day everyone.

XXOO Amera

Well frick. I saw my surgeon yesterday and she felt the same "area of interest" as my oncologist did. She is "not concerned" (I've heard this too many times) but wants to keep an eye on it so she can "sleep better at night." At least one of us will-- LOL!  So anyhoo, I need to see her again in 6 weeks. I am not too worried and she did say that if it were anyone else she woudn't bother. But apparently I have terribly dense breast tissue and with my history, blah, blah, blah. So it's another wait and see situation. I guess I need to get used to this. Pisser!

Oh and the MRI mix up was because my surgeon got a report that because of my dense tissue, the radiologist thought I needed 6 month MRIs. This is strange because both of the radiologists that I saw said 1 year. So we are going with one year.  Blah!

I am really hoping that since the ultrasound/mammo I had 2 weeks ago didn't show anything, I am fine. But to have two different drs say they want to keep an eye on things is a little disconcerting.

Anyhoo, I have a conference today so am at home for a bit. I think I will hit the gym. I need to get my mind off of things.

Thanks for listening.

Amera

Well yeah Joni, one down! I hope you continue to feel good and being tired is the worst of it.

The girls and I are currenlty on April break. We went to the Red Sox yesterday which was fun. We stopped by the Expo Center for the Boston Marathon. It's where the runners get their numbers and there are all kinds of vendors etc. My dh did a video for his company that was very well received. There were huge crowds watching it. It was a view of the course with various experts and previous winners giving tips about how to run it. It was neat for the girls to see up close what their dad does.

Anyhoo, we aren't doing a whole lot this week. We may go up to see my parents in Maine. They were here for my dd 11th bday last week. My dad seemed to feel okay--tired--but has lost a lot of weight. He didn't look too good. He has scans Tues and Thurs of this week so we will be waiting to see what those say.

Oh, I have an appt with my surgeon next week. I got a call from her scheduling gal saying she'd booked another MRI for me in July. Whaaaaa? I called back to ask what the deal was and she launched into this and that about how my surgeon wants them every 6 months from now on. First of all, July would be 9 months. Second, the surgeon and radiologist from the hospital said only once a year. But this woman was a pill. I will have to ask my surgeon about it when I see her. She also said something about a blood test before I get the MRI. I have no idea. I will let you know what I find out though. The radiologist kept insisting that insurance probably wouldn't even pay for it. We shall see.

Other than that, nothing much to report. Hope everyone is well. It seems that there's been a bunch of good news to read. Hugs to all

XXOO Amera

All clear!  Yippee!  To say I'm relieved is the understatement of the year.

I ended up getting the bilateral mammo, called back for additional scans, and then on to the ultrasound. By this point I was a shaking mess. The radiologist actually came in and did the ultra herself. She was a bit snotty about the fact that the oncologist just said "left breast" and didn't indicate the location. She looked around though and didn't see a thing. She implied that the breast surgeon was much better about finding trouble spots, but heck, I found the first lump. You don't need to be a surgeon to do that.

And ladies, I felt you all there supporting me. I really did. Cannot explain it, but your words of encouragement and cyber-love came through. Thank you.

XXOO Amera

Yes, they will have a radiologist on site to read my scans. However, this is just like the last time. Lump was felt but didn't show up on mammo...ordered ultrasound which was inconclusive, which lead to the biopsy. My onc said it didn't feel fluid filled so my fear is that it will need more testing to determine just what it is. I don't think they can diagnose fiberous lumps with just the ultra. Honestly, I am not *all* that worried. But if it leads to a biopsy and more waiting, I will be a wreck.

Well ladies, here we go again. I was at my 6 month onc appt today. She did the exam and found a lump on the non-bc side. She thinks it's probably just a cyst but thought it felt different from the surrounding tissue. She added an ultrasound to my mammo next Tues.

I am just beside myself. She kept saying she wasn't *really* worried but worried enough to get it checked out. I want to believe her, but the thing is, that's the same stuff I heard the first time.

I asked why my MRI didn't catch it and she said, "Well, that was 6 months ago." So apparently tumors *can* grow almost overnight. I find it hard to believe though, that with MRIs being soooo sensitive, that they wouldn't have found the beginnings of something.

At least they will be able to read the scan there, but I really, really hope I do not end up having a biopsy. I just cannot go through this again.

And another thought I'm having is that many of us appear to have scan-happy oncologists. I think because we have a history of cancer they are extra cautious. It's just really tough hearing from your oncologist that you need to "have a closer look."  And really, don't most oncs see the patient *after* the surgery? I mean, they can certainly feel lumps, but I wonder maybe if they are slightly less skilled at deciding what needs to be investigated than a breast surgeon.  Clearly I am trying to talk myself down, but I'm sure you can all relate.

This just sucks!

Hi Karen, I had AC every 3 weeks and wasn't given a choice. However, from hearing other women, if you have treatment every two weeks, you will likely get shots to boost your blood counts. This is so that your body will be ready for the next round in time. My counts would go down around week 2.5 but would be back up, without the shot, by the time week 3 rolled around.

I agree with Laura-vic, chemo is not as bad as you are probably imagining. You might want to join up with one of the chemo groups. They were a huge source of info and comfort while I was going through chemo. Good luck, and keep thinking summer thoughts.

Amera