Cynthia1962

I have heard of some women just being numbed and given a mild sedative, but most of us had anesthesia.  I guess it depends on how long your surgeon estimates your surgery will be, and other factors.  I didn't need to be intubated, it was just more anesthesia than being mildly sedated.  Good luck!

Cynthia 

Hi Everyone,

Today, I went to a support group for people with cancer and it was all women with mostly breast cancer.  It wasn't as good as I'd hoped, and I'm still processing some of the comments I got.  When I mentioned that having had bc still affects some of my choices and does anyone else do that, they basically told me that I need to live in the moment and assume that I'm cured.  Are they right?  It's not as if I let it affect my day to day life, but when I have to make a major decision, I do consider that I might not live a normal life span and may have more financial obligations than a person without cancer.  I don't feel that makes me a pessimist.  They also told me to avoid the internet and online groups.  Yeah, right, like that's going to happen.  lol  I like you all much better than these women and I feel better informed than they are, too, thanks to you.  

M. and Basha - my hip pain seems to be cyclical so I'm wondering if it happens when my estrogen is higher or something.  My hips ache/burn for a day or two.  I also sometimes get a mild ache in my neck at the same time. I really need to make an effort to keep track of how often it happens, but just haven't gotten around to it.  The burning pain in my breast only lasted 24 hrs and not even a twinge after that.  I hate these scary aches and pains.

Harley - Sorry to hear you're still dealing with the depression.  It sucks to suddenly feel so old.  My "oldness" had been gradually coming on due to difficult pregnancies, births, and taking care of little ones way too late in life, lol, so treatment didn't add too much to it.  I have hot flushes infrequently now, but I do tolerate coldness better than I used to so I must be warmer in general now.  It's kind of nice right now, but when it's over 100 degrees outside soon, I may not think so.  lol  

Debbie - yes, aspirin therapy lowers the risk of clots and both my onc and gyn recommended I take daily aspirin.  I haven't been good about it, though.  The risk of having a clot/stroke is extremely small unless you have a strong family or personal history of them.

Have a great weekend all,

Cynthia 

I have to have my port in for 2 yrs, so I'm probably not much help there.  It doesn't bother me, fortunately, and it's a convenient way for them to get my blood every few months. 

Deb, 

My port is sometimes very slow to give up the blood.  lol  I have to lift my arm over my head and move around a bit, but she eventually gets enough.  I think this last time, she had to add more flushing ? solution.  I don't know if it'll continue to be a problem or not.  I remember it did this once during chemo and was fine the next time, so maybe it's a random thing.  I hope yours is fine now. 

Cynthia 

Hi everyone,

I'm sorry to see that some of you are dealing with the blues, too.  I'm doing much better at the moment, and hoping it doesn't come back anytime soon.  It was not a pleasant experience.

I saw my rad onc recently and he was surprised that I'm not having mammos every 6 months because he felt I should.  He then told me that since I see my med onc so frequently that I don't need to see him any longer unless I want or need, too.  Woot!  One less dr to see.  lol  

So, when I saw my med onc a few days ago, I casually asked him why I wasn't having more frequent mammos and he said that the standard of care was yearly mammos when no abnormalities are seen.   Well, that takes care of that concern and since I won't be seeing my rad onc again I don't have to figure out a way to address his concerns.  I also told him that I have a tender spot in my arm pit, close to my bad boob and he felt around and asked me about rib pain then moved on to something else.  So, I guess I don't need to worry about it.  Of course, I have no idea what rib pain would feel like, and it's hard to ignore any new ache or pain, but I'm going to try.   Today, my bad boob has a burning sensation on and off which I know is hormonally related, but it makes me worry that the Tamoxifen isn't doing it's job.  My onc will test my estradiol levels at my next appt in 5 months (instead of 3, yippee!), but I doubt I'm getting any closer to menopause.  Oh, I did ask if my rad onc's office would make me an appt for a consultation with their new gyn onc.  I want to see what she thinks about whether I should remove/shut down my ovaries.  Unfortunately, she only works one day a month in their office (she comes from another city), but she's the only gyn onc in town so I'll just have to wait.  That reminds me, my internal and abdominal ultrasounds were normal.  That was a relief since I had fears of the lining building up since I'm not menstruating. 

My bone density scan results were much better than I expected.  I have osteopenia in my hips, but the rest of my bones including my spine are normal.  When I consider how high risk I am for osteoporosis, I'm very happy with those findings.  I plan to be more consistent with my calcium intake and to use my rebounder trampoline more to help improve my hip bones.  I wonder if that's why the Tamoxifen makes my hips ache more than anywhere else.  

I'm sorry I'm not doing individual shout outs, but chemo brain makes it so hard to remember who said what.  I hate chemo brain!!!  It seems as if I'm constantly apologizing to someone or other for something my brain got wrong.  It's as if my brain is on time delay, too.  Given enough time, I'll usually remember certain things, such as names of people or things, or where I know them from, but it can take awhile which can be embarassing at times.

Best wishes to everyone!!! 

Cynthia 

PaminFL,

Your post has brought tears to my eyes because it wasn't that long ago for me that I was where you are now.  I was also breastfeeding when I was diagnosed.  My children were all I could think about and I spent a lot of time crying when I thought of what their future might be like.  They were  4 and 20 months at the time.  That was 16 months ago, and I and my family are doing great now.  Last year was a difficult year, but it wasn't without it's good times, too.  You can do this and treatment will be over faster than you think.  We're all here for you and will help you through it one day at a time.  Feel free to PM me anytime you need one on one support.

Cynthia 

Here is some more info on aspirin and ER+ bc:

Daily Aspirin May Offer Breast Cancer Protection
As Reported by Reuters. 2008 Apr 30

In a large National Cancer Institute study, women who took a daily aspirin had a 16% lower risk of developing the most common form of breast cancer. Aspirin reduced the risk of estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer, but it had no effect on the estrogen receptor-negative form of the disease. The findings confirmed those of earlier research also showing a breast cancer benefit from regular aspirin use. The women in the study, who were 51 to 72 years of age, were followed up for 7 years. None had breast cancer when the study began. Aspirin had to be taken daily for the benefit to be apparent. Less-than-daily use did not give the same results. The study is important because, even though the reduction in risk for breast cancer is fairly small, it could have a large public health impact with respect to the actual numbers of women affected. The results were published in the April 30 issue of Breast Cancer Research. In addition to being a well-known painkiller, aspirin has been used to prevent second heart attacks, and, recently, it has been shown to possibly prevent colorectal cancer. Earlier studies in breast cancer did not always distinguish between the 2 receptor types when analyzing the results, so the findings were inconclusive. One theory for why aspirin may affect breast cancer is that it interferes with the actions of estrogen. Women who want to take aspirin for breast cancer protection should confer with their doctor before doing so. Ulcers and bleeding are some of the potential adverse effects of aspirin therapy.

I know that Claritin, Zyrtec, and Benedryl are okay, but Chlor-Trimeton is not.

I had 4 AC and 4 Taxotere and didn't completely lose my eyebrows and eyelashes, so it isn't a given.  I used brow liner that was just a shade darker than my normal color to fill in the gaps and used non waterproof mascara so it would come off very easily and I wouldn't have to tug on my lashes.  I sometimes used a liner to make them look thicker.  I wear glasses which helped to hide how thin my lashes were.  I never looked blotchy, but I used a light foundation because I always have.  I never wore a wig, just colorful scarves or hats.

Good luck with your treatments.

Cynthia 

Congrats Harley on the good news!!!  I'm sorry you have herniated disks, but so glad that's all it is. 

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend!  Sorry, I haven't been posting lately.  I've been so moody and down lately that I don't feel as if I'm good company, but I've been keeping up with everyone's posts.  

Take care all,

Cynthia